Mesolithic mobility and social contact networks in south Scandinavia around 7000 BCE: Lithic raw materials and isotopic proveniencing of human remains from Norje Sunnansund, Sweden

Abstract

Recent research provides new perspectives on large-scale Early Holocene human interaction within Eurasia, based on ancient DNA or lithic technology. But the extent of regional human mobility is not well known. In this study, we combined two different approaches to investigate regional mobility and social networks in southern Scandinavia. We analyzed strontium isotopes in human teeth and regional lithic raw material use and technology from a Mesolithic site, Norje Sunnansund in southern Sweden (7000 BCE). The lithic raw material composition at the site, and previous archaeological studies, indicated that the inhabitants mainly had utilized an area stretching 30 km southward. The isotopic analysis indicated that at least half of the analyzed individuals had a non-local origin, based on the local isotope signature, but that possibly only a few individuals originated outside the area defined by lithic acquisition. Those few isotopic values and the presence of lithic material as non-local flint and East Swedish microblade-cores in quartz, suggested that people also traveled far, but probably more sporadically. The combined analyzes revealed the complexity of late Boreal hunter-gatherers in South Scandinavia – although some groups appear to have had a limited geographical mobility, contact networks seem to have stretched over long distances.