No / Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) and bulk carbon isotope determinations have been performed on samples (‘cemented organic residues’, charcoal, sediment and fire-cracked rock) excavated from 12 slab-lined pits from various locations in Arctic Norway to test the premise that these archaeological features were used for the extraction of oil from the blubber of marine mammals, such as seal, whale and walrus. A wide range of lipid compound classes were detected especially in the cemented organic residues and in the charcoal samples. The presence of long-chain unsaturated and isoprenoid fatty acids together with oxidation and thermal alteration products of unsaturated acids such as dicarboxylic acids, dihydroxyfatty acids and ω-(o-alkylphenyl)alkanoic acids suggests that these features were used for marine oil extraction at elevated temperatures. Notably the location of the hydroxyl groups in the dihydroxyfatty acids provides a record of the positional isomer of the precursor fatty acid and allows confirmation that 11-docosenoic (cetoleic) acid, the most abundant C22:1 isomer in marine oil, was a major component of the original lipid. Further information was provided by the presence of long-chain fatty acyl moieties in surviving triacylglycerols and the presence of cholesterol. A fungal metabolite, mycose (trehalose), was found in all samples apart from a fire-cracked rock and points to microbiological activity in the pits. Bulk isotope analysis conducted on the ‘cemented organic residues’ is consistent with modern reference samples of blubber and oil from seal and whale. These data provide clear analytical evidence of the function of slab-lined pits in the archaeological record and suggest widespread exploitation of marine mammals for producing oil for heating, lighting and myriad other uses in the past.

The Digermulen Peninsula, Arctic Norway, offers a unique section of late Ediacaran to Cambrian sediments in an almost complete succession within the Vestertana Group. The proposed annelidan fossil Sabellidites cambriensis is found here, within the Lower Breidvika Member and is believed to exist also in the underlying Manndrapselva Member of the Stáhpogieddi Formation. Three cycles are recognized from the Manndrapselva Member, the uppermost being the third cycle, and the sediment interval of interest for this study ranges from the third cycle of the Manndrapselva Member to the Lower Breidvika Member where the Ediacaran–Cambrian boundary is situated. The distribution of Sabellidites has been investigated in three different localities on the Digermulen Peninsula, and from two of these stratigraphical logs were made and the sections were documented with photographs. The logs were created over sediments from Locality 1: Bárdeluovttjohka and Locality 3: Manndrapselva in the interval of the top of the Manndrapselva Member and Lower Breidvika Member. Previous studies have shown that the stratigraphical distribution of Sabellidites is within the Lower Breidvika Member. New results presented in this study extended the temporal distribution downwards in the third cycle of the Manndrapselva Member and closer to the Ediacaran–Cambrian boundary. The boundary is indicated by the trace fossil Treptichnus pedum. A few samples, collected from the logged sections, were found below the T. pedum level, indicating late Ediacaran origin. Three samples were collected even further down, close to the base of the Manndrapselva log, but these could only loosely be identified as Sabellidites and further analysis is required on these specimens. The Sabellidites distribution range from the Digermulen Peninsula was briefly compared to other locations and a global correlation is possible. The results here indicate that Sabellidites is an excellent reference taxon for the terminal Ediacaran and early Cambrian and that the succession on the Digermulen Peninsula may be one of the most important for global correlation across the Ediacaran-Cambrian boundary. / På Digermulenhalvön i arktiska Norge finns en nästan helt oavbruten sektion av sediment från sen ediacara och tidig kambrium. Fossilet Sabellidites cambriensis, som tros tillhöra phylat Annelida, går att hitta här inuti sediment från det undre Breidvikaledet och det underliggande Manndrapselvaledet. De här två leden ingår i Vestertanagruppen. Tre cykler är identifierade från Manndrapselvaledet och den översta är den tredje cykeln. Distributionen av Sabellidites i de här sedimenten har undersökts i tre olika lokaler på Digermulenhalvön, och två biostratigrafiska loggar ritades och dokumenterades med foton. Tidigare har studier påvisat Sabellidites i det undre Breidvikaledet, men resultaten från den här studien visar att det går att hitta Sabellidites även i den tredje cykeln av Manndrapselvaledet vilket är längre ned i sedimentföljden, och således också äldre sediment som ligger nära gränsen mellan ediacara och kambrium, som är ett mycket intressant och omdiskuterat geologiskt tidsavsnitt. Gränsen indikeras av ett spårfossil vid namn Treptichnus pedum och resultat ifrån den här studien påvisar Sabellidites nedanför nivån för T. pedum. Det här förlänger spannet inom vilket man kan hitta Sabellidites och resultaten från Digermulenhalvön har jämförts med områden runt om i världen i ett försök att korrelera dem med varandra. Studien visar att en global korrelation är möjlig vilket gör Sabellidites till ett utmärkt referensfossil för undre kambrium och sektionen på Digermulenhalvön är exceptionellt bra för att undersöka förhållandena kring gränsen mellan ediacara och kambrium.