Almut Schülke

• Schülke, Almut (2025). TIMES OF UNCERTAINTY AT THE END OF THE EARLY NEOLITHIC IN SOUTH-EAST NORWAY? Depositions of long thin-butted flint axes in the Inner Oslo Fjord area indicate social interaction and negotiation across Scandinavia in a period of change. In Hofmann, Daniela; Cummings, Vicki; Bjørnevad-Ahlqvist, Mathias & Iversen, Rune (Ed.), The early Neolithic of Northern Europe. New approaches to migration, movement and social connection. Sidestone Press. ISSN 9789464263268. p. 233–248. doi: 10.59641/xx278aj. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  In south-east Norway extensive farming, animal husbandry and farmsteads are first seen from around 2300 BC — more than a thousand years later than in southern Scandinavia, from where this new economy is believed to have been introduced. How and to what extent the people who lived in south-east Norway were connected to people further south in the centuries before full-scale farming was adopted is still a major research question. The archaeological material and its spatial and chronological context show that impulses from the south did not come into the region concurrently as a ‘package’, but were introduced gradually over centuries. This article explores the topic by focusing on the thin-butted flint axes from the Inner Oslo Fjord region. These axes are portable objects which were introduced from abroad. Special attention will be given to the few long thin-butted axes, finely worked long axes in high-quality material, which show no signs of use. It is argued that the phenomenon of their (ritual) deposition in the study area, as marking of land or of an important spot, can give useful insights into social encounters between people from abroad and local people between c. 3500 and 3300 BC and attests to a time of interregional negotiations in what was most likely a period of uncertainty.

• Schülke, Almut (2024). The significance of Jelling in the landscape of communication. In Pedersen, Anne; Jessen, Mads Dengsø & Holst, Mads Kähler (Ed.), Jelling - Monuments and Landscape. University Press of Southern Denmark and the National Museum of Denmark. ISSN 9788776023812. p. 95–125. Full text in Research Archive
• Schülke, Almut; Berg-Hansen, Inger Marie; Mjærum, Axel Johan; Roalkvam, Isak & Solheim, Steinar (2023). New Perspectives on Old Shores: Current Approaches to the Mesolithic in South-Eastern Norway and their Potential. Bulletin de la Société Préhistorique Française. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Research on coastal societies in Mesolithic south-eastern Norway (9300-3900 cal. BC) has increased significantly in recent years, against the backdrop of a much larger, more substantial and constantly growing source material over the last two decades, but also through the adoption of different theoretical frameworks and methodological tools. Thus, various new insights into Mesolithic coastal living have been gathered. However, the diversity in theoretical and methodological approaches has received rather little theoretical reflection concerning the aims and potential of these various ways of dealing with the archaeological material. This article presents and discusses a number of current approaches on human relations with the shore in the Mesolithic in south-eastern Norway. It reflects on differences and similarities with respect to underlying concepts, theory, and methodology within these approaches. We ask which aspects of our topic do the different approaches actually shed light on, and whether the approaches are compatible. By comparing these approaches this article aims at clarifying the investigatory breadth present, but also at highlighting challenges and limitations pertaining to individual analytical perspectives. This can contribute a better understanding of hunter-gatherer lifeways on the Mesolithic coast, potentially through a combination of approaches that have so far been applied separately. We will focus on five thematic areas and on the potential for combining them: population dynamics and radiocarbon dates, settlement patterns and site location, adaptation and choice of place, moving and dwelling, and technology as tradition.

• Schülke, Almut (2023). From Coastal Sites to Elevated Hinterland Locations in the Mesolithic - Discussing Human-Woodland Interaction in the Oslo Fjord Region, Southeast Norway. Open Archaeology. 9(1), p. 1–32. doi: 10.1515/opar-2022-0290. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Abstract The coastal areas of Southeast Norway underwent dramatic environmental changes throughout the Mesolithic period. Continuous postglacial land uplift/isostatic rebound lead to retreating shorelines turning former seabed into coastal hinterland. While archaeological research lately has focused on the coastal and marine orientation of Mesolithic groups in the region, their interaction with the wooded coastal hinterland is little researched. This article explores shifting human–environment relations connected to these long-term changes. The starting points are nine archaeological sites in the Oslo fjord region, from which the artefact material shows that they were coast based in the earlier Mesolithic. They all have yielded radiocarbon dates from structures, mostly hearths, with later Mesolithic datings. At these later times, the sites had turned into elevated hinterland locations. First, the archaeological context and sample material of these later dates are discussed; on this basis, it is suggested that these later dates, earlier interpreted as impaction of forest fires, indicate the use of elevated hinterland locations in the Mesolithic. Second, this article explores the relevance of the wooded hinterland for the Mesolithic groups of the region, including animated beings, wayfinding practices and the possible function of these hinterland locations as potential practical and cosmological anchor points and strategic points in a communication system. It is argued that the study of the use of the hunter-fisher-gatherers’ interaction with the wooded and rocky coastal hinterland is needed to achieve a holistic understanding of their involvement and socializing with their world.

• Schülke, Almut & Hofmann, Kerstin P. (2023). Mensch - Körper - Tod: Ansätze zur archäologischen Erforschung des Umgangs mit Tod und Toten. In Balkowski, Nadia; Hofmann, Kerstin P.; Hohle, Isabel A. & Schülke, Almut (Ed.), Mensch-Körper-Tod. Der Umgang mit menschlichen Überresten im Neolithikum Mitteleuropas.. Sidestone Press. ISSN 9789464270549. doi: 10.59641/kaf31bd9. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Death confronts the living with the challenges of how to deal with the material legacies of the deceased and with an ambivalent relationship between the presence and absence of the dead. Death is universal, but how we deal with death and the dead is culturally shaped – as is the study of these issues. Although burials are one of the main types of archaeological sources, (transformative) bodily practices and processes associated with death have been rarely addressed. In the introduction to this anthology, we argue for a process-oriented, contextual and praxeological consideration of the complex network of relations between human being, body and death instead of viewing the burial as a static archaeological record. First, we deal with the question of how and when boundaries are drawn between living and dead, then with transformative body practices and processes. Finally, we address the socio-spatial location of death and the dead, which takes place right in the middle of life and only sometimes brings with it a strict spatial separation of the living and the dead.

• Berg-Hansen, Inger Marie; Mjærum, Axel; Roalkvam, Isak; Solheim, Steinar & Schülke, Almut (2023). Coast-concepts in Norwegian Stone Age archaeology. Bulletin de la Société Préhistorique Française. 19, p. 45–60. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The sea and coast have always been central to Norwegian Stone Age research, and most of the archaeological sites we know from the period are located along the coast. Natural conditions associated with the land uplift after the last Ice Age have provided unique opportunities for exploring the coastal settlement of the Stone Age. The general sentiment in the literature is that the Stone Age hunter-gatherers on the Scandinavian Peninsula mainly hunted, moved and settled along the coastline. Less attention has been paid to the areas behind the coast – the coastal hinterland –, although a number of sites are also known further inland and in mountain areas. Central to this perception is the ‘shoreline model’, which has developed gradually over a century of research. While this model has resulted in the identification of thousands of sites, it does have a simplistic eco-functional foundation. Is it possible that such a conceptual starting point in some ways limits our opportunities to explore the coastal landscape from other perspectives, or even prevents us from discovering archaeological material in other landscape settings? To explore this possibility, we ask whether there are conditions in our research, or circumstances in its underlying framework that have contributed to the strong coastal focus. How did today’s concepts and knowledge of the Stone Age coastal settlement come about, and what roles have been played by the natural environment and topographical character of the landscape? How has this influenced our perception of Stone Age settlement, and what other factors have been important? We identify five main factors that each work toward strengthening the coastal focus in different ways. Furthermore, we examine strengths and challenges of the coastal concepts employed in present research and suggest possible future exploration of Stone Age coasts within a broader perspective of a ‘landscape of practice’. Although the coast was central to the people of the Stone Age, this article argues that a one-sided focus on the coast and coastline may hinder a broader knowledge of Stone Age society and human life. Keywords: Stone Age, Mesolithic, shoreline displacement, coastal adaption, archipelago landscape, hinterland, site location, archaeological survey methods, site concepts, Norway.

