Arrowheads from the late stone age. | Photo: Åge Hojem - NTNU Vitenskapsmuseet cc by-sa.

Norwegian history | the Stone age | Norway

The Stone age people were master hunters, fishers, and gatherers. The lived with the seasons and followed the prey.

The Stone age | 10,000 – 1800 BC

When the ice finally melted, plants and animals settled more long-term – and with them came the first humans. They were hunter-gatherers and lived a nomadic life, following the prey and the seasons. First, they populated the emerging coastline, then they moved further inland.

Around 2400 BC, a section of the population took up farming and created more permanent settlements, possibly as a result of people migrating in from the south. The hunter-gatherers and the farmers lived side-by-side, and utilised different parts of the land and its resources. Tools and weapons from this early era were made of stone, wood, or animal bones.

Norwegian history timeline

  1. The latest ice age
    115,000-10,000 BC
  2. The Stone age
    10,000-1800 BC
  3. The Bronze age
    1800-500 BC
  4. The Iron age
    500 BC-AD 1050
  5. The High middle ages
    AD 1050-1350
  6. The Late middle ages
    AD 1350-1537
  7. The Early modern period
    AD 1537-1814
  8. Norway reborn as a sovereign state
    AD 1814
  9. Norway in union with Sweden
    AD 1814-1905
  10. Full independence at last
    AD 1905
  11. Prosperity, war and depression
    AD 1905-1940
  12. World War 2 and occupation
    AD 1940-1945
  13. The post World War 2 era
    AD 1945-1970
  14. Transformation and neoliberalism
    AD 1970-1990
  15. Technology and globalisation
    AD 1990-today

BC = before Christ | AD = anno domini = after Christ
Main source: Store norske leksikon – snl.no

LA Dahlmann | history timeline