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Jan Apel

Stockholm University, Department of Archaeology and Classical Studies, Faculty Member

Lund University, Archaeology, Faculty Member

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I teach human evolution, prehistoric archaeology and Cultural Heritage Management at Stockholm University. I have extensive experience from Swedish rescue-archaeology projects. My current research concerns flint technology, cognition and human evolution (together with Dietz Stout at Emory U. and Aldo Faisal at Imperial College London), The early holocene pioneer settlements of Gotland with Jan Storå at Stockholm U. and early holocene hunter-gatherers and pastoralists in the Western Desert, Egypt, with Frands Herschend,Uppsala U.
Phone: +46(0)725462600
Address: Department of Archaeology and classical studies
Stockholm university
Sweden

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SAU Societas Archaeologica Upsaliensis

Fredrik Lundström

Stockholm University

Institute of Latvian History at the University of Latvia

Inger Marie Berg-Hansen

University of Oslo

Mārcis Kalniņš

University of Latvia

Marlize Lombard

University of Johannesburg, South Africa

University of Tartu

Uppsala University

Mikael A. Manninen

University of Helsinki

Aarhus University

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Papers by Jan Apel

Dynamic adaptations of the Mesolithic pioneers of Gotland in the Baltic Sea

Documenta Praehistorica, 2020

Mesolithic pioneers reached Gotland around 9200 cal BP and adopted seal-hunting. The subsistence ... more Mesolithic pioneers reached Gotland around 9200 cal BP and adopted seal-hunting. The subsistence economy was flexible, and the importance of freshwater fish is reflected in the location of settlements and available stable isotope data. Overgrowing lakes provided an important subsistence base, and marine resources were mainly related to raw material needs. The narrower breadth of resources is reflected in the osseous production, where implements were made from seal bones. The lithic technology exhibits local adaptations over time – in the form of a simplification of the technology – that we relate to sedentism and increases in risk management and external networks.

Skilled production and social reproduction

With reference to an extensive body of production experiments, the author tugal/France in the wes... more

Cultural evolution and archaeology : Historical and cultural trends

The 10th Nordic TAG conference fell together with the 150th anniversary of the publication of Cha... more The 10th Nordic TAG conference fell together with the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin’s seminal On the Origin of Species as well as the 200th anniversary of his birth. Over the last 15 years a new theoretical discourse on the use of evolutionary theory in archaeology has emerged, but this has largely bypassed the Scandinavian countries, despite the fact that Scandinavian archaeology has a solid foundation of empirical work, especially with regards to technology and ecological relations. Both research areas can benefit tremendously from evolutionary insights. This chapter reviews some of the historical and current trends in evolutionary analyses of material culture change. Despite some large difference in epistemology and methodology, substantial overlap in research interests exists between evolutionary and non-evolutionary archaeologists, and integration of the theories and methods advocated by evolutionary archaeologists into more main-stream Scandinavian pra...

An exploratory use of 3D for investigating a prehistoric stratigraphic sequence

Social reproduktion av hantverk i traditionella samhällen: en arkeologisk/antropologisk tillämpning av några av Bourdieus forskningsverktyg

I uppsatsen diskuteras hur prestigeteknologier och social arbetsdelning fungerar som kuggar i soc... more I uppsatsen diskuteras hur prestigeteknologier och social arbetsdelning fungerar som kuggar i sociala strategier vars mal ar att bevara och utoka olika familjers symboliska kapital i arkaiska samhallen. Diskussionen tar sin utgangspunkt i tva typer av hantverk: produktionen av flintdolkar under perioden 2350–1700 f. Kr. i sodra Skandinavien och traditionell jarnframstallning. Centrala begrepp fran Pierre Bourdieus forskning utgor de nav kring vilka diskussionen fors. Inledning Arkeologin ar efter de senaste decenniernas postmoderna diskussioner ett splittrat amne. Det kan darfor vara viktigt att i inledningen sla fast varfor jag tycker att amnet kan bidra med nagot intressant pa ett mote som detta. For ett tjugotal ar sedan belyste Daniel Miller ett orovackande forhallande nar det galler kulturstudier (Miller, 1987:3). Under 1900-talet tenderade flera vetenskapliga discipliner, som vid forra sekelskiftet varit inriktade pa att dokumentera och studera materiell kultur (exempelvis ark...

