The name
Fosna takes its name from
Fosna or
Lille-Fosen, the former name of
Kristiansund, and it is an umbrella term for the oldest settlements along the
Norwegian coast, from
Hordaland to
Nordland. The oldest settlements in
Bohuslän on the
Swedish west coast (the
Hensbacka), derive from the
Ahrensburgian culture group from
Northern Germany. The oldest
Fosna settlements in
Eastern Norway are found at
Høgnipen in
Østfold. New finds (2008) on
Pauler in
Larvik seem to be even older.{{cite web|url= https://snl.no/Fosnakomplekset|title=Fosnakomplekset The settlements were located close to the contemporary
seashore but, due to constant land uplift after
deglaciation, they are now 60–70 m above present-day sea level in western
Norway, while
Høgnipen is as high as 150 m above present-day sea level, the difference being due to the greater
crustal rebound on the
Baltic side of the
Scandinavian Peninsula. Site locations indicate that fishing and seal hunting were important for the economy and it is assumed that hide covered
wooden framed boats were used in that the majority of
Hensbacka sites ( 75%) are located on islands in the outer
archipelago. The Fosna/Hensbacka culture represent a pure
hunter-gatherer culture. On settlements, archaeologists have only found stone tools and the remains of the production of the same. Characteristic tools include
flake axes,
lanceolates and tanged
arrowheads. ==See also==