Scientific leader: Urban Wråkberg, Center for History of Science, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm

Scientific background

Although Svalbard is a high Arctic archipelago with no indigenous population, it has been the site of human activities for at least the last 400 years. This is the time span from which we have reliable historical source material, both written and drawn, together with actual, archaeological remains at their original sites. The cultural monuments and sites of Svalbard have been systematically registered by the Norwegian cultural history authorities since the end of the 1970s, and regulations for protecting the cultural heritage have been in force since 1974 (revised in 1992). The majority of the monuments and sites to be seen today reflect the exploitation that has been the trademark of human activity in Svalbard. They consist of such things as the foundations of whaleoil boilers and associated buildings from the 17th century, the stumps of large orthodox crosses and ground-level remains of the wooden huts of Russian wintering trappers from the 18th and early 19th century. One also finds Norwegian hunting and trapping cabins and trapping devices from the late 19th and early 20th century, and the early mining sites and constructions from the beginning of this century. In addition there are the historical remains of scientific and explorative expeditions, which only exploited the favourable conditions in Svalbard either for North Pole attempts or for scientific investigations. And everywhere the graves, bearing witness to the fact that life in the High Arctic was harsh and dangerous.

Since the revised regulations of 1992, all monuments and sites, as well as loose objects, from before the year 1946 are protected as historical remains. The date was carefully chosen to include remains from activities during the Second World War that touched Svalbard because of its ideal position for weather observations that were of importance for forecasting in areas further south in Europe. The relatively mild climate in Svalbard and its relative accessibility has encouraged human activity around most of its coasts. The inland glacier cover has, on the other hand, discouraged most settled activities. It is therefore along the coastal areas, in fact wherever there are or were reasonable conditions of access, suitable terrain and availability of necessary resources such as fresh water, driftwood and animal life, that the majority of monuments and sites are located. Often several ”generations” of remains are to be found on top of or in proximity to each other. This tendency is continued today, as tourists and other visitors find natural places to go ashore, and perhaps also to establish camps, just where the protected monuments and sites are situated. Until a few years ago, tourism was not particularly welcomed or encouraged in Svalbard. The main commercial activity was coal mining (Russian and Norwegian), and tourism was frowned upon as being injurious to environmental conservation. The last few years have seen a boom in tourism as a commercial investment area as coal mining is gradually reduced and new sources of income are encouraged. It is therefore interesting to follow the state of various monuments and sites over the years, particularly with regard to extra wear and tear as a result of increased traffic around the entire archipelago.

Susan Barr was invited by the Swedish Programme for Social Science Research in the Polar Regions and the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat to participate in the SWEDARCTIC expedition. With 20 years experience of the monuments and sites of Svalbard, she had much to offer in the discussions with theother scholars and used the opportunity to study thehistoric sites visited to see whether any conclusionscould be drawn as to their relative vulnerability to present and future human activity. The main archaeological interest of the SWEDARCTIC Svalbard cruise was the attainment of Kvitøya, White Island, on the extreme northeast of Svalbard. More precisely the goal was Andreeneset, which is a spit of land some kilometres wide and about 7 kilometres long on the western shore of the island that is almost entirely cowered by a glacier. On Andreeneset are the remains of the last camp of the Swedish polar explorer and pioneer of Arctic aviation S.A. Andree and his two colleagues, Nils Strindberg and Knut Frænkel. Here they all perished in 1897, but the camp was not found until 1930. This place is even today most remote and inaccessible but was reached successfully by the expedition. Traces and remains of this mysterious expedition are of great interest to the history of technology and science in the Polar Regions. New facts from the field can also give new perspectives on the cultural implications of this expedition, which has today become in Sweden the most widely known and artistically portrayed grand tragic undertaking of any Swedish explorer and scientist. The Andree camp at Andreeneset is of course a historic site of special interest to the Andree Museum in Gränna in central Sweden. The director of this museum, the archaeologist Sven Lundström, is one of the members of the Swedish Programme for Social Science Research in the Polar Regions and was the first to land on Andreeneset on this occasion. Lundström was also responsible for the overall programme of research and documentation undertaken during the visit of the expedition on White Island. As was the case during the 1997 expedition of the Swedish Programme for Social Science Research in the Polar Regions, there were several projects within the history of science on our agenda for 1998. Robert Marc Friedman of Oslo University studied the relation between coastal landscapes and sites as described and perceived today along the routes used by Fridtjof Nansen in his book ”En ferd til Spitsbergen” of 1920 and by the pioneer scientist on Svalbard Baltazar Keilhau in the narrative of his travel to Vestspitsbergen and Edgeøya in 1827.

