SARG - Sub-Arctic Stone Age Research Group

SARG is a  research group which connects scholars from the Department of Archaeology and Social Anthropology (IAS), Tromsø University Museum and NIKU (Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research) for collaboration on early northern hunter-gatherer societies. The group receives funding from the Faculty of Humanities, Social Science and Education for the period 2015-2018.

The key aim of the group is to advance research on hunter-fisher-gatherer communities during the early prehistoric periods in the North. The focus in on the period 9500-0 BC, covering the traditional Stone Age periods as well as the early metal using phases.

The objectives of the group are multiple:

  • to provide a forum for high-level discussion of research issues pertaining to the early prehistoric periods
  • to encourage collaboration between institutions
  • to initiate externally funded research projects
  • to re-activate the comprehensive material from development-led excavations in Northern Norway
  • to increase awareness of the northern archaeological material as uniquely positioned to address current international debates
  • to establish a Nordic network Group

 

The group will focus on a number of interrelated themes:

  • Demographic fluctuations and settlement variability
  • Regional and inter-regional mobility
  • Cultural transmission and social networks

Other resources:

Alta Rock Art (Digital Archive)

Nord-Norsk studiesamling

Lithic Sources by B. Hood

Excavation reports at Tromsø University Museum