Another lost megalithic tomb unearthed. This time in western Norway. See https://www.archaeology.org/11903-231117-norway-neolithic-burial … a stone lined tomb was discovered in Norway during construction work. It has been dated to the Late Neolithic period which in western Norway is very late 3rd millennium BC. Presumably it was created by the first farmers entering this region of the world – but where did they come from? The date is illuminating as carbon dating suggests at a point between 2140 and 2000BC. Until this point in time Mesolithic hunters and fishers were living the high life in western Norway. The rest of the world was about to catch up with them – as a result of the 2350BC and 2200BC events that struck the ancient world. In other words, they migrated westwards, as far as they could go, in response to those events [see Baillie and McAneney for the low growth tree ring events]. There is in fact a lot of evideence of farming communities spreading across Europe in the wake of fiery events – from 6200BC to 4250BC, 3200BC, and of course, late third millennium BC. It is also a likely scenario at the end of the LB age the so called folk movements defined as Sea Peoples. Refugee movements, in other words. They set up roots elsewhere and the evidence of fire left behind in their wake is attributed by archaeologists to slash and burn agriculture. Mainstream won’t tolerate such a radical idea so you won’t read about that at the link above. Moe Mandelkher wrote a succession of articles in SIS jorunals on what he called the 2300BC event – a combination of what were two separate events as clarified by Baillie and MacAnaney. He outlined numerous instances of migrations in the wake of these events, right across Europe into Asia – even North America. The tomb in Norway represents one such movement – although limited in mileage.
So, where did they come from? It seems that such tombs were already a feature of Sweden and Denmark, in the wake of an earlier event and migration of farmers. Probably from around 3000BC. Tombs were also found across the border, in eastern Norway. Set on the move, these farmers came up against the Atlantic – restricting how far they could go. It might be worth looking at what happened to the Late Neolithic people of Britain and Ireland, including Scotland and Orkney. Their culture came to an end when they were outnumbered by incoming Beaker folk with an origin in the Low Countries and Germany. Their culture died out, as far as the use of stone tools are concerned, but what about the people. Did they die off or did they flee – or were they absorbed. A more rigorous application of genetics might be worthwhile as an exercise in polishing up the genetic technique that is sometimes ambiguous in the results it provides.
Over at https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/stone-age-europeans-mastered-spear-throwers-10000-years-earlier-than-we-thought-study-suggests … another mainstream plum is contradicted. Stone age people in what is now Belgium were hunting with spear throwers, it is alleged. This has led to a strong negative reaction. Why? No actual atlatl has been discovered as they were wooden contraptions. Only some flints that some archaeologists are interpreting as the kind of points used in atlatls. They date them more than 30,000 years ago. To be more precise, between 28,000 and 31,000 years ago. In other words, just after the Late Glacial Maximum was set in motion. During this period humans migrated from Siberia into North America, bringing the atlatl with them. They used spear throwers to hunt big animals including mammoth. It sounds like it could very well be true and mainstream are misguided. However, where the atlatl was invented has not been found – only evidence of its use in several locations. The problem here, as in the first link, is that big events cause big migrations — from here to there. The Laschamp event was followed by another dated around 32,000 years ago, strongly associated with the extinction of mega-animals in Australia, and elsewhere. It inaugurated the Late Glacial Maximum which eventually led to glaciation in NW Europe. One imagines the atlatl was preserved by a small group of survivors and the process started all over again. Siberia proved to be a more enticing place to live than icy northern Europe – and it is a short hop across the Arctic Sea to North America. Presumably the atlatl has a connection with the Gravettian people – and an eastern origin has been suggested [southern Siberia]. Incidentally, the arrival of the bow and arrow in Europe was even earlier. It has now been dated to 54,000 years ago. One might have to think in terms of an African origin for the bow and arrow as it was used by ancient hunting peoples such as the Bushmen of southern Africa, and various tribal entities in odd corners of the world. The ancient world becomes more and more fascinating as time goes on. What was the role of Homo erectus in the spread of the bow and arrow?