The meaning of sedentism and mobility in an archaeological and historic context

Engelstad, Ericka

doi:10.1080/08003839008580388

Cited by 8 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Some of the largest examples are the classic 'Gressbakken Houses' from Varanger Fjord in Eastern Finnmark, which can be 1 m in depth. These larger dwellings have been used to support the idea of fully sedentary maritime communities in this area (E. Helskog 1983, Renouf, 1989Engelstad, 1990;Schanche, 1994), though there is substantial variability in depths, sizes and seasonality (Hodgetts 2010), which is often glossed over. Importantly, the building of such large houses appears to have been a short-lived phenomenon in Eastern Finnmark (until c. 3800 cal BP), but may have lasted longer in western coastal and inland areas, where smaller dwellings only dominate again after c. 3300/3000 cal BP (Johansen 1998:76;Skandfer, 2012, p. 132).…”

Section: Consolidation Of Coastal Habitationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating long-term human ecodynamics in the European Arctic: Towards an integrated multi-scalar analysis of early and mid Holocene cultural, environmental and palaeodemographic sequences in Finnmark County, Northern Norway

Damm

Skandfer

Jørgensen

et al. 2020

Quaternary International

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Most parts of the Circumpolar Arctic have only discontinuous evidence for long-term human settlement. In contrast, Northern Norway has an unbroken archaeological record that extends back to the early Holocene. Numerous high-resolution archaeological and palaeoenvironmental records have been generated by commercial excavations and surveys, offering archaeologists unique opportunities to investigate long-term human ecodynamics in an Arctic coastal setting. To date, however, deeper analysis of the new datasets has yet to be undertaken. This paper aims to present a new synthesis of early and mid Holocene archaeological and paleoenvironmental sequences for Western Finnmark (11500-2000 cal BP). This enables us to identify three major phases of culture change that broadly correlate with climatic and environmental shifts. We then present emerging results from our multiscalar analysis of the processes driving these transformations. At supra-regional and regional scales, our palaeodemographic modelling indicates major population events centered around 6000 cal BP and 4000 cal BP. At intra-regional scales, we are identifying spatial clustering of prehistoric settlements into local socio-economic communities. At the scale of local settlements, our analysis of house-pit chronologies is clarifying the degree of simultaneous occupation and re-use. We also draw on recent research into rock art and ritual landscapes in an effort to reconstruct the relationship between settlement clusters and general interaction patterns. Integration of these diverse lines of evidence is generating a vivid picture of thriving Arctic coastal communities, with indications that the timing and pace of cultural responses to climatic and environmental changes were more complex than previously thought.

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Section: Consolidation Of Coastal Habitationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating long-term human ecodynamics in the European Arctic: Towards an integrated multi-scalar analysis of early and mid Holocene cultural, environmental and palaeodemographic sequences in Finnmark County, Northern Norway

Damm

Skandfer

Jørgensen

et al. 2020

Quaternary International

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“…Increased coastal sedentism and potential yearround coastal habitation seem likely in the Norwegian case, with mobility among coastal sites rather than between coast and inland. Previously, various forms of coast/ inland seasonal migration have been proposed for the mid-Holocene (Engelstad 1984(Engelstad , 1988(Engelstad , 1989(Engelstad , 1990Holdberg and Røskaft 2015, pp. 43-69;Simonsen 1975).…”

Section: Sedentism and Settlement Patternmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scalar Effects in Ground Slate Technology and the Adaptive Consequences for Circumpolar Maritime Hunter-Gatherers

Jørgensen

2020

J Archaeol Method Theory

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Ground slate technology is a trademark of circumpolar hunter-gatherers occupying coastal ecotones. However, a causal framework for explaining what drives the apparent adaptive success of slate technology is lacking. Attempting to remedy this, the current paper provides the first palaeodemographic and environmentally informed review of a maritime slate complex. Employing what is arguably the best documented and contextually controlled slate industry in Holocene Eurasia as a high-resolution case study (the Arctic Norwegian slate industry), the system components of demography, ecology and technology are integrated to get at (1) why slate technology appears to be a particular maritime success, (2) what causal contribution slate technology makes to population-scale adaptive success, (3) why slate technology was eventually abandoned. Based on extensive empirical investigations, the results demonstrate synchronous changes in population size, maritime intensification and the use of slate technologies. It is suggested that the mechanism responsible for this correspondence is that the slate industry facilitated a heightened adaptive success, reinforcing population growth and maritime intensification. Technological results indicate that superior properties for standardization make the slate technology ideal for establishing a scale economy in maritime resource exploitation when surpassing critical thresholds in population packing. Causal modelling demonstrates that, under particular demographic and ecological conditions, the scalar properties of slate technologies can offset high- and density-dependent start-up costs, by increasing return rates and reducing handling costs of hunting/processing of marine resources. Satisfying all criteria for tool “efficiency”, it is concluded that slate industries have causal efficacy as an “enabling technology” in circumpolar, maritime settings.

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“…Ericka's interest in northern hunter-gatherers continued throughout her career, but her publications demonstrate her readiness to engage in new theoretical perspectives and approaches. Thus her work on northern hunter-gatherers ranged from early considerations of subsistence and seasonality from a cultural ecology perspective (Engelstad 1984, to multivariate statistical analyses of artefacts and house types (Bølviken et al 1982, Engelstad 1984, 1988, the evaluation of concepts such as sedentism and the meaning of space (Engelstad 1990), and interest in household archaeology and representations of gender in rock art (Engelstad 2001a). She also ranged over a wide span of time and space, covering both the Early and Late Stone Ages, inland and coast settlements, hunting-pit sites and rock art (in addition to the above see also Helskog 1978, 1989.…”

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confidence: 99%