Chronological aspects of the Hensbacka – a group of hunter-gatherers/fishers on the west coast of Sweden during the Pleistocene/Holocene transition: an example of early coastal colonization

ABSTRACT In this short article, we take a brief but concise look at chronological, and to a limited extent environmental and typological, aspects of the Hensbacka culture group in Bohuslän. Due to the extensive nature of the group in time and space, it is reasonable to refer to members of this group as colonizers – even if other groups may have visited western Sweden prior to the Hensbacka. Granted, the title is provocative but it should be made clear that we are addressing the Hensbacka group as we know it today, and not in the mid-1950s. In addition, and fairly obvious, it is only the Swedish west coast that is taken into consideration, since this particular area had an extensive seasonal population during the close of the Late Pleistocene and beginning of early Holocene; one that is difficult to find elsewhere in Scandinavia.