We have published a new scientific paper, this time in the Journal of Field Archaeology! Earlier, we have focused on the radiocarbon dates of the finds and on two of our most interesting sites (Lendbreen and Langfonne). However, the mountain ice now melting in many places around the world. The time has come to tell the story of how we find and survey archaeological sites at glaciers and ice patches.
We hope our story can be of use to other archaeologists, especially those who are doing fieldwork at melting ice now or are preparing to do so in the future. Our approach is mostly low-tech. It involves boots on the ground, heavy backpacking, basecamps, and a rather unusual environment for archaeological fieldwork. And yes, not to forget the incredible finds – we managed to include some of those in the paper as well.
You can read the paper here (open access)
We have updated the sections on fieldwork on our website. They are more popular and shorter versions of the scientific paper. You can find them here: Finding glacial archaeological sites and Documenting glacial archaeological sites.
Inquiries about the scientific paper can be directed to Lars Pilø – lars.holger.pilo@innlandetfylke.no
High resolution photos with captions and credits are available here