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The Coastal Landscapes of the MesolithicInternational Workshop at the Museum of CulturalHistory, University of OsloNovember 16th-18th, 2016This international workshop aimed at exploring modesand strategies of using coastal landscapes in the Mesolithic, to understandmore thoroughly how Mesolithic hunters and gatherers interacted with, used anddepended on the coastal areas.Most of Europe’s Stone Age coastal landscapes havebeen inundated or buried under beach sediments at the end of the Last Glacialperiod. In some parts of Northern Europe, as in the Oslo Fjord area, sites arepreserved on dry land – due to constant land upheaval since the deglaciation.Within the last two decades, the Museum of Cultural History, University ofOslo, has excavated many of these former coastal sites, providing acomprehensive body of data. There can be no doubt that the Mesolithic societiesof the region were strongly related to the present shorelines, with coastalareas being vital for subsistence and communication across the water. Eventhough displaying clear technological and chronological traits, the sitesdiffer in range of artefacts and in the raw materials used, and show a varietyof distribution patterns. Also, different topographical settings can bedistinguished. This data holds key-information for an understanding of theMesolithic economic and social strategies, on movement, connections, land-useand taphonomic aspects both within the coastal areas and in their relation tothe inland.To address these issues the workshop focused on patterns and varieties within the use of coastal landscapes, and on the structure and infrastructure of the coast during the Mesolithic through case studies from different regions of Northern and Western Europe.The following questions serve to better understand thelong term relation between human populations and the sea/coast: What kind ofactivities can be traced at these sites? How did people interact within and towardsa changing coastal landscape? Why was the coast attractive – and can we discerna change of relevance through time? Topics that were discussed are: - The social relevance of coastal sites: Spot, place,or living area?- Lithics in coastal landscapes: Mobility andtaskscapes- The technology of Mesolithic coastal societies- Coastal sites in the light of paleoenvironmentaldata- Coastal landscapes – cosmological landscapes?&#160;- Taphonomicpatterns/patterns of abandonmentThe workshop was organized by the research group “Stone Age Coastal Landscapes” at the Museum for Cultural History, University of Oslo (Almut Schülke, Guro Fossum, Lucia Koxvold, Steinar Solheim).For the publication of the contributions seeSee: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9780203730942CONTRIBUTIONSThesignificance of coastal areas in the MesolithicPeter MoeAstrup (Moesgård Museum, Denmark) - The role of coastal exploitation in theMaglemose culture of southern Scandinavia – Marginal or dominant?KillianDriscoll (School of Archaeology, University College Dublin) - Revisiting oldterritories: models of coastal-inland mobility strategies in Mesolithic IrelandAivarKriiska/Alar Rosentau (Institute of History and Archaeology, University ofTartu) - Stone Age marine landscape and coastal society in EstoniaValdisBērziņš (Institute of Latvian History, University of Latvia) - Transformationsof coast and culture: a view from the Latvian shore of the BalticHaraldLübke (Center for Baltic and Scandinavian Archaeology, Schleswig) - Geoarchaeologicalinvestigations on the early Mid-Holocene cultural development of thesouth-western Baltic coastal areaCoastal settlement, mobility and networksSteinarSolheim (Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo) - Temporal variationin Mesolithic coastal settlement – a Nordic approachKaren Wicks(School of Archaeology, Geography and Environmental Sciences, University ofReading) - Regional gateways, vital hubs - exploring Mesolithic mobility andsettlement using recent discoveries at Rubha Port an t-Seilich, Isle of Islay,western ScotlandLuciaKoxvold (Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo) - Chasing the perfectrefit. The use and reuse of the Middle Mesolithic coastal area of Bommestad,Southeastern NorwayGrégorMarchand (CNRS, Université du Rennes 1) - Mesolithic Networks of AtlanticFrance (7th and 6th millennia BCE)AstridNyland (Arkeologisk Museum, University of Stavanger) - Nodal points in a mobilecoastal world? Entangled lithic procurement sites in the MesolithicHumans and coastal environmentsHeidi M.Breivik (Museum of Natural History and Archaeology, University of Trondheim) - Dynamicrelations between humans and environment in Early Mesolithic NorwayGuro Fossum(Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo) - Climate change and resourceexploitation during the Middle Mesolithic/Late Mesolithic transition. Crisis,adaptation or business as usual? A case study from the Oslofjord areaMagdaWieckowska-Lüth/Wiebke Kirleis (Institute for Pre- and Protohistory, KielUniversity) - Palaeo-ecological investigations on human-environmentinteractions during the Mesolithic - an example from Lake Skogtjern, TelemarkCoastal areas: Practice and perceptionCharlotteDamm (Department of Archaeology and Social Anthropology, University of Tromsø)- Mesolithic pyro-technology: practices and perceptions in coastal NorwaySøren A.Sørensen (Museum Lolland-Falster, Denmark) - Ritual deposits in coastal areas -reflections of the Stone Age Cosmology?AlmutSchülke (Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo) - Newly frequented orrevisited? Diverging concepts of historicity in the changing coastal landscapesof Mesolithic Southeastern NorwayThe resources of the seaAikateriniGlykou/Gunilla Eriksson/Kerstin Lidén (Archaeological Research Laboratory,University of Stockholm) - Seal exploitation in the Baltic Sea during the mid-and late HoloceneKnutAndreas Bergsvik (University Museum of Bergen) - Mesolithic fishing landscapesin western NorwayAxel Mjærum(Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo) - Stone Age fishing inSoutheastern Norway