Exploring complimentary sources to marine hunter-gatherer lifestyles within the Marine Ventures Project

Archipelagic environments with islands and skerries, channels and fjords are regarded as highly productive habitats. These seascapes were carved out by the glaciers over thousands of years ago and are found along the rocky shores of Scandinavia, Great Britain, America and East Asia. In Norway and Tierra del Fuego we have traces of marine hunter-gatherers that reach back thousands of years. These two regions are the subject for the following comparative study of marine hunter-gatherer lifestyle within the Marine Ventures project. In addition to the environmental parallels the study areas also carry cultural similarities: a dependence of boat for logistics and foraging is obvious through the occupation of small islands, and a nomadic lifestyle is evident through temporary house constructions and repeated use of the same areas. Moreover, hunting of seals has been suggested as the driving factor in the initial colonization phase, and there seem to be a targeted use of the most favorable areas. However, the traces left by the marine hunter-gatherers differ between the comparative regions: While in Norway we only have lithics and traces after tents and fire places, there is a large zooarchaeological record available from Tierra del Fuego. Additionally, ethnographic sources elaborate on the diverse aspects of the lifestyle of the marine foragers. The present paper will explore how these complimentary sources can be used to study differences and similarities in marine hunter-gatherers’ use of landscape and resources in two geographically distant areas. Can we establish connections between ethnographic and archaeological sources, and between archaeological imprints and hunter-gatherer lifestyles?