Small sites, great potential – The Mesolithic in Rogaland

Abstract

This paper looks at small Mesolithic sites with limited artefacts assemblages from Rogaland. A common characteristic of these sites is that they tend to lie in the vicinity of larger sites that contain a range of tool types and more extensive assemblages. The modest, rather unvaried artefacts from such smaller sites are indicative of specialized activities. In many cases both dating and location in the landscape suggest that these sites were integrated into larger nearby dwelling sites. This potential connection between larger dwellings and smaller adjacent activity sites challenges our perceptions of how settlement systems functioned.