• Schülke, Almut (2022). Placing - fragmenting - circulating: Mesolithic burial and mortuary practices in Norway in a Northern European perspective. In Olsen, Dag Erik Færø (Eds.), The Stone Age Conference in Bergen 2017. Universitetet i Bergen. ISSN 9788284360027. p. 123–154. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This contribution investigates burial and mortuary practice in the Mesolithic period (9300–3900 BC) in what today is defined as Norway. This issue has received little attention, as poor preservation conditions for bone material in the forest zone of the North has led to a low number of finds. Recent excavations of single burials at e.g. Brunstad and Sømmevågen trigger off a reassessment of the topic. The twelve sites with human bones, which could be identified, dating to the Middle and Late Mesolithic, were studied and compared. Even though statistically not significant, they exhibit some common traits: Human remains are mainly found in the places of the living: on coastal settlement sites, including caves/rockshelters and open-air sites. This broad spectrum of sites indicates human engagement with different natural and cultural elements when dealing with the dead: hollows, water, earth and cultural debris. Both graves with apparently intact human bodies and single (loose) human bones can be identified. Together with sites found in wetlands with seemingly selected types of bones, these bear witness to a broad range of mortuary practices, including inhumation, the fragmenting of corpses and the circulation of selected bones. This is in line with practices observed in other parts of Northern Europe; a special closeness to finds from Western Sweden is observed. As in other areas it is most likely that only a small number of people were actually buried, while most of them received other treatment in death, not easily visible archaeologically. The identification of these various phenomena will hopefully make it possible to identify other find contexts in future, and will be important when discussing social and ritual aspects of Mesolithic hunter-gatherer societies, not least regarding studies on genetics and mobility.

• Schülke, Almut (2022). Maria Wunderlich, Megalithic Monuments and Social Structures. Comparative Studies on Recent and Funnel Beaker Societies. Germania. ISSN 0016-8874. 100(100), p. 364–369. doi: 10.11588/ger.2022.99132. Full text in Research Archive
• Schülke, Almut (2021). A portable object in motion - Complex layers of meaning embedded in an ornamented sandstone Object from the Late Mesoltihic site of Brunstad (Norway). In Borić, Dušan; Antonović, Dragana & Mihailović, Bojana (Ed.), Foraging Assemblages 2. Serbian Archaeological Society. ISSN 9788680094168. p. 590–594. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This contribution deals with an ornamented and pierced sandstone tablet found at the Late Mesolithic coastal site of Brunstad (Vestfold/Norway) in 2013. The delicately incised decoration comprise net-, wave-, and pigtail-patterns on both sides, as well as an anthropomorphic or fish figure. While the combination of the object’s form, material, and decoration is unique, each of the three aspects have parallels in Middle and Late Mesolithic cultural traditions. Stylistically, the decorative motifs are similar to other pieces of portable ‘art‘ known from the Middle and Late Mesolithic periods, while the material resembles sandstone knives known from Norwegian sites. However, it is difficult to determine the function of the object. Through a visual analysis of the object, and with the help of the RTI technology, changes in the object’s form and decoration can be observed. These changes indicate several layers of meaning that are imbedded in the Brunstad object, and can be interpreted with regard to aspects of the object’s changing meaning over time, mobility, and social contexts in which it was used.

• Schülke, Almut (2020). Coastal landscapes of the Mesolithic: Diversities, challenges and perspectives on human-coast relations between the Atlantic and the Baltic Sea. In Schülke, Almut (Eds.), Coastal landscapes of the Mesolithic : Human engagement with the coast from the Atlantic to the Baltic Sea. Routledge. ISSN 9781138303607. p. 1–24. doi: 10.4324/9780203730942. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This chapter introduces current topics in the discussion of human encounters with coasts and coastal areas in what is termed the Mesolithic period (c. 9500–3800 cal bc), with special focus on northern and western Europe, from Ireland in the west to Latvia in the east. It also serves to place the 15 other chapters (Chapters 2–16) of this volume into this ‘field of play’ – not least in a research historical perspective, and introduces the structure of the book. The diversities of the coastal environments and their development in the areas from the Atlantic to the Baltic are, on the one hand, decisive for Mesolithic people’s encounter with the coast and the sea (with regard to e.g. tides, climate, topography and specific faunal and mineral resources). On the other hand, they also have consequences for the preservation of archaeological coastal sites, for example being submerged or not, or yielding organic or non-organic material. These conditions have, in return, an important impact on the respective knowledge of the human use, exploitation and meanings of coastal areas in the Mesolithic period. The chapter focuses on these different ‘landscapes’, including varieties of coast and sea, different coastal zones and their taphonomic biases, social organization, mobility and networks, and coastal sites as people’s remains, their diversities, economic aspects, aspects of site placement, cosmological dimensions, as well as issues of time and chronology. It addresses how the obvious regional differences can broaden our understanding of Mesolithic human–coast relations, by comparing, across regions, different archaeological, environmental and methodological situations and scales and by sharing approaches, and it eventually formulates future research questions and perspectives.

• Schülke, Almut (2020). First visit or revisit? Motivations of mobility and the use and reuse of sites in the changing coastal areas of Mesolithic southeastern Norway. In Schülke, Almut (Eds.), Coastal landscapes of the Mesolithic : Human engagement with the coast from the Atlantic to the Baltic Sea. Routledge. ISSN 9781138303607. p. 359–393. doi: 10.4324/9780203730942. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The Skagerrak coast and the Oslo fjord area in southeastern Norway are exceptionally well suited for studies of the long-term use and settlement of the coastal zone. Here, processes of continuous land upheaval during all of the Mesolithic period have preserved hundreds of former coastal sites. Studying these sites can illuminate how humans might have experienced and responded to the environmental and cultural past perspectives embedded in changing coastal landscapes – beyond mere economic explanations. Case studies on the topographic surroundings of excavated coastal sites, their distance to the coast as well as their relation to earlier settlement sites, with a special focus on the Middle Mesolithic and the Late Mesolithic periods (c. 8200–3800 cal bc) are presented, which reveal nuances of how the coastal zone was settled throughout these periods. This prompts questions about people’s relation to their surroundings: (1) The relocation of shore-based sites is seen in areas with land upheaval, (2) shore-based sites and sites further from the shoreline occur in coastal areas with little land upheaval, (3) many shore-bound sites show long-term use or reuse. But there are also (4) indications that former coast-based sites were reused as hinterland sites. Understanding the sites as traces of chains of activities and movement through time allows for a discussion of possible motivations for the mobility of the people that chose to visit, use or settle at specific places or locations. The conceptual pair of ‘first visit’ and ‘revisit’ is introduced to discuss different scales and types of such long-term mobility – with linear or cyclical character. This also includes the use of the constantly growing coastal hinterland, which hitherto has been underestimated.

