Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Prehistoric agriculture revealed by pollen analysis, plough-marks and sediment studies at Sola, south-western Norway

  • Original Articles
  • Published:
Vegetation History and Archaeobotany Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In 1985 archaeological excavations at Stavanger Airport, Sola, south-western Norway, revealed evidence for five phases of human activity ranging in age from the Mesolithic to the Late Bronze Age. The two youngest phases, namely 4 and 5 which reflect agrarian activity, are considered in detail in this paper. The fourth phase, which dates to ca. 3500 B.P., contains the first evidence of animal husbandry at the site and, in the fifth phase, there is evidence for a mixed farming economy. Physical evidence of cultivation includes intersecting patterns of plough-marks and, at seven sites, pollen assemblages indicative of arable farming have been recorded. The arable fields, in which weed-rich crops of Hordeum and Triticum were grown, date to ca. 2550-2200 B.P. The fields were subsequently covered by a thick layer of aeolian sand.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Andersen ST (1979) Identification of wild grass and cereal pollen. Dan Geol Unders Årbog 1978, pp 69–92

  • Behre KE (1981) The interpretation of anthropogenic indicators in pollen diagrams. Pollen Spores 23: 225–245

    Google Scholar 

  • Beug HJ (1961) Leitfaden der Pollenbestimmung. Lieferung 1. Fisher, Stuttgart

    Google Scholar 

  • Bird ECF, Klemsdal T (1986) Shore displacement and the origin of the lagoon at Brusand, southwestern Norway. Norsk Geogr Tidsskr 40: 27–35

    Google Scholar 

  • Bolin P (1926) Åkerogräsen och deras bekämpande [Measures for combating weeds]. Åhlen and Åkerlund, Stockholm

    Google Scholar 

  • Danielsen R (1986) Vegetasjonshistorie i Solavikaområdet, Sola kommune, Rogaland med særlig vekt på Jernalder og Middelalder [Vegetation history at Solavika Bay, Sola, Rogaland with particular reference to the Iron Age and Medieval period]. Rapport til Sola Kommune, Internal Report, Archaeological Museum, Stavanger

    Google Scholar 

  • Fowler PJ, Evans JG (1967) Plough-marks, lynchets and early fields. Antiquity 41: 289–301

    Google Scholar 

  • Fægri K (1940) Quartärgeologische Untersuchungen im westlichen Norwegen. II. Zur spätquartären Geschichte Jærens. Bergen Mus Årbog 1939–40. Naturv, Series 7: 1–202

  • Fægri K (1944a) Studies on the Pleistocene of western Norway. III. Bømlo. Bergen Mus Årbog 1943, Naturvitensk Series 8: 1–100

    Google Scholar 

  • Fægri K (1944b) On the introduction of agriculture in western Norway. Geol Fören Stockh Förh 66: 449–462

    Google Scholar 

  • Fægri K (1960) Maps of distribution of Norwegian vascular plants. I. Coast plants. Univ Bergen Skr 26: 1–118

    Google Scholar 

  • Fægri K (1987) Klostervesenets bidrag til Norges flora og vegetasjon. [The contribution of the monasticism to the flora and vegetation of Norway]. For norsk fortidsminnesmerkers bevaring Årbok 1987, pp 225–238

  • Fægri K, Iversen J (1975) Textbook of pollen analysis, 3rd ed. Munksgaard, Copenhagen

    Google Scholar 

  • Hagen A (1985) Om ard, kornavl og bosetningsutvikling [Concerning ard, cereal cultivation and settlement]. Viking (1984), pp 44–69

  • Hedberg O (1946) Pollen morphology in the genus Polygonum L. s. lat. and its taxonomical significance. Svensk Bot Tidskr 40: 371–404

    Google Scholar 

  • Helbæk H (1959a) Comments on Chenopodium album as a food plant in prehistory. Ber Geobot Inst Eidg Techn Hochschul Stift Rübel Zürich 31: 16–19

