Early farming in hordaland,western Norway. Problems and approaches in archaeology and pollen analysis

This article discusses the evidence of farming settlements in Neolithic times in the county of Hordaland, in western Norway, and possible ways for future research to establish the introduction of a farming economy, with its cultural and ecological implications.

Using distribution maps, Bakka demonstrates how the people of the mainly hunting and fishing sub‐Neolithic dwelling‐place culture of the Middle Neolithic period preferred a coastal area of habitation, while the find groups of Neolithic artifacts are generally to be found in those areas more suitable for farming. This change of habitat is interpreted as evidence of a general change in economic structure, with a greatly increased emphasis on agriculture.

Kaland discusses the Sub‐Boreal history of vegetation in Hordaland as revealed by pollen analysis. The earliest phase of agriculture in the pollen diagrams is dated in relation to the pollenanalytical leading horizons, the shore‐line displacement, radiocarbon measurements and the archaeological chronology. He puts forward the working hypothesis that in the sub‐Neolithic culture of the Middle Neolithic period some animal husbandry may have been practised in zone VIII b as a supplementary means of livelihood, and that this was followed by a phase of cereal growing in zone VIII c. The Late Neolithic culture appears to be responsible for this more intensive mixed farming, and this corresponds to the archaeological evidence of the introduction of cereal cultivation, which demands the better‐soils of the later farming land.