Late Neolithic and Bronze Age radiocarbon dates from southeast Norway

This dataset comprises 2,000 radiocarbon dates from southeast Norway, covering the Late Neolithic to the Bronze Age periods, c. 2200 to 4000 years BP. It has been utilised in various papers as part of a doctoral thesis (Sand-Eriksen, 2024; see e.g. Sand-Eriksen & Mjærum 2023; Sand-Eriksen 2025). Approximately half of the dates are derived from a larger database compiled by Steinar Solheim and Kjetil Loftsgarden, eith data obtained from the joint Norwegian museum database, UniMus (kultur.unimus.no; an open access version is avilable at unimus.no/portal).

In addition to adding about 1,000 dates – primarily gathered through a meticulous review of excavation reports and associated databases, including the duo.no repository (where all excavation reports from the Museum of Cultural History is uploaded) – the spatial and contextual coverage of the original data has been enhanced. Each entry includes information on radiocarbon age, standard deviation, laboratory reference, dated material, and preferably taxon name when available, as well as contextual details and site data, including county and municipality. Coordinates (UTM32) are provided at the site level, and where applicable, IDs from the Directorate for Cultural Heritage’s database Askeladden (askeladden.ra.no) are also included. 

Thus, while much of this dataset comprises publicly accessible information, it consolidates data from various databases that might otherwise remain separated, disparate, and underutilized, thereby facilitating further research in the field. However, the dataset should not be regarded as complete. For instance, several hundred dates originally sourced from UniMus – containing only radiocarbon age, standard deviation, and laboratory reference – were omitted due to the inability to locate any additional contextual information.