• Schülke, Almut (2019). Megalithic tombs and wetland depositions as markers of old and new places in the Early Neolithic: Break or inversion of ritualized practice? In Müller, Johannes; Hinz, Martin & Wunderlich, Maria (Ed.), Megaliths-Societies-Landscapes. Early Monumentality and Social Differentiation in Neolithic Europe. Verlag Dr. Rudolf Habelt GMBH. ISSN 9783774942134. p. 465–486. Full text in Research Archive
• Schülke, Almut; Eriksen, Kristin; Gummesson, Sara & Reitan, Gaute (2019). The Mesolithic inhumation at Brunstad - A two-step multidisciplinary excavation Method enables rare Insights into hunter-gatherer mortuary practice in Norway. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. ISSN 2352-409X. 23(February 2019), p. 662–673. doi: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2018.11.025. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The Mesolithic burial from Brunstad, Vestfold, Eastern Norway, dating to c. 5900 cal BC, represents rare evidence of Mesolithic mortuary practice in Norway. While Mesolithic settlement finds are abundant in the region, evidence of mortuary ritual is virtually absent in the record. In this article we present the method and the results of the multidisciplinary excavation, on-site and in the laboratory. The challenging Brunstad find was excavated in two steps, and later reconstructed, involving osteology, 3D photogrammetry and conservation. Moreover, the burial is discussed in its local, regional and supra-regional context. While the inhumation of an adult individual in a flexed body position is rare in its regional context, it exhibits typical features known from Mesolithic graves in Scandinavia as well as from other parts of Europe. These include the shore-based island location and proximity to a settlement site, the body position, as well as certain features of mortuary ritual. In the light of Mesolithic mortuary practices in Scandinavia and the Baltic region, from where many Mesolithic graves are known, we suggest that Mesolithic hunter-gatherers in Eastern Norway and the Skagerrak region handled and disposed of their dead in various ways, some of which might not have left archaeological traces. We conclude that the Brunstad grave represents a distinct mode of burial at the time.

• Reitan, Gaute; Danielsen, Christina Fredrikke; Gummesson, Sara & Schülke, Almut (2019). Brunstad i Stokke, Vestfold - et bosettingsområde fra rundt 6000 f.Kr., med spor etter gjentatte besøk, grav og deponeringer. Viking - Norsk arkeologisk årbok. ISSN 0332-608X. LXXXII, p. 33–62. doi: 10.5617/viking.7115. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Brunstad in Vestfold, Southeast Norway – a repeatedly visited settlement area from c. 6000 cal. BC, with a grave and other traces of ritual depositions

• Berg-Hansen, Inger Marie; Damlien, Hege; Zagorska, Ilga; Kalniņš, Mārcis; Bērziņš, Valdis & Schülke, Almut (2019). Long-term variation in lithic technological traditions and social interaction: the Stone Age of the Eastern Baltic (Latvia), 10,500–2900 calBC. Fennoscandia Archaeologica. ISSN 0781-7126. XXXVI, p. 6–32. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The Eastern Baltic Stone Age is characterized by several major shifts in tool technology. Our picture of cultural change is currently based on typological variation in well-preserved bone tools, ceramics, stone tools, and on diversity in lithic raw-material use. These variations have partly been interpreted as the result of external influences, and partly as internal development. However, the understanding of relations with neighbouring regions is still limited. Recent decades have seen a growing interest in the chaîne opératoire approach and technological analysis, and their relevance for studying intra-site activity and development of skill, and for describing ancient technologies has been demonstrated. Technological and cultural relationships in the North European Stone Age have also been discussed within this frame. In this article, we take a new approach, employing variation in lithic technological craft traditions as proxy for investigating long-term development and variability in lines of communication. This study addresses three chronological contexts of the Latvian Stone Age, based on technological analysis of 26 sites. In describing the overall development in stone technology during the period c 10 500–2900 calBC, the article demonstrates not only technological variations but also affirms fluctuation/change in directions of social contacts throughout the Stone Age, demonstrating variation in knowledge transmission and communication routes across large geographical areas.

• Wieckowska-Lüth, Magdalena; Solheim, Steinar; Schülke, Almut & Kirleis, Wiebke (2018). Towards a refined understanding of the use of coastal zones in the Mesolithic: New investigations on human–environment interactions in Telemark, southeastern Norway. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. ISSN 2352-409X. 17, p. 839–851. doi: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2017.12.045. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The study of the effects of human presence on vegetation in the Mesolithic has been controversial. It is often assumed that hunter-gatherers did not change or affect their environment in a way that can be detected by means of pollen analysis. In this paper, we explore potential human impact on the vegetation during the Mesolithic by comparing pollen data from a high-resolution sediment core from Lake Skogstjern with archaeological data obtained through extensive excavation and survey in Bamble, in the county of Telemark, southeastern Norway. The aim of this interdisciplinary approach is to reach a better understanding of the development and use of Mesolithic woodlands with regard to the availability of different resources, but also to put the question of human impact on Mesolithic vegetation on the agenda. Mesolithic settlement in southeastern Norway was to a very large degree shore bound, and the pollen analysis from Lake Skogstjern, situated in the coastal hinterland, allows for new perspectives on and interpretations of the use of the coastal wider landscape.

• Damlien, Hege; Berg-Hansen, Inger Marie; Zagorska, Ilga; Kalniņš, Mārcis; Koxvold, Lucia Uchermann & Nielsen, Svein Vatsvåg [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2018). A technological crossroads: Exploring diversity in the pressure blade technology of Mesolithic Latvia. Oxford Journal of Archaeology. ISSN 0262-5253. 37(3), p. 229–246. doi: 10.1111/ojoa.12139. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  A long‐standing debate in archaeology concerns the sources of technological diversification among prehistoric hunter‐gatherers. This includes the study of the emergence and spread of pressure blade technology in Northern Europe during the Early Holocene. Until now, there has been little technological study of lithic collections from the East Baltic region, and our knowledge of the development and spread of this technology in the area is inadequate. This article presents for the first time a technological analysis of lithic assemblages from seven Early and Middle Mesolithic sites in the territory of present‐day Latvia, offering new possibilities for discussing pressure blade technology and research objectives connected with it. Furthermore, variation in elements of this technology is explored in relation to raw‐material characteristics through experimental flint knapping. Finally, the factors influencing diversity in craft traditions, as well as large‐scale communication and shifting spheres of interaction within Northern Europe during the Mesolithic, are discussed.

• Schülke, Almut (2017). Prosjektplan og faglige problemstillinger for E18 Rugtvedt-Dørdal. Menneske og kystsonen i steinalderen - variasjon og kontinuitet. In Solheim, Steinar (Eds.), E18 Rugtvedt-Dørdal. Arkeologiske undersøkelser av lokaliteter fra steinalder og jernalder i Bamble kommune, Telemark fylke.. Portal forlag. ISSN 9788202566241. p. 27–28. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  E18 Rugtvedt-Dørdal er et forvaltningsinitiert utgravningsprosjekt og er organisert som en del av Arkeologisk seksjons virksomhet ved Kulturhistorisk museum. Prosjektet ble etablert 1.juli 2013 og avsluttet 31. august 2016. Prosjektet omfatter arkeologiske undersøkelser i sammenheng med Statens vegvesens utbygging av ny E18 mellom Rugtvedt og Dørdal i Bamble kommune i Telemark fylke (figur 1.1).1 Veitraseen er 16,8 km lang, og tiltaket omfatter også anleggsveier og massedeponi. Tiltaket berører 44 automatisk fredete kulturminner, hvorav 34 lokaliteter er utgravd (figur 1.2). Det er undersøkt 30 lokaliteter som er datert til steinalderen, og 4 som er datert til jernalderen og middelalderen. Prosjektet har gjennomført tre utgravningsseson­ger i årene 2013-2015. Prosjektets overordnete mål er i henhold til lov om kulturminner å ivareta det vitenskapelige potensialet til de automatisk fredete kulturminnene som blir berørt av tiltaket. Prosjektets faglige målsetting har vært å utforske steinalderens kystlandskap.

