Early and mid-Holocene coastal settlement and demography in southeastern Norway: Comparing distribution of radiocarbon dates and shoreline-dated sites, 8500–2000 cal. BCE

Abstract In this paper we explore temporal variation in demography and settlement intensity in southeastern Norway during the Early and mid-Holocene. In order to investigate the temporal variation in demography and settlement we have applied and compared two different proxies: Summed radiocarbon probability distributions and site count data of shoreline-dated sites. The proxies display similar patterns, and we suggest that they indicate stability in settlement in the coastal areas of southeastern Norway between 8500 cal. BCE and 2000 cal. BCE.