Along with his ongoing project of 1997, focusing on the French expedition to Spitsbergen by Paul Gaimard in 1838, Par Eliasson of Umeå University also dealt with Edward Parry’s successful attempt at a Northern Record in 1827. Urban Wrakberg pursued two projects in particular during the cruise: the international effort to rescue the survivors of the Italia disaster on the ice to the north of eastern Svalbard in 1928 and the many complexities of the geographical exploration of the area to the east of Svalbard, still only poorly known to western science and cartography in mid-19th century. Torgny Nordin of Goteborg University was doing fieldwork for his project ”Landscape and Memoryscape”. This is a project in the field of philosophy focusing on the perception and aesthetics of landscape. One of its aims is to analyze the significance and meaning of photography in the context of documentation and visualization of Polar areas. This project is also studying what kind of experiences and emotive phenomena photography and other forms of artistic expression try to articulate. The marine archaeologist of the expedition, Ph.D. student Per Lejoneke of South Stockholm College represented a new field of investigation within the Swedish Programme for Social Science Research in the Polar Regions. Together with his supervisor, Assoc. Prof. Carl Olof Cederlund, Lejoneke has defined the general scope of his project to be the cultural contacts and maritime system of communication in Northern Scandinavia during the prehistoric and historic eras. Special emphasis is placed on the east-west trade exchanges by ships and transfer of technology. The field technique here is to search for and investigate remains of boats and ships on the shores of Svalbard, as the unique high Arctic conditions favor a good state of preservation for wooden objects. Dating and reasoning concerning the origin of such seafaring remains must be based on detailed knowledge of the sea currents and patterns of drift-ice movements in the surrounding seas, as well as an evaluation of the degree of disturbance in the driftwood material on the beaches from human interference and local conditions of erosion. 

The fieldwork

Since the expedition leader of the Svalbard cruise of SWEDARCTIC 1998, Anders Karlqvist of the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat, was taken ill at a late hour (but soon recovered at home) this duty was successfully taken over by the scientific leader of the expedition, Urban Wråkberg, in co-operation with Jan-Erik Johansson and Eva Grönlund of the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat. Co-operation with the ship’s commander Captain Asmunn Johnsen and his kind and experienced crew on the MIS Lance of the Norwegian Polar Institute at Svalbard was indeed excellent. Good ice conditions and fairly good weather along the route also favoured the expedition. Fog of course played its role by entering the scene for some periods but sometimes arrived just to disappear as suddenly as it had come, as is to be expected during Arctic summers in these regions. Polar bears were observed at three places but obstructed research at two landings only. On these occasions the teams withdrew safely to the Zodiacs after firing single warning shots in unsuccessful attempts to ward off the bears, all in accordance with the regulations of the Governor of Svalbard.

In sum, not only all landings of high priority in the initial planning were carried out, but several new ones rated as alternatives in the preliminary plan were added during the cruise. This of course gave considerable extra scientific value to the expedition, which lasted ten days, 16-26 August, and entailed a circumnavigation of Vestspitsbergen, Nordaustlandet and Barentsøya including the landing on Andreeneset at Kvitøya. The 1998 expedition of the Swedish Programme for Social Science Research in the Polar Regions, being mainly involved in making inventories for future needs and determining the potential for different scholarly field projects on Svalbard, had consequently not applied for permits to do any kind of archaeological excavations or other disturbances of monuments and sites to be visited. In this project, monuments and sites were studied according to the ”hands-off” principle. Photographs and field notes were the only invasions of privacy inflicted on the various historical remains. As far as time and safety measures allowed, surveys were also made of larger areas in conjunction with the visited sites.

