Exploitation of Outfield Resources: Joint Research at the University Museums of Norway

This book contains papers presented at an interdisciplinary workshop held at The Norwegian Institute in Rome 3–4 December 2012, entitled “Utmarksarkeologi i Norge” (Outfield archaeology in Norway).The concept “utmark”, which in Scandinavian literature is normally translated as “outfield”, lacks a corresponding denotation in English. The outfield comprises all uncultivated land outside settlement areas and agricultural areas, i.e. lakes, bogs, forests, wasteland and mountains. When agricultural areas and settlement areas are excluded, the outfield comprises 96% of the land area in Norway.The natural resources of the outfield have throughout the ages been of great importance in the form of hunting, fishing, gathering, grazing, forestry and raw material exploitation. The traces of such activities from prehistoric and medieval times are today cultural monuments and sites. As such they are important research items, and outfield archaeology is a central and extensive research theme at the University Museums. Foreword 4 Wild reindeer exploitation The hunting history – part of important know-how in the wild reindeer management / Per Jordhøy & Runar Hole 9 New traces of wild reindeer hunting in the alpine areas in Northern Norway / Ingrid Sommerseth 19 Medieval reindeer trapping at the Hardangervidda mountain plateau / Svein Indrelid 29 Use of pitfall traps in wild reindeer hunting in the mountains of South West Norway: The location, construction method and use of the hunting sites / Sveinung Bang-Andersen 37 Trapping pits for reindeer – a discussion on construction and dating / Jostein Bergstøl 49 Chronological patterns among archaeological finds from snow patches in Central Norway 1914–2011 / Martin Callanan 55 DNA from ancient reindeer antler as marker for transport routes and movement of craftspeople, raw material and products in medieval Scandinavia / Knut H. Røed & Gitte Hansen 69 The medieval reindeer population (Rangifer tarandus) from the high mountain plateau Hardangervidda, Southern Norway: work in progress / Liselotte M. Takken Beijersbergen 75 Iron extraction The bloomery in Mid-Norway: A retrospective glance and foresight / Lars F. Stenvik 85 How did the natives of North Norway secure the supply of iron in the Iron Age? / Roger Jørgensen 99 Late Iron Age (ca. AD 6/700–1000) – a white spot in the iron extraction history? / Bernt Rundberget 107 Soapstone extraction Soapstone in Northern Norway: Research status, production evidence and quarry survey results / Stephen Wickler 117 Possibilities for a society analysis by means of soapstone – examples from Helgeland, Northern Norway / Birgitta Berglund 129 The medieval quarries at Sparbu: A Central Norwegian "little sister" of the Purbeck quarry landscape in England / Per Storemyr 141 From collection to quarry – Lyse Abbey’s role as soapstone supplier in the Middle Ages / Alf Tore Hommedal 155 Provenancing soapstone – experiences from different geochemical methods / Øystein J. Jansen 167 Perspectives on the characterization of ancient soapstone quarries / Tom Heldal 175 Landscape exploitation and transformation Resource exploitation and settlement in mountain areas in Southern Norway during the Early Iron Age – an altered perception of landscape and landscape use? / Kathrine Stene 191 The outfields as a precondition for farming in the early historical period / Jan Anders Timberlid 203 Market places in "Mountain-land" – a research project on communication and exchange of commodities in the Viking Age and the Middle Ages / Kjetil Loftsgarden 215 Contextualizing cup marks: An approach for a better dating and understanding of their meaning and function / Trond Klungseth Lødøen 223 Osteological assemblages from rock shelters as source data for subsistence from Bronze Age to the Middle Ages in Western Norway / Anne Karin Hufthammer 231 Open landscapes and the use of outfield resources through time – methodological aspects and potential of pollen analysis / Kari Loe Hjelle 241 Authors 254