    Google Scholar 

  • Helbæk H (1959b) Grauballemandens sidste måltid [The last meal of Grauballe man]. Kuml, Årbog Jysk Arkæol selskap 1958, pp 83–166

  • Iversen J (1941) Land occupation in Danmark's Stone Age. Dan Geol Unders, Series II, 66: 1–68

    Google Scholar 

  • Iversen J (1964) Retrogressive vegetational succession in the post-glacial. J Ecol 52 (Suppl): 59–70

    Google Scholar 

  • Iversen J (1969) Retrogressive development of a forest demonstrated by pollen diagrams from fossil mor. Oikos, Suppl 12: 35–49

  • Jessen K (1933) Planterester fra den ældre Jernalder i Thy [Plant remains from the Early Iron Age in Thy]. Bot Tidsskr 42: 257–288

    Google Scholar 

  • Jessen K, Lind J (1923) Det danske Markukrudts Historie [The history of Danish weeds]. K Dan Vidensk Selsk Skr Naturvidensk Math Afd, Series 8, 8: 1–496

    Google Scholar 

  • Korsmo E (1954) Ugras i nåtidens jordbruk [Weeds in present day agriculture]. Landbruksforlaget, Oslo

    Google Scholar 

  • Kvamme M (1982) En vegetasjonshistorisk undersøkelse av kulturlandskapets utvikling på Lurekalven, Lindås hd., Hordaland [Vegetation history investigations into the development of the cultural landscape at Lurekalven, Lindås, Hordaland]. Thesis (unpublished), University of Bergen

  • Lagerberg T, Holmboe J, Nordhagen R (1952) Våre ville planter II [Our wild flowers II]. Tanum, Oslo

    Google Scholar 

  • Larsson EL (1989) Säd, lin och hirs på menyen för 2200 år sedan [Cereals, flax and millet on the menu 2200 years ago]. Svensk Bot Tidskr 83: 265–268

    Google Scholar 

  • Lid J (1985) Norsk, svensk, finsk flora [The flora of Norway, Sweden and Finland], 3rd edn. Det Norske Samlaget, Oslo

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindemark O (1975) Giftige blomsterplanter [Poisonous plants], 2nd edn. Det Norske Hageselskap, Grøndahl, Oslo

    Google Scholar 

  • Løken T (1977) Utgravninger i Randaberg [Excavations at Randaberg]. Frå Haug Heidni 1977, 3: 225–236

    Google Scholar 

  • Madsen T, Juel Jensen H (1982) Settlement and land use in early Neolithic Denmark. Analecta Praehist Leidensia 15: 63–86

    Google Scholar 

  • Mangerud J, Andersen ST, Berglund BE, Donner JJ (1974) Quaternary stratigraphy of Norden, a proposal for terminology and classification. Boreas 3: 109–128

    Google Scholar 

  • Michelsen JK (1985) Core system user manual. Internal publication, Geological Institute, University of Bergen

  • Myhre B (1980) Sola og Madla i førhistorisk tid [Sola and Madla in prehistoric times]. Am S-Småtrykk 10: 1–190

    Google Scholar 

  • Moe D (1974) Identification key for trilete microspores of Fennoscandian Pteridophyta. Grana 14: 132–142

    Google Scholar 

  • Müller-Schneider P (1959) Ist Chenopodium album L. eine prähistorische Nutzpflanze? Ber Geobot Forschunginst Rübel Zürich 1958, pp 124–125

  • Odgaard B (1985) A pollen analytical investigation of a Bronze Age and pre-Roman Iron Age soil profile from Grøntoft, Western Jutland. J Dan Archaeol 4: 121–128

    Google Scholar 

  • Pearson GW, Stuiver M (1986) High-precision calibration of the radiocarbon time-scale, 500–2500 BC. Radiocarbon 28: 839–862

    Google Scholar 

  • Prøsch-Danielsen L (1988) Principal components analysis of pollen types from prehistoric agricultural settlements at Forsandmoen, south-west Norway. Correlations between cereals, herbs (weeds) and grasses. AmS-Skrifter 12: 63–71