Unique photographic documentation of sites of interest to the history of polar science was undertaken at several landings. For example: the position of a depot of the S.A. Andree-expedition, on the Parryøya, the Swedish wintering station 1899-1900 on Crozierpynten, Sorgfjorden, positions related to the international rescuing missions of the Italia catastrophe in 1928 and at natural harbours at Kapp Lee and Habenichtbukta on Edgeøya, used by A.E. Nordenskiöld on his 1864 expedition to Spitsbergen and Storfjorden. At Habenichtbukta Robert Friedman and Noel Broadbent related the pictorial view and perspective of Lord Dufferin’s and B. Keilhau’s drawings of their visits to this site to the field of today. At Habenichtbukta is the site of one of the largest of all of the old Russian hunting stations from the 19th-century. Pär Eliasson was assisted by colleagues in the SWEDARCTIC expedition in his effort to find the exact position in the field of the observatory from Paul Gaimard’s French expedition to Recherchefjorden in 1838. Kenneth Awebro and Rolf Kjellström did field research for their joint project on Russian and later hunting and trapping on Svalbard at Kapp Lee, Ekrollhamna and Halvmaneøya, all on Edgeøya. The entire group of archaeologists surveyed parts of Ahlstrandhalvøya in Bellsund for traces of possible prehistoric settlements or visitors to Svalbard. Berit Andersson also did work within this project on the western shore of Gronfjorden, while a desired landing for the same purpose at Russekeila in Isfjorden had to be skipped as a result of high sea with breakers. Due to the favourable logistical conditions of the SWEDARCTIC 1998 cruise, a couple of historic sites of early 20th-century mining were added to the agenda, including Calypsohamna, Camp Smith, Asbestodden, Camp Bell and Camp Millar all in Bellsund. The main event during the cruise of SWEDARCTIC 1998 and the Swedish Programme of Social Science Research in the Polar Regions was no doubt the visit to Kvitøya – Vitön, and Andreeneset, with the last  camp of the S.A. Andree-expedition of 1897. The visit here had been planned to last no more than 12 hours and in practice some 8 hours became available in the end after some delay by fog. The programme for the visit was completely fulfilled, meaning a rough survey of the entire headland of the Andreeneset by one team and a detailed topographical measurement of the site of the camp made by another team of professional archaeologists, the first ever made.

Studies and seminars at sea

Prompted by the strong experience of visiting Kvitøya and the site of S.A. Andree’s last campsite, the problems concerning the management of monuments and sites in Svalbard were discussed at workshops onboard ship. The varying views of participants with knowledgeable museum and historical backgrounds were an inspiration to the cruise. This seminar was part of a series of informal workshops put together by Urban Wråkberg and Rolf Kjellström involving all other participants in the expedition. The general purpose was to make use of time available during the travel at sea between landings to find openings for exchange of ideas between the different scholars in the expedition. With a rather wide array of specialties represented in the expedition, such as economic history, prehistoric archaeology, modern archaeology, history of science and technology, practical philosophy, marine archaeology and maritime history, the potential for multidisciplinary co-operation indeed proved to be great. The team of geologists that had embarked on MIS Lance at Westmanbukta on Nordaustlandet also took part in these workshops. As was obvious already during the SWEDARCTIC 1997 cruise of the Programme for Social Science Research in the Polar Regions there is good reason in many research agendas for multidisciplinary research also involving scientists of different kind. Obviously archaeology and driftwood and maritime historical studies of stranded wreckage have need of co-operation with expertise within oceanography and quaternary geology. Historians of science always benefit from modern knowledge in the subject under historical consideration. During the travel at sea Urban Wrakberg also did photography addressing the problems of sighting land over long distances at sea in the Arctic. This is a crucial question in his ongoing project on the history of 19th century geographical exploration of the then unknown sector of the Arctic to the east of Svalbard.

