Achaeological Museum

Ytterst i havgapet på Helganeset ved Haugesund lufthavn i Karmøy kommune, Rogaland, ble det sommeren 2011 gjennomført arkeologiske undersøkelser. På en av de utgravde lokalitetene ble det avdekket to kokegroper fra eldre jernalder (ca. 500. f.Kr.–550 e.Kr.) som inneholdt olje fra selspekk. I Nord-Norge finnes det hundretalls groper med spor etter olje fra sel- og hvalspekk, såkalte hellegroper. Hellegropene er blitt knyttet til produksjon av olje, og har hittil vært et nordnorsk fenomen. Oljen har vært tolket som en viktig handelsressurs i yngre jernalder (ca. 550–1030 e.Kr.) mellom nord og sør (Henriksen 1996, 2006). Kokegropene på Helganeset representerer dermed noe nytt. I denne artikkelen vil jeg se nærmere på de arkeologiske og naturvitenskapelige analysene og prøve å besvare hvilken funksjon gropene har hatt. Selv om den undersøkte lokaliteten var en flerfaset boplass fra både yngre steinalder og eldre jernalder, vil fokuset her være på spekk-kokegropene og tilhørende aktivitet.

Solberg, A. 2015. Stone Age life at Helganes. Excavations of a middle Neolithic dwelling site on the brink between north and south. The Helganes project 2011–2013, Karmøy, Rogaland. AmS-Varia 56, 149 pp. Stavanger. ISSN 0332-6306, ISBN 978-82-7760-161-8

In 2011, archaeological excavations were conducted at a middle Neolithic site on the outmost headland at Haugesund Airport on the island of Karmøy in Rogaland, Southwestern Norway. The excavations revealed three dwelling structures, a midden and a string of stones constructed to prevent the sea from flooding the living areas. The dwelling structures, defined as huts, consisted of several cultural layers with a depth up to 40 cm. Several fireplaces inside and outside the living areas
were also uncovered. A total of 133 484 artefacts were  ecovered, including 515 shards of pottery, of which 122 shards were ornamented with corded stamps, pit imprints, bone imprints, zigzag ornamentation and knot winds. Of tools, there are fragments of ground flint adzes, and adzes and chisels of greenstone and other types of rock. Additional finds included many different forms of slate arrows, projectile points of type A, B and C, plate knifes of slate, greenstone and sandstone, and so on. The finds from the Helganes site have many parallels to other middle Neolithic sites in Southern Norway. This publication gives an introduction to all the well-known wellings from middle Neolithic A and B and compares them in terms of find inventory, 14C-dates and structures. This study concludes
that there are many similarities between the sites which  ndicates social interaction along the coast of southern Norway and exchange of material culture, ideology and knowledge.

Annette Solberg, Museum of Archaeology, University of Stavanger, N-4036 STAVANGER, NORWAY. Telephone (+47) 41277793, E-mail: annette.solberg@hotmail.com

File: http://am.uis.no/getfile.php/Arkeologisk%20museum/publikasjoner/Varia-56-Annette-Solberg.pdf

This article discusses political changes in Southwest Norway in the 8th and 9th centuries. It is suggested that two male graves form this period, found at Tu in Klepp, Rogaland, and containing horse and horse equipment, are related to political changes. The author suggests that graves with horses and horse equipment belong to persons and families with significant roles in the political development of the time.

Investigations were undertaken in an area of western Norway, approximately 30 km from the coast. The area is dominated by Molinia caerulea heaths on gentle slopes of silt-dominated glacial deposits. Pollen analyses were made on 3 soil profiles. Each profile could be divided into 2 local pollen assemblage zones (PAZs) corresponding with a change from dry to damp soils. From a comparison of the fossil pollen assemblages with pollen assemblages from surface samples collected from present-day Molinia heaths, and a radiocarbon date, the Molinia heaths can be shown to have originated about 1900 years BP. The persistence of the Molinia heaths is probably related to the high water-holding capacity of the sediments and the influence of human activity.

Palynological data collected over a period of 60 years have been compiled and re-interpreted in order to reveal the patterns of deforestation and health establishment in the south-western Norwegian coastal heathland. This heathland area has been divided into four sub-regions based on topography, bedrock and drift cover. The palynological investigations are from sites with pollen source areas of different sizes. The palynological signals are interpreted in terms of models that suggest an abrupt, gradual or stepwise deforestation which can be explained by terms of different pollen source areas. The deforestation seems to have been metachronous, leading to a regional mosaic pattern of different vegetation types. The deforestation process spanned more than 3600 calendar years (4000-400 B.C.), with three pronounced clearance periods at 4000-3600 B.C. (Mesolithic/Early Neolithic transition), 2500-2200 B.C. (Middle Neolithic II/Early Late Neolithic transition), and 1900-1400 B.C. (Late Neolithic to Bronze Age period II). The expansion of heathland has also been metachronous and took place over a period of ca. 4000 years between 4000-200 B.C., but was mainly completed by the end of the Bronze Age. Regional differences in the chronology of deforestation and heathland establishment are discussed. Deforestation with subsequent heathland expansion can best be explained in terms of the interaction between land-use history, topography and edaphic conditions under climatic conditions that favoured heathland development.