It was Friday, September 2, 2017. We received the incredible news of the discovery of a sword at high altitude in our county. A reindeer hunter stumbled upon it. The pictures accompanying the news were just stunning. One of them showed a hunter holding an extremely well preserved Viking sword. Our minds were racing. The …
One of the great things about archaeology is when you get to survey a new area with little prior information. What discoveries are waiting out there? This time we headed out to do an initial survey of a historical trail crossing two glaciers in the heart of the Jotunheimen Mountains. The trail has not been surveyed by …
Mountain trails crossing ice can be treasure troves of archaeological material. People lost or threw away all kinds of stuff on their way. If the objects were lost on the ice, they can still be preserved even though millennia has passed. You can find corpses, clothing, household items and dead pack animals. What more can you wish …
Snow situation The most difficult part of fieldwork planning is getting reliable information on the snow conditions prior to fieldwork. With a limited time window available for survey in the high mountains, it is of paramount importance that we target the right sites at the right time. Without information on snow conditions, we could end …
It is February. I am at an ice patch together with my colleagues. It should be freezing cold, but instead the ice is melting. A thick layer of ancient reindeer dung is exposed on the surface of the ice patch, mixed with archaeological finds. What is going on? We should not have a melt for …
Ever since we started our fieldwork, we have received many offers from people who want to come and help us. We really appreciate that, but so far we have only rarely accepted volunteers. The main reason is the unpredictable weather conditions, which may lead to cancellation or rescheduling of fieldwork on very short notice. This …
The archaeology of snow and ice does not get any more extreme than on Mount Everest. High altitude, thin air, strong winds, constant cold and a 2000 m drop on one side of the survey area – this is glacial archaeology on steroids. The reward could be solving the greatest mountaineering mystery of all. The history of the attempts to climb the …
I remember shaking my head in disbelief when we found what looked like a giant wooden slingshot, melting out of the ice. When we discovered what the object really was, we got even more excited. It opened the door to a unknown prehistoric world of ice and snow. The discovery It was August 4th 2011, the …
An outbreak of anthrax in Siberia in 2016 caused the death of a 12-year-old-boy, hospitalization of scores of other people and the death of more than two thousand reindeer. The outbreak was traced back to an old reindeer corpse, which had melted out of the permafrost during what was the warmest Arctic summer on record …
It was a stormy night at the Lendbreen ice patch. The noise from the wind and the meltwater rushing down the ice was deafening. I had nearly fallen asleep, when I heard the sound of the zipper for my outer tent. It was Elling. “My tent is down. You are getting company!” Elling Utvik Wammer …