Preliminary results

The remains of human activity in Svalbard have been exploited for as long as the human activity itself has existed. The 17th century whalers could return after a winter in their hometowns to discover that their stations had been raided either after they left at the end of the summer, or before they returned the next year. Many years later the whale-oil boilers got worn down by eager photographers climbing on them to get a better angle. Other mariners who either knew of, or stumbled over, the valuable supplies at a later date have plundered depots left by historical expeditions. Trappers’ or scientists’ cabins have been visited by thieves who felt they needed supplies or equipment more than the owners did. Historical monuments and sites have been stripped of all but the basics by needy passers-by or by souvenir hunters. Even graves have been opened and skulls taken away to serve as conversation pieces in faraway homes. So there is nothing new in the fact that monuments and sites in Svalbard are not left entirely untouched by human visitors. The great interest for and increased opportunities to accomplish visits to Europe’s Last Wilderness, as Svalbard is called in the advertisements, have resulted in Svalbard becoming one of the most regulated of outlying areas. Environmental and tourist regulations, combined with the focus on the area both from environmentalists and nature-interested persons, make it less possible and less likely that wanton damage and theft will occur. The increased patrol resources available to the Governor (Sysselmann) also discourage negative behavior, as does the patrolling effect of environmentally positive visiting groups on their trips around the archipelago. It was very striking that we met tourists ships as far north-east as Parryøya, one of the island group Sjuøyane, another in Sorgfjorden, and evidence in the ”visitors’ book” in the hunting cabin Bjørneborg on Halvmaneøya of a tourist ship visit a couple of days before we arrived. Wanton damage and theft are then perhaps now not such a problem as they were before. However, both observations from our expedition (shutters left off cabin windows, doors not properly closed) and reports in the local newspaper Svalbardposten (bonfires in whale-oil boilers, disturbed graves), show that carelessness and untamed curiosity can still do great damage. The increased traffic can also be read through vegetation wear around some monuments and sites. Perhaps one of the most worrying cases from a management point of view is Andree’s campsite on Kvitøya. The site itself is relatively insignificant to the more casual visitor and without obvious limitations towards the surrounding terrain. It is therefore easily disturbed. A natural route to the memorial stone is also over the site, either as one approaches to climb up the crag which the campsite sheltered against, or as one jumps down again. Natural wear and tear from the climate, sea or ice erosion, and polar bears can of course also be seen over time. Once an unattended hut has started to deteriorate, the weather will accelerate the process that perhaps was started by a curious polar bear breaking down a door, window or even wall. A slow decomposition of certain monuments and sites is inevitable and gives, in its own way, a positive experience. The historic hunting station Bjørneborg on Halvmaneøya was, however, a pleasant surprise, having recently been renovated by the cultural heritage authorities.

The future

The cultural monuments and sites in Svalbard are now being ”used” more than they have ever been; they are more in focus as topics for articles, lectures, research, and they are more visited than ever before. This is a good thing. We all have a right to the opportunity to know and explore our heritage. Nothing can be regulated and policed 100%; negative actions will always occur. The interest directed towards Svalbard’s cultural heritage, both from the relevant authorities and from the public seems to give positive effects that outweigh the negative. The main challenge seems to lie in the problem of getting enough information through to visitors so that damage done through ignorance perhaps could be eliminated. The Governor of Svalbard (Sysselmann) has already increased information initiatives directed towards certain of the most-important and most visited sites, and we hope that Kvitøya is on the list for the near future. Plans are now under way in Sweden for suggesting a thorough archaeological investigation of the site of the last camp of S.A. Andree. Among other future projects being discussed can be mentioned fieldwork evaluating ceramic objects from the Linnevatnet region on Svalbard and a marine archaeological field inventory. Stationary research focusing on Svalbard hunters’ use and perception of land and their different systems of trapping has already been suggested. The team of historians of science is planning to recreate the use in the field of scientific instruments of 19th century polar exploration. A joint Swedish-Norwegian-British project is being discussed focusing attention on a couple of important 20th century wintering expeditions and international scientific co-operation in Antarctica.