• Schülke, Almut (2016). Refining landscape archaeology – a study of the social relations between humans and their surroundings as embedded in megalithic tombs. Praehistorische Zeitschrift. ISSN 0079-4848. 91(2), p. 317–352. doi: 10.1515/pz-2016-0028. Full text in Research Archive

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• Balkowski, Nadia; Hofmann, Kerstin P.; Hohle, Isabel A. & Schülke, Almut (2023). Mensch-Körper-Tod. Der Umgang mit menschlichen Überresten im Neolithikum Mitteleuropas. Sidestone Press. ISBN 9789464270549. 307 p. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Das europäische Neolithikum zeichnet sich durch eine Vielzahl von Umgangsweisen mit menschlichen Körpern von Toten aus. Der archäologische Diskurs zu Mensch, Körper und Tod stützte sich für das Neolithikum traditionell jedoch auf Körperbestattungen. Dies ist unter anderem auf die in der westlichen Welt vorherrschende Idealvorstellung von Totenruhe und der Deponierung eines Körpers an einem, oft separat dafür vorgesehenen Ort zurückzuführen. In der letzten Zeit gerieten jedoch Deponierungen fragmentierter und mitunter auch manipulierter menschlicher Überreste in den Fokus des Interesses, nicht zuletzt durch die Zunahme neuer archäologischer Funde, die sich mit traditionellen Begriffen und Konzepten nicht ohne weiteres erklären lassen. Eine wachsende Zahl solcher Funde fordert die Archäologie heraus, sich mit diesen Themen aus neuen Perspektiven zu beschäftigen. Der vorliegende Band integriert theoretische Reflexionen zur Bedeutung des menschlichen Körpers und zur Wahrnehmung des Übergangs vom Leben zum Tod, wie sie anhand von Bestattungen und Deponierungen menschlicher Überreste und archäologischer Funde untersucht werden können. Ein besonderer Schwerpunkt liegt dabei auf dem neolithischen Mitteleuropa. Mit Hilfe verschiedener interdisziplinärer und theoretischer Ansätze wird anhand von Fallstudien deutlich, dass etablierte Praktiken und performative Akte des Umgangs mit dem menschlichen Körper hochkomplex sind und daher auch gemeinsam aus unterschiedlichen Blickwinkeln betrachtet werden sollten. Der aus einer Tagungssektion in Würzburg 2019 hervorgegangene Sammelband vereint dabei Beiträge zu verschiedenen Gebieten und neolithischen Subperioden, wie der Linearbandkeramik, der Trichterbecherkultur und dem subalpinen Spätneolithikum, darunter prominente Fundkomplexe. Eingerahmt werden diese von Aufsätzen, die sich kritisch mit der archäologischen Erforschung des Umgangs von Tod und mit Toten auseinandersetzen und einem zusammenfassenden Überblick zu den Beiträgen des Sammelbandes geben

• Damlien, Hege; Berg-Hansen, Inger Marie; Melheim, Anne Lene; Mjærum, Axel; Persson, Per Åke & Schülke, Almut [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2021). Steinalderen i Sørøst-Norge. Faglig program for steinalderundersøkelser ved Kulturhistorisk museum. Cappelen Damm Akademisk. ISBN 9788202737030. 260 p. doi: 10.23865/noasp.141. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Steinalderen i Sørøst-Norge. Faglig program for steinalderundersøkelser ved Kulturhistorisk museum inneholder en helhetlig oversikt over utgravinger av 430 boplasser, begravelser, depoter, fangstanlegg m.m. fra år 2000 til 2017, og presenterer en bred og oppdatert redegjørelse for forskningsstatus knyttet til steinalderen (ca. 9500–1700 f.Kr.) i regionen. I presentasjonen av forskningsstatus synliggjøres ikke bare det vi vet per i dag, men også betydelige kunnskapshull. Den manglede kunnskapen har dannet utgangspunkt for formuleringen av fire framtidige satsingsområder: Teknologi Bosetning og landskapsbruk Ressursgrunnlag og økonomi Ritualer og ritualisert praksis I dette faglige programmet for steinalderundersøkelser presenteres konkrete forslag til strategier og tiltak som vil bidra til å tette disse kunnskapshullene, skape faglig utvikling og danne grunnlag for videre forskning. Steinalderen i Sørøst-Norge er skrevet for forskere, forvaltere, studenter og andre som vil gjøre dypdykk i vår eldste forhistorie. Boken vil være et viktig verktøy for planlegging og gjennomføring av kommende steinalderutgravninger ved Kulturhistorisk museum. Den vil også danne et grunnlag for de rådene museet gir i forbindelse med forvaltningen av våre eldste kulturminner.

• Damlien, Hege; Berg-Hansen, Inger Marie; Melheim, Anne Lene; Mjærum, Axel; Persson, Per & Schülke, Almut [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2021). Steinalderen i Sørøst-Norge: Faglig program for steinalderundersøkelser ved Kulturhistorisk museum. Cappelen Damm Akademisk. ISBN 9788202737030. 260 p. Full text in Research Archive
• Schülke, Almut (2020). Coastal landscapes of the Mesolithic : Human engagement with the coast from the Atlantic to the Baltic Sea. Routledge. ISBN 9781138303607. 432 p. Full text in Research Archive

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• Schülke, Almut (2025). Mot ‘public benefits’ og ‘best practices’: Kobling av forskning, formidling og forvaltning i HORIZON MSCA Doctoral network ArCHe. Full text in Research Archive
• Schülke, Almut (2025). Increasing the scientific and public value of Mesolithic coastal hunter-fisher-gatherers across Europe – The HORIZON MSCA DN ArCHe project. Full text in Research Archive
• Lewis, Carenza; Androschuk, Fedir; Ripanti, Francesco; Rummel, Christoph & Schülke, Almut (2025). Benefitting people and places: Towards a ‘Best practice’ manifesto and guidelines supporting archaeology and archaeologists aspiring to benefit wider society (Session #199). Full text in Research Archive
• Schülke, Almut (2025). Towards a better integration of Europe’s Mesolithic coastal heritage – transdisciplinary and transsectoral approaches in the HORIZON MSCA Doctoral network ArCHe. Full text in Research Archive
• Schülke, Almut (2025). Increasing the scientific and public value of Europe’s Mesolithic coastal heritage – approaches on contemporary nature-culture relations in the HORIZON MSCA Doctoral network ArCHe. Full text in Research Archive
• Schülke, Almut & Amundsen, Øystein (2025). Kystens steinalder i akademisk og praksisorientert perspektiv i HORIZON MSCA Doctoral network ArCHe. Full text in Research Archive
• Fossum, Guro; Berg-Hansen, Inger Marie; Calvo-Gómez, Jorge; Damlien, Hege; Granados, Tina Jensen & Koxvold, Lucia Uchermann [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2025). Late Mesolithic blade core concepts in Southeast Norway: characterizing their variability through time and space . Full text in Research Archive
• Lechterbeck, Jutta; Bergsvik, Knut Andreas; Schülke, Almut & Kirleis, Wiebke (2024). Neolithic transformations in Southern norway: Migration, Cultural Dynamics, and economic exchange. Full text in Research Archive
• Calvo-Gómez, Jorge; Schülke, Almut; Berg-Hansen, Inger Marie & Macāne, Aija (2024). Session 452 - Coastal Technology among Stone Age Hunter-Gatherers and Early Agropastoral Communities. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  During the Early Holocene period, coastal environments were occupied and exploited by human groups, both hunter-fisher-gatherers as well as the first agropastoral communities. Much of the previous research in these contexts has been based on a theoretical perspective from which human technology and tools would have been fundamental actors in the exploitation of coastal and marine resources. For example, fishing, collecting seafood, hunting marine mammals, or navigating along the seashore are some of the activities developed by coastal human groups that would have required specific techniques and knowledge. However, to understand the lifeways of the coastal prehistoric groups, many technological perspectives still need to be explored. Can we identify technological features specific to the coast and the exploitation of coastal and marine resources in the archaeological record? Are the tools produced or used differently in the coastal areas compared to those in inland environments? To what extent can we consider these technological features as a socialized perception of the coastal environment? We invite contributors to present theoretical and methodological perspectives to the study of the coastal techniques, as well as new study cases, including contributions comprising technological, functional, or raw material studies of Mesolithic and Neolithic coastal groups.

