Secrets of the Ice is the public face of the Glacier Archaeology Program, a joint initiative by Innlandet County Council and the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo, Norway. Our mission is twofold: to rescue artefacts emerging from melting mountain ice in Innlandet County and to conduct scientific research on these sites and finds.
In addition, we are committed to raising public awareness about glacial archaeology and climate change through our website, social media, exhibitions, news media, podcasts, and other outreach efforts. The Norwegian Mountain Museum and Climate Park 2469 are our main partners in the dissemination effort, through their exhibitions and outdoor arenas.
The impact of human-induced climate change became evident in our high mountains in the early 2000s. In 2006, a significant melt event exposed hundreds of artefacts, prompting Oppland County Council (now Innlandet County Council) and the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo to join forces. Since then, our program has worked tirelessly to preserve these emerging historical treasures. The program secured permanent funding in 2011 and received an additional economic boost in 2024, allowing us to expand our efforts in artefact rescue, research, and public outreach.
In 2016, the Glacier Archaeology Program went online as “Secrets of the Ice”, and the public has been able to follow our work closely since. We are currently in the process of writing the history of the Glacier Archaeology Program until 2015, and you can find posts on earlier years below (currently up to an including 2012). For information on fieldwork from 2016 onwards, you can find information in the blogposts on this website and on our social media.
2012: A Year with Lots of Snow and Limited Discoveries
We were a bit apprehensive after the 2011 field season. There had been significant melting and hundreds of finds. If the melting continued at that rate, we would become overwhelmed. However, 2012 proved to be a different…
2011: Discoveries and Challenges Amidst Rapid Ice Melt
In 2011, we received permanent funding for our Glacier Archaeology Program in Innlandet County. This was a huge relief. Securing permanent funding marked a turning point for glacial archaeology in Innlandet, even though it came with its…
2010: Key Finds and Milestones
We expanded our glacial archaeological fieldwork in 2010, thanks to government funding. For the first time, we had a team in the field that targeted multiple sites during the field season. However, the funding did not permit…
2007-2009: The First Steps of Glacial Archaeology in Innlandet
After the 2006 big melt, we received limited funding to continue the work in 2007. We spent the money by doing exploratory surveys on two sites – Juvfonne and Lauvhøe ice patches. Elling Utvik Wammer and Lars…
2006: A Watershed Year for Glacial Archaeology in Innlandet
After two winters of heavy snow in 2004 and 2005, the summer of 2006 was exceptionally warm. By September, the accumulated snow from the previous years had melted, and the ice melt started to go deep. The…
Ice Finds Before the Secrets of the Ice Program
It was the big melt in 2006 and the many archaeological finds emerging from the glacial ice then, which made us aware that something was going on in our high mountains in Innlandet County, Norway. However, Innlandet…