Etnesjøen – en førromersk landsby på Vestlandet

Abstract

In the summer months of 2013, the University Museum of Bergen conducted an archeological excavation of a large prehistoric settlement area at Etnesjøen in Etne parish, Western Norway. By use of mechanized top soil stripping numerous buildings, inhumation burials, cooking pits and kilns were uncovered. The site dates from the Late Bronze Age to Early Medieval Period. The focus of the article is the discovery of a Pre-Roman Iron Age village, formed of up to six farms chronologically spanning up to five generations of continuous occupation. At the time of the excavation, this was only the second pre-historic village of its kind found in Norway, indicating a significant and important discovery.