    Google Scholar 

  • Prøsch-Danielsen L, Simonsen A (1988) Principal components analysis of pollen, charcoal and soil phosphate data as a tool in prehistoric land-use investigation at Forsandmoen, southwest Norway. Norw Archaeol Rev 21: 85–102

    Google Scholar 

  • Rønneseth O (1974) Gard und Einfriedigung. Entwicklungsphasen der Agrarlandschaft Jærens. Geografiska Annaler Series B, Cultural Geography Institute, Stockholm University

  • Selsing L (1987) Stavanger lufthavn Sola, som tilholdssted for jegere/fangstfolk/fiskere i yngre steinalder. Resultater fra de geologiske undersøkelsene [Stavanger airport site, Sola, a dwelling place for hunters, gatherers and fishers in the Younger Stone Age. Results from geological investigations]. Riksantikvarens Rapporter 17: 10–19

    Google Scholar 

  • Selsing L, Prøsch-Danielsen L, Wishman E (1988) Datering av og årsak tilsub fossil sandflukt på Stavanger lufthavn Sola, Sørvest-Norge [Dating of aeolian phases and the causes of aeolian activity at Stavanger airport, Sola, south-western Norway]. Abstract. Geolognytt 22: 59

    Google Scholar 

  • Simonsen A (1971) Breiavatn og Stavangers eldste historie [The early history of Breiavatn and Stavanger]. Stav Mus Årbok 1971: 39–49

    Google Scholar 

  • Skar B (1985) Under meter med sand.... Boplads på Sola fra yngre stenalder [Covered by sand.... a settlement site from the Younger Stone Age at Sola]. Frå haug heidni 10: 234–239

    Google Scholar 

  • Skjølsvold A (1977) Slettabøboplassen [The site at Slettabø]. AmS-Skrifter 2: 1–380

    Google Scholar 

  • Sorsa P (1964) Studies on the spore morphology of Fennoscandian fern species. Ann Bot Fenn 1: 179–201

    Google Scholar 

  • Strand E (1990) Fra kornets historie i Norge. Jord og gjerning [On the history of cereals in Norway. Land and deed]. Årbok for norsk landbruksmuseum 1990. Landbruksforlaget, Oslo, pp 19–27

    Google Scholar 

  • Stuiver M, Pearson GW (1986) High-precision calibration of the radiocarbon time-scale, AD 1950–500 BC. Radiocarbon 28: 805–838

    Google Scholar 

  • Sønstegaard E, Mangerud J (1977) Stratigraphy and dating of Holocene gully sediments in Os, western Norway. Norsk Geol Tidsskr 57: 313–346

    Google Scholar 

  • Thomsen H (1981) Late Weichselian shore-level displacement on Nord-Jæren, south-west Norway. Geol Fören Stockh Förh 103: 447–468

    Google Scholar 

  • Thomsen H (1982) Shore-level studies on Nord Jæren, south-west Norway. Second Nordic Conference on the Application of Scientific Methods in Archaeology. PACT 7: 157–171

    Google Scholar 

  • Ugland T (1984) Rapport pollenanalyser Sola [Report on the pollen analytical studies at Sola]. Internal report, Archaeological Museum, Stavanger

    Google Scholar 

  • Viklund K (1989) Jordbrukskris i Norrland i slutet av den äldre järnålder [Agrarian crisis in Norrland at the end of the Early Iron Age]. Arkeologi i norr 2: 95–105

    Google Scholar 

  • Wishman E (1990) Aeolian activity. A meteorological approach. Norw Archaeol Rev 23: 105–113

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Arkeologisk museum i Stavanger, P.O.Box 478, N-4001, Stavanger, Norway

    Lisbeth Prøsch-Danielsen

Authors
  1. Lisbeth Prøsch-Danielsen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Prøsch-Danielsen, L. Prehistoric agriculture revealed by pollen analysis, plough-marks and sediment studies at Sola, south-western Norway. Veget Hist Archaebot 2, 233–244 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00198164

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00198164

Key words

Search

Navigation