• Lechterbeck, Jutta; Bergsvik, Knut Andreas; Schülke, Almut & Kirleis, Wiebke (2024). Neolithic transformations in Southern norway: Migration, Cultural Dynamics, and economic exchange. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Talk in Session#57: "What do we need to know to understand Stone Age mobility?"

• Schülke, Almut (2024). HORIZON-MSCA Doctoral network ArCHe – Archaeological Coastal Heritage: Past, present and future of a hidden prehistoric legacy. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  presentasjon av HORIZON MSCA Doctoral network på KHMs styremøte

• Lewis, Carenza; Schülke, Almut; Fernandez, Jesus Fernandez & Rummel, Christoph (2024). Session #918 Public benefit: sharing, critiquing, brain-storming and blue-skying experience and ideas to help archaeology benefit wider society in the future. Full text in Research Archive
• Schülke, Almut (2024). The Public Benefits of Hunter-Fisher-Gatherer Coastal Heritage – The HORIZON MSCA Doctoral Network ArCHe and its past-present-future approach. Full text in Research Archive
• Schülke, Almut (2024). HORIZON MSCA Doctoral network ArCHe – Archaeological Coastal Heritage: Past, present and future of a hidden prehistoric legacy. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  presentasjon av HORIZON MSCA Doctoral network ArCHe

• Schülke, Almut & Berg-Hansen, Inger Marie (2023). Aktiviteter i PrehCoast-gruppa 2023. Full text in Research Archive
• Schülke, Almut (2023). The role of ritual in placemaking – dolmens and flint axe depositions in SE-Norway give insights into social encounters in the Early Neolithic of N-Europe. Full text in Research Archive
• Schülke, Almut (2023). Technique or randomness – on the practice of placemaking. Full text in Research Archive
• Granados, Tina Jensen; Stubberud, Sverre Magnus; Hansen, Nora Sophia Kamphuis & Schülke, Almut (2023). Der fjorden møter havet Siste nytt om fangstfolk ved Frierfjorden og Skagerrakkysten. Arkeologiske undersøkingar i samband med Fv.353 Rugtvedt–Surtebogen. Full text in Research Archive
• Schülke, Almut (2023). Megalittanlegg i på Rødtangen - Rituelle praktiker gir innsyn i overregionale møter og nettverk i yngre steinalder. Full text in Research Archive
• Schülke, Almut (2023). Forskning og formidling innenfor og om forvaltningsprosjekter: Noen tanker om a bringe fortiden inn i nåtiden for fremtiden. Full text in Research Archive
• Lewis, Carenza; Darvill, Tim; Rummel, Christoph; Schülke, Almut & Fernández, Jesús Fernández (2023). The Future of the Past: How the EAA Public Benefits Advisory Group aims to help archaeology, people and places, now and into the future. Full text in Research Archive
• Schülke, Almut (2023). Fortelling 3: Måter å håndtere nye omgivelser i Norge i yngre steinalder. In Hofmann, Daniela; Frieman, Catherine J & Nyland, Astrid Johanne (Ed.), Arkeologiske fortellinger om migrasjon. Sidestone Press. ISSN 9789464262155. p. 56–57. doi: 10.59641/q4699tc. Full text in Research Archive
• Schülke, Almut (2023). Narrative 3: Coping with new surroundings in Neolithic Norway. In Hofmann, Daniela; Frieman, Catherine J & Nyland, Astrid Johanne (Ed.), Migration narratives in Archaeology. Sidestone Press. ISSN 9789464262025. p. 56–57. doi: 10.59641/ukr271lm. Full text in Research Archive
• Lewis, Carenza; Darvill, Tim; Rummel, Christoph & Schülke, Almut (2023). Session #568 - Beyond bean counting: Current, emerging and anticipated approaches to benefitting people and places through archaeology - Introduction to this session. Full text in Research Archive
• Schülke, Almut (2023). Horizon Europe Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Doctoral network "ArCHe – Archaeological Coastal Heritage: Past, present and future of a hidden prehistoric legacy". Full text in Research Archive
• Schülke, Almut (2022). Fortid - nåtid- fremtid: (Undervisnings-)perspektiver på steinalderens kystlokaliteter som ikke-fornybar ressurs. Full text in Research Archive
• Schülke, Almut; Kirleis, Wiebke; Lechterbeck, Jutta & Bergsvik, Knut Andreas (2022). Marking the land in the Neolithic. Case studies from western and eastern Norway. Full text in Research Archive
• Schülke, Almut; Lechterbeck, Jutta; Bergsvik, Knut Andreas & Kirleis, Wiebke (2022). Landscapes of action in the Neolithic periphery of the North: Understanding social processes, encounters and economic change in coastal and hinterland areas in the 4th and 3rd millenium BC. Full text in Research Archive
• Schülke, Almut & Mjærum, Axel (2022). Steinaldervandring på Ekeberg. Full text in Research Archive
• Solheim, Steinar & Schülke, Almut (2022). Exploring the Archaeological Migration Narrative: The Introduction of Farming and Animal Husbandry in Southern Norway. Full text in Research Archive
• Schülke, Almut (2022). Megaliths at the periphery – Understanding the social setting of the dolmens in the Oslo Fjord area, Norway. Full text in Research Archive
• Schülke, Almut & Solheim, Steinar (2022). Participation in CAS-project "Exploring the Archaeological Migration Narrative: The introduction of farming and animal husbandry in Southern Norway". Full text in Research Archive
• Schülke, Almut (2022). At the threshold to the mountains: Social relevance and meaning of monuments along coastal waterways in Neolithic Southeast Norway. Full text in Research Archive
• Schülke, Almut (2022). Megalittanlegg i Oslofjordområdet - Rituelle praktiker gir innsyn i overregionale møter og nettverk i yngre steinalder. Full text in Research Archive
• Schülke, Almut (2021). I de levendes verden … Håndtering av død og de døde i norsk mesolitikum. Full text in Research Archive
• Schülke, Almut (2021). Into the woods … Approaching coast-hinterland relations in the Late Mesolithic of Southeast Norway. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This paper explores how human engagement with the wooded hinterland in the Late Mesolithic of Southeast Norway can be approached archaeologically. Hunter-gatherer engagement with the environment is, especially in Scandinavia, often discussed from a maritime perspective, as many archaeological sites are placed at the coast. They are today either submerged or located on uplifted land. In Southeast Norway constant landuplift since Late Glacial times has resulted in the preservation of hundreds of Mesolithic coastal sites on dry land. Their placement in areas which today are exposed to infrastructure development has not only led to a high number of excavated former coastal sites, but has also enhanced the idea that the coast and marine resources played a major role for Mesolithic hunter-gatherers. A generally accepted model on a semi-sedentary way of life prevails, where larger shorebased locations are interpreted as base-camps. But how and to what extend the people who lived in these coastal areas used and were attached to the coastal hinterlands and its extensive woodlands is still is little discussed, even though there are growing indications of such use. These include the evidence of visits of hinterland locations, the human manipulation of forested areas as attested by pollenanalysis, bones of terrestrial animals and depictions of such on rock art, which can indicate (seasonal?) movement and mobility patterns into and across the woods. This contribution aims at setting indications of hinterland and woodland use on the agenda, and asks which possibilities these open for a thicker understanding of human-nature encounter at the time – in social, economic, and cosmological terms.

