| REGIONS, COUNTIES, ADMIN CENTRES 2024 | |||
| Northeast | Southeast | ||
| 01 | Finnmark/Vadsø | 08 | Innlandet/Hamar |
| 02 | Troms/Tromsø | 09 | Buskerud/Drammen |
| 03 | Nordland/Bodø | 10 | Oslo/Oslo |
| Trøndelag (central) | 11 | Akershus/Oslo | |
| 04 | Trøndelag/Steinkjer | 12 | Telemark/Skien |
| Southwest | 13 | Vestfol/Tønsberg | |
| 05 | Møre og Romsdal/Molde | 14 | Østfold/Sarpsborg |
| 06 | Vestland/Bergen | Southern | |
| 07 | Rogaland/Stavanger | 15 | Agde/Kristiansa |
Most of Norway is bordered by water with the Skagerrak inlet to the south, the North Sea to the southwest, the Norwegian Sea (North Atlantic Ocean) to the west, and the Barents Sea to the north. To the east it borders Sweden (a long boundary), Finland and Russia. Svalbard to the northwest is a Norwegian archipelago with no permanent population. Jan Mayen to the north is a Norwegian archipelago, locally administered.
Some of the earliest peoples to enter Norway came from the south via Denmark, others came from the east from Russia via Finland, and others came from the west via Doggerland, a landmass that existed between Britain and northern Europe before it was flooded around 6500 BC by the rising North Sea.
Mesolithic Period (9700-4000 BC)
As the climate improved in the Pre-Boreal (birch, pine) and boreal (mixed forest) periods (8350-5550 BC), the forests spread over the tundra and the rising sea level seems to have brought less reliance on inland resources and greater exploitation of those along the coast.
The Fosna-Hensbacka culture (8300-7300 BC) is defined by two separate but similar cultures. The Komsa culture, though having different types of tools, is considered to be a part of the Fosna culture group. The main difference is that the Fosna/Komsa culture was distributed along the coast of northern Norway, whereas the Hensbacka culture had a more eastern distribution along the coast of western Sweden.
Human skeletal remains found in a small inlet on the tiny island of Hummervikholmen in the Sogne archipelago, Sogne municipality, have been dated to around 7400±500 BC.
The major settlement site at Mortensnes/Ceavccageađge in the Varangerfjord, Sør-Varanger municipality, Finnmark, comprises tent rings (8050-7050 BC), pit houses (7930-7350 BC), middens (5650-3550 BC) and dwellings (5000-00).
Within a few decades the whole coastland was colonised by fishermen and hunters. The settlements at Stora Myrvatnet lake, Gjesdal municipality, Rogaland, in the south, and Slettnes on Sørøya, Hammerfest municipality, Finnmark, in the north, are both dated to 7610 BC.
The Maglemose culture (7500-6000 BC) is named after the excavation of Mullerup, situated in the Maglemose (‘big bog’), Zealand, Denmark. They fished, trapped birds, hunted red deer, roe deer and ox, and foraged for roots, nuts and berries. Characteristic of the culture are microliths used for spearheads and arrow-heads. Sites have been over southern Scandinavia and the North European Plain.
Kotedalen, at the southern end of the bridge between Radøy and Fosnøyna in Vestland, was an important large sedentary hunter-fisher-gatherer base camp having sixteen settlement phases dated to between 6000 and 2500 BC.
The Nøstvet culture (6200-3200 BC) appeared around the Oslofjord (south of Oslo) and along the Norwegian coast up to Trøndelag. They lived primarily by hunting animals such as seafowl and marine mammals in addition to fishing and gathering. The size of settlements growing over time reflects an increase in population and a more sedentary lifestyle.
In southern Scandinavia the Kongemose culture (6000-5200 BC, named after the site at Kongemosen (‘Kings own Bog’), Aamosen, Zealand, is known mainly from coastal sites from where its people exploited forest and marine resources.
The Ertebølle culture (5300-3950 BC), named after the type site facing the Limfjord in Northern Denmark, was the final Mesolithic coastal kitchen midden culture found in Denmark, southern coastal Norway and western coastal Sweden. In addition to fishing and gathering, and collecting oysters and other shellfish, the Ertebølle learned about pottery and agriculture from its neighbours to the south.
Säräisniemi ceramic-1 (5300-5100 BC) is the earliest known Stone Age ceramic to be introduced in Norway, northern Finland and Karelia (between Finland and Russia).
Dated to 5000 BC, the rock art panel at Forselv, Narvik municipality, Nordland County, though dominated by large deer, includes a large human figure, some geometric patterns, a whale, a boat, halibut, and fishing lines with heavy sinkers.
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