Stone Age remains found in Gothenburg

Archaeologists in Gothenburg have found the remains of an early Stone Age house.

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The discovery was made on a building site in the Kallebäck area of the city. Residents of the new apartments being built in the area will be living on a site inhabited 10,000 years ago.

Kallebäck now lies about 5 kilometres from the open sea, but in the stone age the area was a headland jutting out into the sea.

"They most probably fished, and would certainly have hunted for seal. This was right at the end of a headland, and this means that there was access to animals for hunting," said archaeologist Ulf Ragnesten.

The discovery is the first of its kind in the region. Gothenburg itself was founded in 1621, but people first came to the area around 12,000 years ago.

The site has also yielded comparatively recent archaeological finds, with Iron Age remains from between 600 BC to 1 AD.

"These are also interesting, but when we reached lower levels we found the Stone Age parts."

Among the discoveries are cooking holes, grates, an arrowhead, axes and postholes.

"We have known that there were ancient remains at the site since the late eighties, and now that homes are to be built here we have had to excavate the site," said Ragnesten.