• Schülke, Almut; Berg-Hansen, Inger Marie; Mjærum, Axel Johan; Solheim, Steinar; Roalkvam, Isak & Damlien, Hege (2021). Forskergruppe PrehCOAST - Status og veien videre. Full text in Research Archive
• Mjærum, Axel & Schülke, Almut (2021). Kulturvandring gjennom Oslos steinalderlandskap. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Visste du at det nåværende Oslo sentrum lå under havflaten og at Maridalsvannet og Sognsvann en gang var fjordarmer med sel og torsk? Steinalderens kystboplasser ligger nå høyt over havet – inne skogen og midt i byen. Bli med arkeologene på en vandring for å utforske steinalderens kystlandskap og menneskene som oppholdt seg der. I Ekebergåsen er det mange spor etter steinalderens kystboplasser, og her ligger til og med noen av Østlandets eldste helleristninger. Disse funnstedene illustrerer godt de enorme landskapsendringene siden slutten av istiden.

• Schülke, Almut (2020). Digital bokslipp for antologien "Coastal Landscapes of the Mesolithic. Human Engagement with the Coast from the Atlantic to the Baltic Sea". Full text in Research Archive
• Schülke, Almut; Berg-Hansen, Inger Marie; Mjærum, Axel & Roalkvam, Isak (2020). Forskergruppe PrehCOAST: Formål, planer, resultater. Full text in Research Archive
• Schülke, Almut (2020). Rezension zu: Schultrich, S. (2018). Das Jungneolithikum in Schleswig-Holstein (Scales of Transformation in Prehistoric and Archaic Societies, 1). Leiden: Sidestone. Archäologische Informationen 43. Archäologische Informationen. ISSN 0341-2873. 43. Full text in Research Archive
• Schülke, Almut (2020). Materialities of Coping – Coping with materialities. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Opening speaker and Chair of Session: Materialities of Coping - Coping With Materialities

• Schülke, Almut (2020). Time depth in changing environments – From Early Mesolithic coastal sites to strategic observation points in the hinterland in later Mesolithic times. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Throughout all of the Mesolithic, glacial retreat, isostatic rebound and sea-level changes have continuously changed the coastal areas of Southeast Norway. Constantly retreating coastlines led to the replacement of human activity connected to marine exploitation, manifested in an overall relocation of coastal sites following the shoreline. The significance of coastal resources for hunter-gatherer economy has been an important research topic in recent years. Little attention has however been paid to the marked growth of landmasses that took place at the same time, and to Mesolithic people’s experience of the growing areas of dried out land. The use of these coastal hinterland areas and people’s adaptation to them has hardly been studied. This talk deals with the emergence of the coastal hinterland and its archaeological significance. Starting point are a number Early Mesolithic settlements/occupational sites, which today are located inland, but which in Early Mesolithic times were placed directly at the coast and very close to deep sea beds. Radiocarbon dates from these sites exhibit later Mesolithic dates – despite the typical Early Mesolithic artefacts. These late dates have hitherto been considered as outliers, interpreted as signs of later forest-fires. GIS-modelling of the topographic character of the placement of these sites against the backdrop of land-upheaval processes that transformed these coastal areas through time indicates that they were placed at potentially excellent view-points overlooking marked valleys (former sea beds, now placed several kilometres from the coast) at the times of these later Mesolithic dates. Thus, the later radiocarbon dates might indicate a pattern of Late Mesolithic hinterland sites with excellent views, which might have served as places in a communication system, such as observation spots of human and animal movement. As places with a deep human and natural history, they might also have served as places of memory. Setting the coastal hinterland on the agenda adds a new dimension to our understanding of the diversity of adaptive strategies of coastal groups, and opens up new paths for a better understanding of the use of and movement in Mesolithic environments in general.

• Schülke, Almut (2020). Preface and acknowledgements. In Schülke, Almut (Eds.), Coastal landscapes of the Mesolithic : Human engagement with the coast from the Atlantic to the Baltic Sea. Routledge. ISSN 9781138303607. p. XVIII–XX. doi: 10.4324/9780203730942. Full text in Research Archive
• Berg-Hansen, Inger Marie; Mjærum, Axel; Roalkvam, Isak; Solheim, Steinar & Schülke, Almut (2020). Coast-concepts in Norwegian Stone Age Archaeology. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The coast plays a major role in Norwegian Stone Age archaeology. Hundreds of sites from the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods were situated close to or directly at the shorelines. They witness of the economic, social and ritual importance of the coastal zone. However, the “normality” of coastal sites seems to have prevented further reflections about the concepts that have been applied to study coastal sites and the relevance of the coast in the Stone Age. Our talk will identify concepts and epistemological perspectives of how archaeologists have dealt with coastal issues in Stone Age archaeology in a research historic perspective – from early geoarchaeological studies focus-sing on land uplift and coastal sites (“the beach model”), via more processually oriented division of landscape spaces and their environmental characteristics. We will also discuss the sites’ economic functions, based on more recent, ethnoarchaeologically influenced, perspectives on taskscapes, movement in and experience of the coastal zone.

• Schülke, Almut; Solheim, Steinar; Roalkvam, Isak; Mjærum, Axel & Berg-Hansen, Inger Marie (2020). New Perspectives on Old Shores: Current approaches on the Stone Age in Eastern Norway. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The coastal and inland areas landscapes of southeastern Norway offered resource rich environments for Mesolithic hunter-gatherers to settle in. This human activity has left an extensive dataset for archaeologist to study settlement and activity from the seashores to the high mountain areas. In recent years, there has been a development in archaeological analysis of human activity in the region applying the large amount of data generated by recent archaeological excavations and surveys in novel ways, especially in the regions former coastal areas. The use of archaeological big-data, such as radiocarbon dates and surveyed sites, has given new insights to past population dynamics, and coupled with environmental data this has offered us possible explanations to variation in settlement patterns. Further, detailed analysis of lithic technology have provided insight into raw material procurement, movement of people and shifting social networks. Moreover, the identification of some hinterland sites opens up for a better understanding of the importance and use of the coastal hinterland. In this paper, we will look closer at the recent development in archaeological research on coastal societies in southeastern Norway. We will present cur-rent perspectives as well as which future avenues we will explore in order to increase our knowledge on hunter-gatherers settlement, mobility and economy in coastal areas.

• Schülke, Almut & Mjærum, Axel (2020). Kulturvandring gjennom Oslos steinalderlandskap. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Bli med på en vandring gjennom et Oslo som ikke eksisterer lenger, og bli kjent med steinaldersporene rundt oss. Visste du at det nåværende Oslo sentrum lå under havflaten for 2000 år siden og at Maridalsvannet og Sognsvann en gang var fjordarmer med sel og torsk? Steinalderens kystboplasser ligger nå høyt over havet – inne skogen og midt i byen. Bli med arkeologene på en vandring for å utforske steinalderens kystlandskap og menneskene som oppholdt seg der. I Ekebergåsen er det mange spor etter steinalderens kystboplasser, og her ligger til og med noen av Østlandets eldste helleristninger. Disse funnstedene illustrerer godt de enorme landskapsendringene siden slutten av istiden. På vandringen forteller arkeologene Axel Mjærum og Almut Schülke hvordan mennesket tilpasset seg en kyst i kontinuerlig endring gjennom tiden, hvordan vi kan utforske dette arkeologisk og å vise noen av sporene av steinalderen som finnes i dagens landskap. Turen går rundt i Ekebergpark-området, på tilrettelagte stier, men med stigninger, og stopper ved relevante steder. God fottøy og klær etter vær anbefales.

