Sværholt, World War II History, and Archaeology

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

What difference does an archaeological approach make to a period saturated by historical documents, photographic archives, and recordings of eyewitness accounts? Since 2011 a group of archaeologists have undertaken fieldwork at a World War II prisoner of war camp at Sværholt in Norway’s far north. The labor camp for Soviet prisoners was established in 1942 as part of the construction of the German coastal battery at Sværholt, a fortification within the Atlantic Wall. In late fall 1944 the camp, the coastal fort, and the local Norwegian hamlet were abandoned and destroyed in step with the massive and abrupt German retreat from this northern region. This paper explores the afterlife of the camp and the coastal fort and shares details of the excavation and archaeological finds. In weaving a path alongside objects revealed over the last nine summers at Svaerholt this paper indicates how the things found challenge our common assumptions about the relationship between prisoners, guards, and locals. Ultimately, it provides suggestions as to what an archaeological account my look like as a complement and alternative to event-oriented histories.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• SAA 2021: General Sessions

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 32821