Glacial Archaeology in Northern Norway—The Island of Seiland

Abstract

Norway is at the forefront of monitoring ice patches and glaciers for archaeological remains, and thousands of artifacts have been recovered over the past two decades due to accelerating melting. The majority of finds stem from the lower latitudes of the country and relatively little is known about the glacial archaeology of Norway’s far north. We use historical maps and high-resolution LiDAR derived elevation models to monitor ice flow and melt. We employ a terrain ruggedness index to map areas of non-moving ice which possibly contain well-preserved archaeological finds, and model least cost paths to understand the accessibility for humans and animals of an archaeologically unexplored landscape. We then conduct a sailboat supported exploratory survey on the arctic island of Seiland. While we fail to locate archaeologically productive ice, we identify and date a so far unknown type of archaeological stone structure likely related to sheltering and reindeer hunting/herding activities.

Keywords

• glacial archaeology
• Norway
• ruggedness index
• Arctic
• cryogenic
• glacier