People living by changing seas. Mesolithic coastal settlement on the west side of the Baltic Sea

Abstract

Selected find spots along the Swedish coast of the Baltic Sea are presented, in order to illustrate different ways in which hunter-gatherer societies related to the coast during the Mesolithic. Transformations of the landscape were mainly due to isostatic and eustatic changes. In the northern part, the land rose, forming new coasts and archipelagos at a speed that was noticeable even within one generation. Similar rapid changes occurred in the southern area, but in the opposite direction, with large areas of coast being submerged. Both physical and mental reactions to this are explored.