Fosna-Hensbacka culture
| The Mesolithic The Epipaleolithic |
|---|
| ↑ Paleolithic |
| ↓ Neolithic ↓ Stone Age |
The Fosna/Hensbacka (c. 8300 BCE – 7300 BCE, or 12000 cal BP – 10500 cal BP), were two very similar Late Palaeolithic/early Mesolithic cultures in Scandinavia, and are often subsumed under the name Fosna–Hensbacka culture. This complex includes the Komsa culture that, notwithstanding different types of tools, is also considered to be a part of the Fosna culture group. The main difference is that the Fosna/Komsa culture was distributed along the coast of Northern Norway, whereas the Hensbacka culture had a more eastern distribution along the coast of western Sweden; primarily in central Bohuslän to the north of Gothenburg. The Hensbacka culture evolved into the later Sandarna culture which is found along the coast of western Sweden.
Recent investigations indicate that this particular area, i.e. central Bohuslän, may well have had the largest seasonal population in northern Europe during the Late Palaeolithic/early Mesolithic transition. This was due to environmental circumstances brought about by the relationship between the Vänern basin in the east, and topographical features in the North Sea basin to the west.
The name Fosna takes its name of a location in Kristiansund, and it is an umbrella term for the oldest settlements along the Norwegian coast, from Hordaland to Nordland. The oldest settlements in Bohuslän on the Swedish west coast (the Hensbacka), derive from the Ahrensburgian culture group from Northern Germany. The oldest Fosna settlements in Eastern Norway are found at Høgnipen in Østfold. New finds (2008) on Pauler in Larvik seem to be even older.
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