Welcome to our new website

Welcome to our new website.

Ever since we started working with glacial archaeology in Oppland, our work has been met with great interest, both from media and the general public. This is not surprising. Glacial archaeology combines exciting archaeological finds with the greatest challenge of our time – anthropogenic climate change. The ice in the high mountains is melting and well preserved artefacts reappear from their frozen grave. The same happens in the Alps and in North America. A completely new archaeological discipline has emerged – glacial archaeology, and it is being followed closely by the press.

Archaeologists are surveying the scree at Lendbreen after the ice melted away.
Archaeologists are surveying the scree at Lendbreen after the ice melted away. From left: Lars Pilø and Espen Finstad (both Oppland County Council), Dag Inge Bakke (Norwegian Mountain Center) and Reidar Marstein. Photo: Johan Wildhagen, Palookaville.

The exciting archaeological finds have a dark background. The temperature on the planet is rising, and this will have dire consequences for us all. The climate prognosis for Norway tells us that most of the high mountain ice will melt away this century. The process is already underway, something which is visible for us during our fieldwork. There is little we glacier archaeologists can do to stop global warming, but we can make it a priority to do everything we can to rescue the artefacts melting out. If we do not find them when they melt out, they will be lost, together with their history.

The purpose of this new website is to give the general public and the media a possibility to follow our rescue work in Oppland more closely, and give information on important finds. The emphasis will be on the glacial archaeology of Oppland, but we will also follow the work of our colleagues in the Alps and in North America. We have put special emphasis on themes and subjects, which we know from experience carry special interest to non-archaeologists.

If you have questions on glacial archaeology, please get in touch.