At the Aareavaara site in Pajala Municipality, Norrbotten County, on the border with Finland, analysis of quartz shards and burnt bones revealed that it was a Mesolithic campsite of reindeer hunters about 8700 BC. Its location suggests that it was settled by hunter-gatherers from the Russian plains in the east moving westwards behind the retreating ice sheet.
Sites of the Hensbacka culture (10,500-8500 BC) have been found in the northwest corner of Scania. At Balltorp, south of Gothenburg, Västra Götaland County, on the southwest coast of the Mölndal Municipality, a site belonging to the Sandarna culture (8000-7000 BC) transitioned into the Lihult culture (7000-3200 BC). This culture outlasted three cultures to the south: the Maglemose (7500-6000 BC), the Kongemose (6000-5200 BC) and the Ertebølle (5300-3950 BC).
Excavation of the Ertebølle burial site Skateholm-1 on the south coast of the Trelleborg Municipality, Scania, revealed the remains of 63 humans and seven dogs. A preserved skeleton has been dated to 4700 BC.
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