Abstract
Research on the Middle Mesolithic (c. 8300−6350 cal. BC) of Scandinavia north of the Skagerrak Strait has mainly been based on data from the thousands of settlements found along the former sea, lake, and river shores. Far fewer sites have been located or investigated further away from the former waters.
 The excavation of three Middle Mesolithic pit houses at Eidsberg in eastern Norway has therefore provided an unprecedented opportunity to gain detailed knowledge of Mesolithic activities in the hitherto under-explored forested inland. In this article, the newly discovered site and a range of other data are discussed in an ethnographical framework to understand the utilization of this hinterland as part of a semi-sedentary lifestyle.
Highlights
Three pit houses were unexpectedly identified and subsequently excavated in detail at Eidsberg in eastern Norway in 2015
The houses do not fit with the accepted model – which is empirically well-grounded and has stood for over 100 years – that the people of the Middle Mesolithic north and east of the Skagerrak Strait lived only along the sea coast and lake and river shores
The newly discovered pit house site at Eidsberg is presented as a case study with a discussion of the excavation results in an archaeological and ethnographical framework
Summary
Three pit houses were unexpectedly identified and subsequently excavated in detail at Eidsberg in eastern Norway in 2015. Available beach flint resources were utilized as raw material during the Middle Mesolithic, probably combined with imports from the Swedish southwest coast or Denmark (Eigeland 2015:367).
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