History of Scandinavia

Описание: The history of Scandinavia is the history of the geographical region of Scandinavia and its peoples. The region is in northern Europe, and consists of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Finland and Iceland are at times, especially in English-speaking contexts, considered part of Scandinavia.
Pre-historic age
Little evidence remains in Scandinavia of the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, or the Iron Age except limited numbers of tools created from stone, bronze, and iron, some jewelry and ornaments, and stone burial cairns. One important collection that exists, however, is a widespread and rich collection of stone drawings known as petroglyphs.

Stone Age
During the Weichselian glaciation, almost all of Scandinavia was buried beneath a thick permanent sheet of ice and the Stone Age was delayed in this region. Some valleys close to the watershed were indeed ice-free around 30 000 years B.P. Coastal areas were ice-free several times between 75 000 and 30 000 years B.P. and the final expansion towards the late Weichselian maximum took place after 28 000 years B.P. As the climate slowly warmed up at the end of the ice age and deglaciation took place, nomadic hunters from central Europe sporadically visited the region, but it was not until around 12,000 BCE before permanent, but nomadic, habitation took root.