The Industrial Archaeology of Spitsbergen

This paper describes a hundred years of coal-mining on the remote Arctic island of Spitsbergen, only some 1,200km from the North Pole. The story of the early pioneers is told, followed by an account of each of the mining locations, including the extensive system of rope-ways which solved the problem of transporting the coal from mine to quay in a land of snow and ice. The unique juxtaposition of both western and Russian mining communities enables the two contrasting cultures to be compared. The poor living conditions and serious accident record of the mines, neither of which can be blamed entirely on the climate, are described. The surviving industrial archaeological remains are identified, with the conclusion that the current official policy of preservation must be strongly supported if predictable pressure from the tourism industry to remove the industrial 'eye-sores' is to be successfully resisted.

Archaeology · Arctic · Coal · Coal mining · Geography · Industrial archaeology · Mining engineering · Physical geography · The arctic · Tourism · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Historical and Cultural Archaeology Studies · History · Indigenous Studies and Ecology · Geology · Oceanography

• Nature Conservationism and the Arctic Commons of Spitsbergen 1900–1920

  Urban Wråkberg•Acta Borealia•2006

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