Bore strand, Jæren. Photo: By var N. Omenås, Flickr
Changing landscapes
The coastal landscape in Jæren was fundamentally altered by sand drift, and the original topography obscured. Finding pre-historic settlements in areas covered by aeolian sand is thus very difficult. But this new research has enabled us to point out the location of cultural monuments more accurately, Prøsch-Danielsen and Selsing explain.
the common occurrence of sand drift in Jæren may be attributed to sea-level changes, and human activity
Their findings indicate that the common occurrence of sand drift in Jæren may be attributed to sea-level changes, and human activity which have influenced the local environment and climate.
“Between 7500 and 5500 years ago, the coast line was one kilometre farther inland from today. The big, shallow fiords and estuaries were filled with sand, deposited during sea-level changes. This sand, dating back to the Glacial and late Glacial times, is the origin of today’s beaches along Jæren. When the sea-level eventually dropped, large areas of sand were exposed, and the wind could play around with the sediments again,” says Prøsch-Danielsen.
For sand drift to occur, a number of factors have to be present, she adds. Sandy material has to be available, together with a lack of vegetation cover and a good measure of wind to transport the sand.
Near the Salthelleren prehistoric site in Ogna, there are traces of sand drift dating back approximately 7000 years – prior to any agricultural. Human activity tore away the vegetation cover, exposing soil to the wind and thereby reinforcing sand drift.
Vanishing forests
“Although it may be difficult to envisage today, Jæren was thickly forested during the Early Stone Age,” says Lisbeth Prøsch-Danielsen.
But early settlers began cutting down and burning the trees to provide pasture for animal husbandry – resulting in large moors. In a span of 1500 years, the Jæren forests were completely gone and coastal heaths were predominant until the Second World War, when modern agriculture finally gathered ground.
Although it may be difficult to envisage today, Jæren was
thickly forested during the Early Stone Age
This man-made transition from forests to coastal heath land changed the local climate significantly, especially along the coast. There were no trees left to protect the soil from the strong winds coming in from the sea, and because of the wind’s cooling effect, temperatures felt lower, Selsing explains.
Agriculture a contributing factor
When agriculture was introduced in Rogaland 6000 years ago, the aeolian activity increased even further. Human settlements enforced environmental degradation by exposing the coastal landscape to erosion and desertification.
As the first farmers ploughed their fields to sow barley and wheat, they tore up the soil and exposed the sand underneath, thereby sparking off sand drift. The scientists have uncovered plough marks in the Iron Age layers and there are also signs of farmers having been forced to move their pastoral fields as a result of sand destruction.
Environmental degradation
The Stavanger Airport excavation uncovered alternating strata of soil and sand, indicating stable and unstable cycles during early agricultural times in Jæren.
“Among pre-historic farmers, the desire to reap short-term benefits seems to have overruled the need to preserve land for securing a long-term basis of existence,” says Prøsch-Danielsen.
The impact of deforestation on the local climate and environment was severe. It is comparable to the situation we are facing today, the two scientists observe. But unlike pre-historic man-made environmental changes, modern interventions are more far-reaching and difficult to rectify.
Sand drift and profound environmental changes to the Jæren landscape continued during the Middle Ages until today. There are local pockets of desertification, matched by few sites in Norway. One is Kvitsanden near Rørøs, which is the country’s only inland desert – the result of logging to fuel the former copper mining industry, Prøsch-Danielsen explains.
More information
* Lotte Selsing, the University of Stavanger’s Museum of Archaeology. Tel.: +47 51 83 26 69, e-mail:
lotte.selsing@uis.no * Lisbeth Prøsch-Danielsen, University of Stavanger’s Museum of Archaeology. Tel.: +47 51 83 26 68, e-mail:
lisbeth.prosch-danielsen@uis.no * University of Stavanger’s Museum of Archaeology
http://www.pasthorizons.com/index.php/archives/04/2011/9000-years-of-drifting-sand-in-norway