Interpreting Complex Diachronic “Neolithic”-Period Data In Norway

This article deals with the history of late hunter-gatherer and early agricultural societies in Scandinavia through the Norwegian case. Here, the Neolithic is not perceived as a slow but steady introduction and consolidation of agriculture. Instead, the Neolithic period in Norway represents a jagged history, and is perhaps not primarily about agriculture. In the Early and Middle Neolithic this article mainly deals with regions beyond the Funnel Beaker Culture (TRB), though borders and distinctions are not always clear (Glørstad, 2009). In the Late Neolithic the focus is the Nordic region. This article groups the discussion around three chronological epochs: the Nordic Late Neolithic (LN, c. 2350-1700 BC), the Middle Neolithic B (MNB, c. 2700-2350 BC), the Early and Middle Neolithic A (EN and MNA 3950-2700 BC) extending into the last six hundred years of the preceding Late Mesolithic (LM). The evidence demonstrates that with the transition to the LN, farming and stockholding are cemented as the foundation of the economy. The MN B (i.e. the time of the Corded Ware Culture, CWC, i.e. Scandinavian Battle Axe Cultures) remains an enigma in which agro-pastoralism probably is not an important factor. In terms of the preceding Neolithic and Mesolithic periods, there is a continuous process of vegetation and landscape management, though if and how agriculture is a factor here remains uncertain