• Schülke, Almut (2019). Introduction to the topic Coastal mobility/coast-inland mobility in hunter-gatherer societies. Full text in Research Archive
• Schülke, Almut (2019). The relevance of PrehCOAST for Southeast Norway. Full text in Research Archive
• Schülke, Almut (2019). Rezension/Review:JUDITH M. GRÜNBERG, BERNHARD GRAMSCH, LARS LARSSON, JÖRG ORSCHIEDT UND HARALD MELLER (red.), Mesolithic Burials – Rites, Symbols and Social Organisation of Early Post-Glacial Communities. Mesolithische Bestattungen – Riten, Symbole und soziale Organisation früher postglazialer Gemeinschaften. International Conference Halle (Saale), Germany, 18th–21st September 2013. Tagungen des Landesmuseums für Vorgeschichte Halle 13/I, II. Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie Sachsen-A. Germania. ISSN 0016-8874. 2018, 96(1-2), p. 245–250. doi: 10.11588/ger.2018.65866. Full text in Research Archive
• Schülke, Almut (2019). Brunstad, Vestfold, og mesolittiske graver. Full text in Research Archive
• Schülke, Almut; Berg-Hansen, Inger Marie; Mjærum, Axel & Solheim, Steinar (2019). The Coast and Coastal Societies - Concepts and Terminology. Southeastern Norway. Full text in Research Archive
• Schülke, Almut (2019). Coast-inland relations: Perception and mobility. Full text in Research Archive
• Schülke, Almut (2019). Mensch - Material - Ort. Ein praxistheoretischer Ansatz zur Erforschung von Mobilität und (Kultur)kontakt im Mesolithikum und Neolithikum Südskandinaviens. Full text in Research Archive
• Schülke, Almut; Balkowski, Nadja; Hofmann, Kerstin; Hohle, Isabel & Müller-Scheessel, Nils (2019). Mensch - Körper - Tod. Der Umgang mit menschlichen Überresten im Neolithikum. Einführungsvortrag. Full text in Research Archive
• Schülke, Almut (2018). Personlig-krise - samfunnskrise: Barnedød i steinalderen. Full text in Research Archive
• Schülke, Almut (2018). From coast to hinterland in the Eastern Norwegian Mesolithic: spatiotemporal aspects of the land-uplift and their impact on hunter-gatherer communities. Full text in Research Archive
• Schülke, Almut (2018). Hunter-gatherer landscapes challenged (and transformed?): Megalithic Tombs in 4th millennium Eastern Norway. Full text in Research Archive
• Damlien, Hege; Berg-Hansen, Inger Marie; Schülke, Almut; Zagorska, Ilga; Bērziņš, Valdis & Kalniņš, Mārcis (2018). Long-term variation in communication and social relations during the Stone Age of Eastern Baltic (10500 – 6500 BC) – a technological approach. Full text in Research Archive
• Schülke, Almut (2017). Hvor ble de døde av? Spor av mesolittiske begravelsesritualer i Norge i et Skandinavisk perspektiv. Full text in Research Archive
• Schülke, Almut (2017). Våtmarksfunn fra steinalderen - et glimt fra Vestsibir. Full text in Research Archive
• Schülke, Almut (2017). A portable object in motion - the Late Mesolithic ornamented stone-plate from Brunstad (Southeast Norway) and its cultural context. Full text in Research Archive
• Schülke, Almut (2016). Paleoecological training: The archaeological aims and questions in the light of Stone Age Research in the Oslofjord region With regard to the New lake-coring. Full text in Research Archive
• Eriksen, Kristin & Schülke, Almut (2016). The 3D-photogrammetry documentation of the Mesolithic grave from Brunstad, Norway. Full text in Research Archive
• Schülke, Almut & Zagorska, Ilga (2016). Environment and people on both sides of the Baltic Basin during the Stone Age (Norway-Latvia). Full text in Research Archive
• Schülke, Almut; Solheim, Steinar; Wieckowska-Lüth, Magdalena; Dörfler, Walter & Kirleis, Wiebke (2016). A more than 10500 years high resolution record of land use history, vegetation dynamics and erosion history from Lake Skogstjern, Southeastern Norway. Full text in Research Archive
• Schülke, Almut & Eriksen, Kristin (2016). Graven fra Brunstad - et unikt funn fra steinalderen. Full text in Research Archive
• Schülke, Almut & Kristin, Eriksen (2016). The 3D-photogrammetry documentation of the Mesolithic grave from Brunstad, Norway. Full text in Research Archive
• Schülke, Almut (2016). Key-note Lecture International Summer School: Exploring humans in shifting surroundings: Theories and concepts in landscape archaeology. Full text in Research Archive
• Schülke, Almut (2016). Newly frequented or revisited? Diverging concepts of historicity in the changing coastal landscapes of the Mesolithic in Southeastern Norway. Full text in Research Archive
• Schülke, Almut (2016). Welcome and Introduction. Full text in Research Archive
• Schülke, Almut; Solheim, Steinar; Koxvold, Lucia Uchermann & Havstein, John Asbjørn (2015). Arkeologiske undersøkelser langs E18 Rugtvedt-Dørdal. Full text in Research Archive
• Eriksen, Kristin & Schülke, Almut (2015). The 3D documentation of the Stone Age burial at Brunstad. Full text in Research Archive
• Nielsen, Svein Vatsvåg; Schülke, Almut & Andreas, Bergsvik Knut (2022). In the Wake of Farming: Studies of Demographic and Economic Variability in Southern Norway in the Period 4500-1700 BCE. Universitetet i Oslo. Full text in Research Archive
• Reitan, Gaute; Schülke, Almut; Gummesson, Sara; Eriksen, Kristin & Vike, Vegard Alexander (2018). En lokalitet med grav fra eldre steinalder, inkludert sammenfatning av Brunstad-prosjektet. Brunstad lok.25, Skjærsnes, 8/6, Sandefjord k., Vestfold. Kulturhistorisk museum, Universitetet i Oslo, Arkeologisk seksjon . Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Denne rapporten omhandler steinalderlokaliteten Brunstad lok. 25. Undersøkelsen i felt ble gjennomført i 2014 og hadde sin bakgrunn i utvidelsen av Brunstad konferansesenter nordøst for Melsomvik i Stokke, Sandefjord kommune. Det funnførende arealet anslås å være ca. 250 m2. Av dette ble ca. 25 % gravd konvensjonelt i ruter og lag, deretter ble hele lokaliteten flateavdekket med gravemaskin. På lokaliteten ble det samlet inn nærmere 3800 littiske funn, 32 skår keramikk og et omfattende prøvemateriale. Flint utgjør 90,1 % av alle littiske funn. Metarhyolitt, en lokal bergart, utgjør betydelige 4,7 %. Funnmaterialet kan karakteriseres som typisk for overgangsfasen mellommesolitikum–seinmesolitikum, med bl.a. trinnøkser, sandsteinskniver og mikroflekker. Flere kokegroper/ildsteder ble avdekket. En stor og nær 1 m dyp, steinfôret grop ble påtruffet i nedkant av boplassen. Gropen viste seg å være en grav. Dens innhold ble tatt inn i flere blokker og gravd ut på laboratoriet i 2015. Graven inneholdt store deler av et ubrent skjelett av et voksent individ. Brunstad lok. 25 lå 51–54 m over dagens havnivå. Lokale strandforskyvningsforhold tidfester strandbundet bosetting på stedet til like etter 6000 f.Kr. Dette sammenfaller godt med den typologiske dateringen av funnene. C14-dateringer fra kokegroper og ildsteder bekrefter dette, med resultater innenfor perioden 6000–5700 f.Kr. Tre C14-dateringer til ca. 5900 f.Kr. av trekull fra fyllmassene i graven viser at denne er samtidig med det øvrige boplassmaterialet. I tillegg ble et titalls steinskodde stolpehull dokumentert. Disse stammer fra en bygning, men med ukjent grunnplan, størrelse og orientering. C14-dateringer av trekull fra tre stolpehull har gitt sammenfallende resultater til bronsealder, 800-tallet f.Kr. Enkelte keramikkskår, flere av dem fra ett av stolpehullene, kan knyttes til denne bruksfasen. To andre lokaliteter ble også undersøkt ved Brunstad-prosjektet i 2013–2014, og er omtalt i en egen rapport (Danielsen et al. 2018). Den største av de to, Brunstad lok. 24, lå på samme høyde og umiddelbart øst for lok. 25. C14-dateringer herfra vitner om gjentatte opphold på stedet innenfor perioden ca. 6400–5600 f.Kr. Brunstad lok. 26 lå 60–100 m nord for lok. 25 og 46–50 moh. De få funnene herfra har typologiske og teknologiske likhetstrekk med de andre to Brunstad-lokalitetene. Lok. 26 kan strandlinjedateres til ca. 5800–5600 f.Kr. De tre Brunstadlokalitetene utgjør et boplassområde som i mesolittisk tid har vært besøkt gjentatte ganger over en inntil 800 år lang periode. Funnmaterialet representerer et viktig innblikk i overgangsfasen mellommesolitikum–seinmesolitikum, som i liten grad er undersøkt tidligere. I tillegg gir graven på lok. 25 et innblikk i mesolittisk gravskikk, noe som er svært sjeldent i norsk sammenheng. Prosjektleder: Almut Schülke.

