Runic Secrets and Skis: Glacial Archaeology in Innlandet in 2014
The year 2014 marked a turning point for glacial archaeology in Innlandet. The thick snow cover from 2012 finally gave way, exposing ancient ice that had long been sealed from view. And as that old ice began to melt, artefacts started pouring out — more than we could have imagined. The season’s highlight was undoubtedly …
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 melting continued until early October, longer than in typical years when it usually halts in September. If you …
Glacial Archaeology and Global Warming
We recently published a study of our ice finds in Innlandet. The story made its way into major news media, including National Geographic. A number of posts in the comment sections to the news stories observed that the artefacts are lying on the ground. The commenters somehow inferred that this means that global warming is fake news. This is nothing …
The Viking Spear from the Lendbreen Ice Patch
fThe Lendbreen ice patch, September 1974. Young student Per Dagsgard from Skjåk was visiting the ice patch to search for remains from ancient reindeer hunting. Little did he know that he would make the archaeological discovery of a lifetime on this day – a find still surrounded by mystery. The Discovery Dagsgard hiked from the …
Glaciers, ice patches and archaeology
How can archaeological finds survive inside or beneath massive glaciers? Well, they can’t! The constant movement of the ice crushes the artefacts and eventually dumps the sad remains at the mouth of the glacier. When you hear about exciting discoveries from glaciers, these finds tend to be relatively recent, like missing airplanes or WW1 soldiers. Luckily for glacial …