Errett Callahan (1937-2019) and his impact on Swedish archaeology

Fornvännen, 2020

Recention av Berit Valentin Eriksen (red.): Lithic technology in metal using societies

hgo.se. ...

Skilled production and social reproduction : an introduction to the subject

uu.se. Publications. ...

Ancient DNA sheds light on the mysterious origins of the first Scandinavians

Tracking the migration of humans isn’t easy, but genetics is helping us uncover new information a... more Tracking the migration of humans isn’t easy, but genetics is helping us uncover new information at breathtaking speed. We know that our species originated in Africa and likely reached Europe from the southeast no later than 42,000 years ago. During the last ice age some 33,000-20,000 years ago, when a permanent ice sheet covered northern and parts of central Europe, modern humans in southwest Europe were isolated from groups further to the east.

Flintan från Tuve 46

The Dogma of Immaculate Perception

Självreflektion och rationalism - en relationell fältarkeologi

Genomics of Mesolithic Scandinavia reveal colonization routes and high-latitude adaptation

Scandinavia was one of the last geographic areas in Europe to become habitable for humans after t... more Scandinavia was one of the last geographic areas in Europe to become habitable for humans after the last glaciation. However, the origin(s) of the first colonizers and their migration routes remain unclear. We sequenced the genomes, up to 57x coverage, of seven hunter-gatherers excavated across Scandinavia and dated to 9,500-6,000 years before present. Surprisingly, among the Scandinavian Mesolithic individuals, the genetic data display an east-west genetic gradient that opposes the pattern seen in other parts of Mesolithic Europe. This result suggests that Scandinavia was initially colonized following two different routes: one from the south, the other from the northeast. The latter followed the ice-free Norwegian north Atlantic coast, along which novel and advanced pressure-blade stone-tool techniques may have spread. These two groups met and mixed in Scandinavia, creating a genetically diverse population, which shows patterns of genetic adaptation to high latitude environments. T...

The pioneer settlements of Gotland : A behavioral ecology approach

Re-enacting the sequence: combined digital methods to study a prehistoric cave

Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences

This contribution seeks to demonstrate how recently developed 3D GIS platforms can help archeolog... more This contribution seeks to demonstrate how recently developed 3D GIS platforms can help archeologists in relating to the original context legacy data that can be employed to digitally reconstruct the sequence of arbitrary layers as it was observed and then excavated in the end of the nineteenth century. This research has been conducted on the prehistoric cave of Stora Förvar, located on the small island of Stora Karlsö, in SouthEastern Sweden. As a part of a research project titled BThe pioneer settlements of Gotland,^this line of enquiry has sought to combine 3D-based digital acquisition techniques, Geographical Information Systems (GIS), and old archival material (hand-made drawings, artifacts lists, historical pictures) in order to virtually reconstruct the original sequence as it was excavated through the method of arbitrary layers. At a later stage, the reconstructed sequence has been employed to re-contextualize and analyze the distribution of artifacts so as to detect any possible pattern that could have been useful for defining the chronological boundaries of the Mesolithic phase of habitation of the cave. In brief, three main objectives can be defined: (a) to recreate a spatial connection between the artifacts retrieved at the time of the excavation and the sequence of layers, (b) to define density maps showing the relationship between volumes of layers and categories of artifacts belonging to the sequence, and (c) to further our knowledge about the Mesolithic habitation of the cave, not only vertically (chronologically) but also horizontally.

Catherine Frieman & Berit Valentin Eriksen (ed.). Flint daggers in prehistoric Europe. 2015. viii+165 pages, numerous colour and b&w illustrations. Oxford & Philadelphia (PA): Oxbow; 978-1-78570-018-7 hardback £40

Antiquity, 2016

Recention av Berit Valentin Eriksen (red.): Lithic technology in metal using societies

Kuml Arbog For Jysk Arkaeologisk Selskab, 2010

hgo.se. ...

