The history of Jämtland dates back thousands of years, starting with the arrival of humans. During the middle ages, Jämtland was an autonomous peasant republic, with its own law, currency and parliament. Jämtland was conquered by Norway in 1178 and stayed Norwegian for over 450 years, maintaining some autonomy until it was ceded to Sweden in 1645. The province has since been Swedish for roughly 350 years, though the population did not gain Swedish citizenship until 1699. Historically Jämtland was a special territory between Norway and Sweden. During the unrest period in Jämtland's history (1563–1677) it shifted alignment between the two states no less than 13 times. As Jämtland is linked to lands both west and east, particularly to Trøndelag in Norway, it was of great importance for the Jamts to maintain good relationships in both directions. Prehistory The first humans came to Jämtland from the west across Kölen approximately 7 000-6 000 BC, after the last ice age. The climate was at the time much warmer than today and trees were growing at the top of today's mountains. The first humans were hunters and gatherers. Several thousand archaeological remains have been located in the province, predominately near old campsites, beaches and lakes. The oldest settlement found was located at Foskvattnet, not far way from the so-called Fosna culture, this settlement has been dated to 6 600 BC. The hunter-gatherers were nomads and constantly followed their prey's movement. In Jämtland the moose was the dominant prey, which is clearly shown on petroglyphs and rock paintings. Jämtland has over 20 000 documented ancient monuments, the oldest one being an 8 000 year old arrowhead found in Offerdal. Rock paintings found in Jämtland often collocates with various trapping pits and well over 10 000 pits used for hunting have been located, which is much more than any other Scandinavian region. Trapping or hunting pits were placed in areas in close proximity of the hunted animal in question, usually in known places where the animals moved. Because of this there are several places where pits have been dug separately in lines stretching on for miles throughout the landscape. Even today there are several place names in Jämtland that display the significance these pits had to the tribes. When the climate turned colder again the fauna also changed, the Norway Spruce came to the province 500 BC from the north, and later spread into