Mesolithic Climb
110 mamsl - c. 8000 BC.
Around 10,000 years ago, the ancient shoreline at Ekeberg sat approximately 150 meters higher than it does today, meaning the high terrain of Ekeberg formed a coastal ridge or island while present-day central Oslo was completely submerged under the sea
The Mesolithic Climb
This was the shoreline approximately 10,000 years ago, in the Mesolithic period. Post glacial rebound was fast. Over a period of just four hundred years the land rose almost 20 meters.
The Landscape 10,000 Years Ago
Higher Sea Levels: The massive weight of the ice sheet during the last Ice Age pushed the earth's crust downward. As the ice melted, the ocean rushed in to cover large parts of the interior before the land slowly rebounded.
Coastal Position: What is now the high plateau and slopes of Ekeberg acted as an edge facing the open waters of the ancient Yoldia or Ancylus sea stages, long before the Oslo basin emerged.
Early Human Settlement
First Inhabitants: Because Ekeberg was one of the few high areas sticking out of the water as dry land, the earliest people to arrive in the region settled along its ancient shorelines.
Archaeological Finds: Excavations on the slopes of Ekeberg have uncovered Stone Age tool-making sites and artifacts dating back more than 10,000 years, making it one of the oldest known inhabited landscapes in the capital area.