Climate change and the preservation of archaeological sites in Greenland
Channel: Recording Archaeology
Date: 2015-10-21

Jørgen Hollesen1, Henning Matthiesen2
1NATIONAL MUSEUM OF DENMARK, 2UNIVERSITY OF COPENHAGEN

Archaeological sites in Greenland represent an irreplaceable record of extraordinarily well-preserved material remains covering
more than 4000 years of human history. Out of the more than 6000 registered sites very few have been excavated and it is anticipated that thousands of sites are still to be discovered in the many unexplored parts of the country. Therefore, the potential of archaeological sites in Greenland to provide further spectacular findings is considered extremely high. However, the climate is changing rapidly in Greenland leading to accelerated degradation of the archaeological sites. Since 2009 the National Museum of Denmark and Greenland and the University of Copenhagen have been collaborating in order to obtain an improved understanding of the link between climate change and the preservation of archaeological sites in Greenland.
In this presentation we will give examples of how permafrost thaw, coastal erosion, increased vegetation and farming are threatening to destroy archaeological sites in Greenland. We will show the results from our decay studies were we have investigated how different organic materials respond to environmental changes. Finally we will present our future research plans and elaborate on how we aim to develop new methods for locating sites at risk – using both high tech solutions (Remote sensing, UAV and GIS models) and low tech solutions where local residents are involved in surveys and excavations.