Archaeology of Svalbard

)[2] Archaeological fieldwork on Svalbard is both expensive and physically exhausting, but new technology and infrastructure has allowed easier access.

All cultural heritage sites or objects originating from 1946 or before are automatically protected by law, a rule applying to all types of remains.

[5] A decade before the first attempt at a permanent settlement in the archipelago, amateur research was carried out by many of the natural scientists exploring the region at the time.

Through this agreement Norway was established as the ruling power of Svalbard, although full rights were granted to other nationalities to engage in (among other fields, such as economic activity) scientific research.

[7] Little research would take place in Svalbard until well after World War II – it wasn't until 1955 that a second period of active archaeology began, the first professional such – although amateur work continued as well.

It was initiated by a joint Scandinavian expedition, led by Hans Christiansson and Povl Simonsen, who set out to search for evidence of Stone Age activity, as well as to investigate a Russian historical site, Russekeila.

The Soviet Union had strong commercial and diplomatic interests in Svalbard at the time, among other things running two significant mining towns – Barentsburg and Pyramiden.

While the old myths of Smeerenburg's grandeur were largely disproven, the project did result in many valuable 17th century finds, and new knowledge of the region.

In 1991, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Vadim F. Starkov returned to carry out an expedition under the joint leadership of him, the Polish Kazimierz Pękala, and the Polish-Norwegian Marek E.

In 2010 the Norwegian archaeologist Bjørnar Olsen co-authored Persistent memories: Pyramiden – a Soviet mining town in the High Arctic, and several others have taken a scientific interest in this site.