Flintan från Tuve 46

Kultuplatsen Pa Stora Holm, 2014

Evolution and Material Culture

Current Swedish Archaeology, 2009

In this paper the authors argue that the renewed interest in cultural evolution in archaeology ma... more

Självreflektion och rationalism - en relationell fältarkeologi

Reflexiv Faltarkeologi Atersken Av Ett Seminarium, 2002

Dynamic adaptations of the Mesolithic pioneers of Gotland in the Baltic Sea

Documenta Praehistorica, 2020

Mesolithic pioneers reached Gotland around 9200 cal BP and adopted seal-hunting. The subsistence ... more Mesolithic pioneers reached Gotland around 9200 cal BP and adopted seal-hunting. The subsistence economy was flexible, and the importance of freshwater fish is reflected in the location of settlements and available stable isotope data. Overgrowing lakes provided an important subsistence base, and marine resources were mainly related to raw material needs. The narrower breadth of resources is reflected in the osseous production, where implements were made from seal bones. The lithic technology exhibits local adaptations over time – in the form of a simplification of the technology – that we relate to sedentism and increases in risk management and external networks.

Skilled production and social reproduction

With reference to an extensive body of production experiments, the author tugal/France in the wes... more

Cultural evolution and archaeology : Historical and cultural trends

The 10th Nordic TAG conference fell together with the 150th anniversary of the publication of Cha... more The 10th Nordic TAG conference fell together with the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin’s seminal On the Origin of Species as well as the 200th anniversary of his birth. Over the last 15 years a new theoretical discourse on the use of evolutionary theory in archaeology has emerged, but this has largely bypassed the Scandinavian countries, despite the fact that Scandinavian archaeology has a solid foundation of empirical work, especially with regards to technology and ecological relations. Both research areas can benefit tremendously from evolutionary insights. This chapter reviews some of the historical and current trends in evolutionary analyses of material culture change. Despite some large difference in epistemology and methodology, substantial overlap in research interests exists between evolutionary and non-evolutionary archaeologists, and integration of the theories and methods advocated by evolutionary archaeologists into more main-stream Scandinavian pra...

An exploratory use of 3D for investigating a prehistoric stratigraphic sequence

Social reproduktion av hantverk i traditionella samhällen: en arkeologisk/antropologisk tillämpning av några av Bourdieus forskningsverktyg

I uppsatsen diskuteras hur prestigeteknologier och social arbetsdelning fungerar som kuggar i soc... more I uppsatsen diskuteras hur prestigeteknologier och social arbetsdelning fungerar som kuggar i sociala strategier vars mal ar att bevara och utoka olika familjers symboliska kapital i arkaiska samhallen. Diskussionen tar sin utgangspunkt i tva typer av hantverk: produktionen av flintdolkar under perioden 2350–1700 f. Kr. i sodra Skandinavien och traditionell jarnframstallning. Centrala begrepp fran Pierre Bourdieus forskning utgor de nav kring vilka diskussionen fors. Inledning Arkeologin ar efter de senaste decenniernas postmoderna diskussioner ett splittrat amne. Det kan darfor vara viktigt att i inledningen sla fast varfor jag tycker att amnet kan bidra med nagot intressant pa ett mote som detta. For ett tjugotal ar sedan belyste Daniel Miller ett orovackande forhallande nar det galler kulturstudier (Miller, 1987:3). Under 1900-talet tenderade flera vetenskapliga discipliner, som vid forra sekelskiftet varit inriktade pa att dokumentera och studera materiell kultur (exempelvis ark...

Errett Callahan (1937-2019) and his impact on Swedish archaeology

Fornvännen, 2020

Recention av Berit Valentin Eriksen (red.): Lithic technology in metal using societies

hgo.se. ...

Skilled production and social reproduction : an introduction to the subject

uu.se. Publications. ...

Ancient DNA sheds light on the mysterious origins of the first Scandinavians

Tracking the migration of humans isn’t easy, but genetics is helping us uncover new information a... more Tracking the migration of humans isn’t easy, but genetics is helping us uncover new information at breathtaking speed. We know that our species originated in Africa and likely reached Europe from the southeast no later than 42,000 years ago. During the last ice age some 33,000-20,000 years ago, when a permanent ice sheet covered northern and parts of central Europe, modern humans in southwest Europe were isolated from groups further to the east.

