In the mountains of Norway, a team of archaeologists are working to rescue the artefacts revealed by melting glaciers and ice patches. The Glacier Archaeology Program, a collaboration between Innlandet County Council and the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo, was formed in 2011. Over the last decade, 64 glaciers and ice patches in the Innlandet region have produced over 3,500 archaeological finds, from hunting tools and textiles to zoological material, some dating as far back as 6,000 years ago.
Fieldwork usually takes place in a narrow window between mid August and mid September. This is the best time to search for objects brought to the surface of the ice; any earlier in the year, the old ice will still be covered by snow left over from the previous winter; any later, there is a chance that early winter snow will stop investigations before they even get started.
Archaeological investigation in these conditions presents some unique challenges: from the physical difficulties of reaching the ice patches – often involving tough uphill hikes over rough terrain, so archaeologists have to be in top physical condition – to the logistics of transporting all of the team’s food and supplies – by packhorse or helicopter if they are lucky, by hand if they are not! Despite all this, Lars Holger Pilø, one of the programme’s managers, believes that being a glacier archaeologist is one of the best jobs in the world, offering wonderful scenery, a ‘good old expedition feeling’ that is difficult to find in regular archaeology, and, of course, the spectacular finds.