• Danielsen, Christina Fredrikke; Reitan, Gaute & Schülke, Almut (2018). Steinalderlokaliteter. Brunstad lok.24 og lok.26, Skjærsnes, 8/6, Sandefjord, Vestfold. Kulturhistorisk museum, Universitetet i Oslo, Arkeologisk seksjon . Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Denne rapporten omhandler to mesolittiske lokaliteter, Brunstad lok. 24 og Brunstad lok. 26 (hhv. ID 139824 og ID 139826), som ble undersøkt nordøst for Melsomvik i Stokke, Sandefjord kommune, i 2013–2014. Det totale arealet på Brunstad lok. 24 var ca. 2900 m2, hvorav 1530 m2 ble anslått å være funnførende. 386,5 m2 ble gravd i konvensjonelle ruter og lag, og 781 m2 ble flateavdekket. Flere funnkonsentrasjoner ble avdekket under utgravningen. Totalt ble det samlet inn 12 207 littiske funn ved undersøkelsen. 90 prosent av disse er flint. Metarhyolitt utgjør den nest største kategorien med 7,3 %. Det ble dokumentert 39 strukturer, de fleste ble tolket som kokegroper og ildsteder. En halvsirkel av større stein ble tolket som rester etter en mulig enkel boligkonstruksjon med åpning vendt mot den forhistoriske strandlinjen. Brunstad lok. 24 lå 50–54 moh., men var strandbundet da den var i bruk. De lokale landhevingsforholdene tidfester dette til århundrene omkring 6000 f.Kr. En rekke C14-dateringer fra kokegroper og ildsteder bekrefter dette, og vitner om gjentatte besøk mellom ca. 6400 og 5700 f.Kr. Typologisk stemmer det innsamlede materialet godt overens med et gjenstandsinventar fra tidlig nøstvetfase slik denne er beskrevet av Håkon Glørstad (2004). Alle øksene fra lok. 24 er prikkhuggede trinnøkser, samt et mulig emne til en kjerneøks av metarhyolitt. Typiske nøstvetøkser er fraværende. Enkelte gjenstandskategorier peker seg ut ved å opptre kun på ett eller få steder på lokaliteten. Disse variasjonene i spredning kan skyldes flere besøk på lokaliteten og/eller en intern organisering av boplassområdet. Metarhyolitt utgjør en relativt stor andel av det littiske materialet fra lok. 24. Metarhyolitten kan både knyttes til økseproduksjon, men også til småredskaper, trolig som et supplement til flint. Det foreligger flere kjerner og retusjerte artefakter av dette råstoffet fra lok. 24. Det er også spor etter senere aktiviteter på Brunstad lok. 24. C14-dateringer av kokegroper har gitt resultater til bronsealder, overgangen bronsealder–førromersk jernalder og førromersk jernalder. Foruten keramikkskår er det ingen gjenstandsfunn som typologisk passer til disse dateringene. Rett nord for Brunstad lok. 24 lå Brunstad lok. 26, 46–50 moh. Denne lokaliteten var gjenstand for en mindre omfattende undersøkelse i form av systematisk prøverutegravning. Funnene var relativt fåtallige og spredt over et stort område. I alt 237 funn ble samlet inn. Selv om antallet funn fra lok. 26 er lavt, synes det å være store likhetstrekk med funnene fra lok. 24, blant annet to typiske trinnøkser, men ingen nøstvetøkser. Det ble ikke avdekket strukturer på lok. 26, så ingen C14-dateringer foreligger herfra. Ut fra høyden over havet kan imidlertid bruken av lok. 26 tidfestes til perioden ca. 5800–5500 f.Kr. Også en tredje lokalitet ble undersøkt ved Brunstad-prosjektet i 2013–2014; Brunstad lok. 25. Denne lå umiddelbart øst for lok. 24 og på samme høyde over havet. På Brunstad lok. 25 ble det også avdekket flere strukturer, blant annet en grav med store deler av et ubrent skjelett av et voksent individ. Undersøkelsen av Brunstad lok. 25 er omtalt i en egen rapport (Reitan og Schülke 2018). Brunstad lok. 24, -25 og -26 er behandlet som separate lokaliteter. Imidlertid skal de tre ses i nær sammenheng. Lokalitetene lå på en øy da de var i bruk, og samlet utgjør de et boplassområde som har blitt benyttet gjentatte ganger over inntil 800 år. Prosjektleder: Almut Schülke, Axel Mjærum.

• Granum, Solfrid & Schülke, Almut (2018). Steinalderlokaliteter. Sandnes, 202/9,24,28, Tromøy, Arendal, Aust-Agder. Kulturhistorisk museum, Universitetet i Oslo, Arkeologisk seksjon . Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Undersøkelsen av de tre steinalderlokalitetene id 108338, 108339 og 108341, Sandnes 202/9,24,28 på Dybdalshei ble foretatt i løpet av 10 arbeidsdager fra 5. oktober til 16. oktober 2015. Lokalitetene lå på toppen og på sørskråningen av en markant knaus, i dyrka mark, og i umiddelbar nærhet til hverandre. Undersøkelsens mål var å flateavdekke de tre lokalitetene ved hjelp av gravemaskin for å spore mulige strukturer og for å ta vare på eventuelle funn og prøvemateriale. Det deltok to arkeologer fra Kulturhistorisk Museum. Det ble identifisert til sammen ti kokegroper på to av lokalitetene, ni på id 108338 (lok. 1), og en på id 108339 (lok. 2). Kokegropene, som hadde ulik dybde og utstrekning i plan, ble snittet og totalgravd. Kullprøver fra i alt ni kokgroper ble vedartanalysert og 14C-datert, åtte fra lok. 1 og én fra lok. 2. Fire kokegroper fra lok. 1 ble datert til mellommesolitikum, og fire til senmesolitikum. Strukturen på lok. 2 er datert til senneolitikum. Dateringene viser at lok. 1 ble besøkt gjentatte ganger gjennom steinalderen, noe som er relativ sjeldent i Oslofjordsområdet. Det fremkom 47 littiske artefakter under avdekking og ved snitting av strukturene. 14 funn, 5 av flint og 9 av kvarts, deriblant en flintflekke og en kvartskjerne, kan relateres til strukturene på lok. 1 og lok. 2. Prosjektleder: Almut Schülke.

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