"This volume explores economy and settlement of the early post-glacial pioneers of Northern Europe. The articles present overviews and case studies from the Early and Middle Mesolithic of Northern Scandinavia in their wider northern European setting. Given the large geographical and climatic variation--ranging from the temperate over the subarctic to the arctic zones--and rapid and large-scale, early post-glacial changes in topography and ecology across the area, a regional approach is necessary. Special emphasis is placed on how the early pioneer hunter-fisher-gatherers 'mapped onto the landscape'--organized their economy and settlement - in order to provide for a broader and deeper understanding of the 'big issues' such as why, from where, and how they came into different parts of Northern Scandinavia and in particular how the maritime component of the economy and settlement emerged. Another issue of particular, contemporary human interest is addressed through studies of how the early pioneers coped with rapid and large-scale climatic changes and their impact on living conditions. In addition new methodologies of particular relevance are presented. Based on new analyses and field-work this book brings fresh perspectives and insights to all these important aspects of our early post-glacial past"--Provided by publisher.

Preface / Håkon Glørstad -- Introduction: The early settlement of Northern Europe : economy and settlement : new investigations / Hans Peter Blankholm -- The pioneer colonisation of northern Norway / Jan Ingolf Kleppe -- Tent, hut or house? : a discussion on early Mesolithic dwellings proceeding from the site Mohalsen 2012-II, Vega, northern Norway / Silje E. Fretheim, Hein B. Bjerck, Heidi Mjelva Breivik, A. Francisco J. Zangrando -- Large Mesolithic house : pits at Tønsnes, coastal northern Norway : evidence of a winter aggregation site? / Jan Magne Gjerde, Marianne Skandfer -- Macro-level predictive modelling of early Stone Age pioneer settlement locations in Varanger, northern Norway / Hans Peter Blankholm -- Aareavaara and the pioneer period in northern Sweden / Olof Östlund -- From Russia, with love : Eastern intruders in the north Norwegian Mesolithic / Tuija Rankama, Jarmo Kankaanpää -- Early Mesolithic central Norway : a review of research history, settlements, and tool tradition / Heidi Mjelva Breivik, Hein B. Bjerck -- The early Mesolithic of western Norway / Leif Inge Åstveit -- The first one thousand years : human colonization and differentiated landscape use in southwestern Norway, 10,000 to 9000 years BP / Sveinung Bang-Andersen -- The pioneer settlement of southwestern Norway : a case study / Sigrid Alraek Dugstad -- The pioneer settlement of eastern Norway / Hege Damlien, Steinar Solheim -- Pauler 2 : an ordinary early Mesolithic site from south-eastern Norway? / Astrid J. Nyland.

This book brings together a classic collection of Andrew Sherratt's work on the economic foundations of prehistoric Europe, which have put forward important new ideas about the development of farming, pastoralism, early technology and trade. In a series of contributions that have included wide-ranging syntheses and detailed local studies, he discusses their implications for the understanding of settlement-patterns, social structures, material culture, and less tangible aspects of prehistoric life such as the spread of languages and the use of narcotics.

"The first volume presents new archaeological and ecological data and analyses on the relation between human subsistence and survival, and the natural history of North-Western Europe throughout the period 10000-6000 BC. The volume contains contributions from ecological oriented archaeologists and from the natural sciences, throwing new light on the physical and biotic/ecological conditions of relevance to the earliest settlement. Main themes are human subsistence, subsistence technology, ecology and food availability pertaining to the first humans, and demographic patterns among humans linked to the accessibility of different landscapes"--Provided by publisher.

Innovations, transmissions and transformations had profound spatial, economic and social impacts on the environments, landscapes and habitats evident at micro- and macro-levels. This volume explores how these changes affected how land was worked, how it was organized, and the nature of buildings and rural complexes.

The Origins of Agriculture in Europe takes a look at current ideas in the light of a considerable mass of literature and archaeological evidence; examining the transition to agriculture through the comparison of social and economic developments across Europe. In this volume, I.J.Thorpe manages to evaluate various alternative explanations in detailed examples, whilst also succeeding in addressing the broader theoretical questions which form the nucleus of contemporary debates. This clearly written and accessible text is an extremely valuable resource for students of European prehistory.

A collection of essays dealing with the history and archaeology of Northern Europe in the middle ages. It looks at Anglo-Saxon England, at its contacts with Francia and Scandinavia, and at the impact of the Norwegians and the Danes on the place-names of the British Isles. Two papers deal with the history of women as recorded in runestones, and as evidenced by law suits of the medieval period.

This volume is the first comprehensive study of the material imprint of slavery in early medieval Europe. While written sources attest to the ubiquity of slavery and slave trade in early medieval British Isles, Scandinavia and Slavic lands, it is still difficult to find material traces of this reality, other than the hundreds of thousands of Islamic coins paid in exchange for the northern European slaves. This volume offers the first structured reflection on how to bridge this gap. It reviews the types of material evidence that can be associated with the institution of slavery and the slave trade in early medieval northern Europe, from individual objects (such as e.g. shackles) to more comprehensive landscape approaches. The book is divided into four sections. The first presents the analytical tools developed in Africa and prehistoric Europe to identify and describe social phenomena associated with slavery and the slave trade. The following three section review the three main cultural zones of early medieval northern Europe: the British Isles, Scandinavia, and Slavic central Europe. The contributions offer methodological reflections on the concept of the archaeology of slavery. They emphasize that the material record, by its nature, admits multiple interpretations. More broadly, this book comes at a time when the history of slavery is being integrated into academic syllabi in most western countries. The collection of studies contributes to a more nuanced perspective on this important and controversial topic. This volume appeals to multiple audiences interested in comparative and global studies of slavery, and will constitute the point of reference for future debates.

In this book, the various structures and economic activities of medieval and post-medieval seasonal settlements all over Europe are presented.