Late glacial shoreline at Vega, northern Norway, +96m asl today. The first settlers (9500–9000 BC) had to cross 20km of open sea from the mainland (in the background) to reach the island, a strong indication that seaworthy vessels were at their disposal (photograph H.M. Breivik).
The Colonization of Scandinavian Seascapes in the Pleistocene/Holocene transition.
Dr. Hein B. Bjerck
ASBC talk Thursday April 17th
7.30
UVIC, Cornett B129
All welcome.
In common with the Northwest Coast, coastal Norway was heavily glaciated into a rugged landscape of fjords and islands. As the glaciers retreated, people moved in. This talk gives us a chance to do a compare and contrast between our setting and the very distant, yet parallel, setting of post-glacial Scandinavia.
Hein B. Bjerck, is Professor in Archaeology at Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), The University Museum, Trondheim, Norway. He is Project leader, “Marine Ventures – Comparative perspectives on the dynamics of early human approaches to the seascapes of Tierra del Fuego and Norway”. You can also view a project gallery and writeup at the Antiquity journal website.
Dr. Bjerck is in British Columbia at the invitation of the archaeological projects of UVic’s own Daryl Fedje and Duncan McLaren, who are generously funded by the Tula Foundation. The thrust of these projects, at Quadra Island and the Central Coast respectively, is to look at the Pleistocene-Holocene transition and the first occupation of the Northwest Coast.
Incidentally, if you are a graduate student, there is an excellent short field course in archaeology and ecology starting soon at Hakai. It’s non-credit but you might be able to wrap it into a directed studies with your supervisor. Strongly recommended.
Northwest Coast Archaeology 
its easier to see marine terraces when there are not as many trees!
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