Svalbard has a rich heritage, and visitors to the islands will find traces of human activity in all sorts of places. There is little soil so even the oldest traces are exposed, each one of them evoking a story, be it of hardship and tragedy or of the intrepid hunter-trapper or amazing expeditions. Against a backdrop of severe conditions, the artefacts are telling memorials of the past. In order to protect them it has been decided that all traces of human activity dating from 1945 or earlier are protected.

 

Stationary and Unattached Artefacts

The protection applies to stationary as well as to unattached artefacts. Examples of stationary artefacts are all buildings and ruins, plants and traps. Unattached artefacts might be the remains of trapping devices, bones, tools, ammunition, cartridge shells, shards of pottery or glass, pieces of chain and wire, soles off shoes, hoops and stove rings. Human graves, or traces of them, skeletal remains, crosses and inscriptions are protected regardless of their age. The same applies to bones and hunting tools on slaughtering grounds for walruses, beluga whales and polar bears killed with spring guns.

 

Vulnerable Treasures

The artefacts in Svalbard are vulnerable treasures that keep well in the dry and cold climate. However, they are exposed to the ignorance of passers-by. Unaware of what they are doing, people trample on the boiling stations, displace stones from old graves  and poke at gear that has been left behind. Objects are tucked into pockets and bags. A trouser button or a dulled blade outside a hunter-trapper station has a story to tell. It loses its value when removed from its context. Every year, tens of thousands of people visit the monuments and such pilfering could very easily reach horrendous dimensions. Needless to say, such conduct is forbidden. Destruction or removal of objects, whether stationary or unattached, is a punishable offence and will lead to heavy fines. The protection also applies to a  security zone extending for 100 metres in all directions from the  perimeter of the memorial. Within the security zone, it is prohibited to set up camp, to light a fire or to leave any other traces.

 

Monitoring

The artefacts are exposed to wear and tear from the forces of nature as well as from humans passing by. Consequently, the Governor of Svalbard has laid out a "Plan for Memorials in  Svalbard 2000-2010"  Amongst the goals, we find the following:

• To protect and sustain artefacts on Svalbard in view of coherent environmental management.
• To sustain resources for scientific reference.
• To sustain resources for the enjoyment of present and future generations.

The plan deals with 54 sites of high priority that will be watched very closely and subjected to maintenance routines. Nineteen sites will be monitored very closely in view of the effect of wear and tear. This is part of MOSJ (Environmental monitoring of Svalbard and Jan Mayen).

Registers and Databases

Every year the Governor of Svalbard systematically records artefacts in Svalbard. This work has been going on since 1976 and provides the basis for a Svalbard artefact database. The first records will be entered into an electronic database in the course of the spring 2005.

 

Emergency Excavation

Many of Svalbard's artefacts are in the sea where they are liable to be damaged by storms. When an artefact risks collapsing and being destroyed, the Directorate of Cultural Heritage may cancel protection in order to allow excavation. In such cases the site will be handled professionally, duly documented, and the objects will be treated and stored.

 

Restoration

Thanks to the cold any dry climate in Svalbard objects keep well. Consequently, there are many protected buildings in the archipelago. A number of them are important memorials of the life led by hunters and trappers, scientists and miners. For years, the Governor has been restoring buildings such as Tobiesenhuset on Bjørnøya, Svenskhuset in Isfjord, the old huts at Kapp Wijk and Fredheim, Hyttevika north of Hornsund, Camp Morton in Van Mijenfjord, Camp Smith in Recherchefjord and also various buildings in Ny-Ålesund and Hiorthamn.

 

Information

The protected sites in Svalbard are very recent-everything that is older than from 1946 automatically enjoys protection. This means that Svalbard has protected a number of buildings and objects  that would not have been protected on the mainland or abroad . The  Governor of Svalbard has had several pamphlets of high quality printed in order to explain about the memorials. There are pamphlets about Villa Fredheim, Hiorthhamn, Virgohamna, Gravodden /Smeerenburg and Isfjord. The next pamphlet will deal with Longyearbyen.