Flintan från Tuve 46

The Dogma of Immaculate Perception

Självreflektion och rationalism - en relationell fältarkeologi

Genomics of Mesolithic Scandinavia reveal colonization routes and high-latitude adaptation

Scandinavia was one of the last geographic areas in Europe to become habitable for humans after t... more Scandinavia was one of the last geographic areas in Europe to become habitable for humans after the last glaciation. However, the origin(s) of the first colonizers and their migration routes remain unclear. We sequenced the genomes, up to 57x coverage, of seven hunter-gatherers excavated across Scandinavia and dated to 9,500-6,000 years before present. Surprisingly, among the Scandinavian Mesolithic individuals, the genetic data display an east-west genetic gradient that opposes the pattern seen in other parts of Mesolithic Europe. This result suggests that Scandinavia was initially colonized following two different routes: one from the south, the other from the northeast. The latter followed the ice-free Norwegian north Atlantic coast, along which novel and advanced pressure-blade stone-tool techniques may have spread. These two groups met and mixed in Scandinavia, creating a genetically diverse population, which shows patterns of genetic adaptation to high latitude environments. T...

The pioneer settlements of Gotland : A behavioral ecology approach

Re-enacting the sequence: combined digital methods to study a prehistoric cave

Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences

This contribution seeks to demonstrate how recently developed 3D GIS platforms can help archeolog... more This contribution seeks to demonstrate how recently developed 3D GIS platforms can help archeologists in relating to the original context legacy data that can be employed to digitally reconstruct the sequence of arbitrary layers as it was observed and then excavated in the end of the nineteenth century. This research has been conducted on the prehistoric cave of Stora Förvar, located on the small island of Stora Karlsö, in SouthEastern Sweden. As a part of a research project titled BThe pioneer settlements of Gotland,^this line of enquiry has sought to combine 3D-based digital acquisition techniques, Geographical Information Systems (GIS), and old archival material (hand-made drawings, artifacts lists, historical pictures) in order to virtually reconstruct the original sequence as it was excavated through the method of arbitrary layers. At a later stage, the reconstructed sequence has been employed to re-contextualize and analyze the distribution of artifacts so as to detect any possible pattern that could have been useful for defining the chronological boundaries of the Mesolithic phase of habitation of the cave. In brief, three main objectives can be defined: (a) to recreate a spatial connection between the artifacts retrieved at the time of the excavation and the sequence of layers, (b) to define density maps showing the relationship between volumes of layers and categories of artifacts belonging to the sequence, and (c) to further our knowledge about the Mesolithic habitation of the cave, not only vertically (chronologically) but also horizontally.

Catherine Frieman & Berit Valentin Eriksen (ed.). Flint daggers in prehistoric Europe. 2015. viii+165 pages, numerous colour and b&w illustrations. Oxford & Philadelphia (PA): Oxbow; 978-1-78570-018-7 hardback £40

Antiquity, 2016

Recention av Berit Valentin Eriksen (red.): Lithic technology in metal using societies

Kuml Arbog For Jysk Arkaeologisk Selskab, 2010

hgo.se. ...

Flintan från Tuve 46

Kultuplatsen Pa Stora Holm, 2014

Evolution and Material Culture

Current Swedish Archaeology, 2009

In this paper the authors argue that the renewed interest in cultural evolution in archaeology ma... more

Självreflektion och rationalism - en relationell fältarkeologi

Reflexiv Faltarkeologi Atersken Av Ett Seminarium, 2002

Cladistics and Flaked Stone Tools -Problems and Possibilities

Stones-Current Stone-Age Research in Northern Europe, 2023

Recent studies on the phylogeny of flaked stone tools rely heavily on morphometric characters, de... more Recent studies on the phylogeny of flaked stone tools rely heavily on morphometric characters, describing size and shape. is approach tends to overlook some of the special problems that are associated with a study of lithic material, such as different skill levels, transformation through re-sharpening and the effect of raw material or blank shape on the morphology of the tool. We suggest that tracing technological elements, which we believe to be important units of transmission, can result in different patterns in the archaeological record than those obtained through morphometric analysis. Similarities and differences between two contemporaneous but spatially separated projectile point industries-Kunda/Butovo and the Pre-Pottery Neolithic Bare discussed from this viewpoint.