From 24th to 26th June 2025, the annual conference of the commission for the Final Palaeolithic of Northern Eurasia was held at the Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo, organized by Inger M. Berg-Hansen and Hege Damlien. The conference focused on the exploitation of animal and lithic resources through various techniques and technologies during the Final Palaeolithic and the Mesolithic. It brought together c. 45 researchers and students.
The first two days were devoted to oral presentations, and on the second day, the conference participants were invited to study Mesolithic and Neolithic lithic collections representative of technologies present in SE-Norway. Researchers from seven countries (Germany, France, Poland, Lithuania, the United Kingdom, the USA, and Norway) presented a variety of research. Altogether 20 oral presentations were organized in four sessions: Session 1 - Living by the water – fishing and hunting; Session 2 - Terrestrial large game hunting; Session 3 - Exploiting lithic resources; Session 4 - New research and recent discoveries.
The three thematic sessions were introduced by keynote lectures that presented central aspects of the topic. Keynote lecturers were given by Professor Axel Mjærum and ass. Professor Jostein Bergstøl from Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo; Senior Researcher Manuela Panzacchi and Research Director Jørgen Rosvold from the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA); and Professor Astrid Nyland from the Archaeological Museum, University of Stavanger. On the third day of the conference, an excursion to Mesolithic rock carvings and settlement sites near Oslo was organized.