Eastern pioneers in westernmost territories? Current perspectives on Mesolithic hunter-gatherer large-scale interaction and migration within Northern Eurasia.

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to present a dynamic approach to material culture that may inform new perspectives on large-scale hunter–gatherer interactions and migrations within Early Holocene northern Eurasia. Recent analyses of technological aspects on a large geographical scale, challenge previous research hypotheses that derive the Mesolithic of Norway from a purely West European late Palaeolithic tradition, and highlights the existence of cultural traits which were shared by a wide range of hunter–gatherers within northern Eurasia in the Holocene. A new technological concept for lithic blade production, referred to as the conical core pressure blade concept, can be traced in the Norwegian archaeological record from the Preboreal/Boreal transition. It is suggested that the introduction of the concept represents the first migration of people and technological knowledge from the eastern Russian plains and the Baltic into the north-westernmost part of Europe. Yet, there have been few attempts to discuss the Norwegian archaeological record in relation to such an eastern cultural tradition. In the following exploration of how the hypothesis relates to the Norwegian archaeological record, results from technological analysis of previously only preliminarily surveyed blade assemblages from southeastern Norway will be presented and discussed against conceptions of the principles of technological transmission and change.