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Due to the permafrost conditions, the burials have so far been remarkably well-preserved, with skin and textiles still available for researchers to study. But as the climate warms in the #Arctic, conditions are changing. #Svalbard

thebarentsobserver.com17th century graves on Svalbard are threatened by rising temperaturesCoffins collapse, exposing skeletal remains and even washing them into the sea, new research found.

11/3/25, 2:32 pm3 reposts15 likes

Carlsbj📎

@carlsbj.bsky.social

11 Mar 2025

When I was in Ny-Ålesund summers of 1985-1987 they already were digging out graves in Smeerenburg. Among them Per Kyrre Reymert and Thor Bjørn Arlov I recall. Then the bodkes were rather well preserved, remember Thor Bjørn did remark "this is not archelogy, it is pathology!" Excavation then

Carlsbj📎

@carlsbj.bsky.social

11 Mar 2025

was due to erosion by sea, washing out the graves. The climate and e.g permafrost and the glaciers has changed profoundly since then.