Stone Age settlement on Svalbard? A re-evaluation of previous finds and results of a recent field survey

It is much easier to doubt than it is to believe in the existence of prehistoric hunters on Svalbard. Few researchers have the courage to deny the possibility, yet fewer still dare to advocate the possibility. Since Christiansson and Simonsen presented the possible Stone Age artifacts in their 1970 article, no one has undertaken serious survey work for Stone Age settlements on Svalbard. In this article the research history is reviewed, the artifacts from the Christiansson and Simonsen study are re-examined, and the results of field surveys in Bellsund the summer of 1997 are presented. The investigations produced only negative evidence. The test area is one of the richest and most stable hunting areas on Svalbard. The investigation therefore provides a qualified basis for concluding that circumpolar hunting groups did not settle Svalbard.