The First Seal Hunter Families on Gotland - On the Mesolithic Occupation in the Stora Förvar Cave

Abstract

The article presents some results of a joint interdisciplinary researchproject, The Stora Förvar Cave and Gotlands peopling, faunal history and subsistence economy/diet development from the Boreal to the Subatlantic, initiated by Christian Lindqvist in 1991. Its objectives include investigations of a number of crucial issues in a long-term perspective, such as the initial settlement, the early faunal history, the early subsistence economy and diet, but also the character of the Mesolithic-Neolithic shift on Gotland, by means of human and zooosteological, carbon isotope and ancient DNA analyses. The article presents and discusses artefact, osteological, and 13C and 14C data and interpretations concerning the duration and character of the Mesolithic occupation —temporary kill/butchering site, seasonal hunting station, semi-sedentary base camp or burial cave —as well as osteobiographical data on the identified human individuals and their burial customs.