Secrets of the Ice is the public face of the Glacier Archaeology Program, a joint initiative by Innlandet County Council and the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo, Norway. Our mission is twofold: to rescue artefacts emerging from melting mountain ice in Innlandet County and to conduct scientific research on these sites and finds.
In addition, we are committed to raising public awareness about glacial archaeology and climate change through our website, social media, exhibitions, news media, podcasts, and other outreach efforts. The Norwegian Mountain Museum and Climate Park 2469 are our main partners in the dissemination effort, through their exhibitions and outdoor arenas.
The impact of human-induced climate change became evident in our high mountains in the early 2000s. In 2006, a significant melt event exposed hundreds of artefacts, prompting Oppland County Council (now Innlandet County Council) and the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo to join forces. Since then, our program has worked tirelessly to preserve these emerging historical treasures. The program secured permanent funding in 2011 and received an additional economic boost in 2024, allowing us to expand our efforts in artefact rescue, research, and public outreach.
In 2016, the Glacier Archaeology Program went online as “Secrets of the Ice”, and the public has been able to follow our work closely since. We are currently in the process of writing the history of the Glacier Archaeology Program until 2015, and you can find posts on earlier years below (currently up to an including 2012). For information on fieldwork from 2016 onwards, you can find information in the blogposts on this website and on our social media.