TY - JOUR
T1 - EXCAVATING WAR AND IDLENESS
T2 - THE CASE OF SVÆRHOLT
AU - Farstadvoll, Stein
AU - Figenschau, Ingar O.
AU - Olsen, Bjørnar J.
AU - Witmore, Christopher L.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - For the last decade, the World War II prisoner-of-war camp and battery at Sværholt in northernmost Norway have been objects of archaeological investigation. This article presents the results from excavations and associated studies, including new descriptions of extant structures and found artefacts, comparative osteological analyses of middens, and their implications. Our purpose in presenting these results is to: 1) explore what an extraordinary array of unearthed material can reveal about the conditions and fates of those involved in, or affected by, the German occupation during the war; 2) to show how the archaeology of Sværholt, with all its heterogeneity, leads us in a direction at variance with historical generalizations and expectations; 3) to convey how the extant ruins and remains provide affective glimpses into their formative causes: the abandonment and near-complete destruction of the battery, garrison, hamlet, and POW camp, during a few intense days of evacuation in November 1944.
AB - For the last decade, the World War II prisoner-of-war camp and battery at Sværholt in northernmost Norway have been objects of archaeological investigation. This article presents the results from excavations and associated studies, including new descriptions of extant structures and found artefacts, comparative osteological analyses of middens, and their implications. Our purpose in presenting these results is to: 1) explore what an extraordinary array of unearthed material can reveal about the conditions and fates of those involved in, or affected by, the German occupation during the war; 2) to show how the archaeology of Sværholt, with all its heterogeneity, leads us in a direction at variance with historical generalizations and expectations; 3) to convey how the extant ruins and remains provide affective glimpses into their formative causes: the abandonment and near-complete destruction of the battery, garrison, hamlet, and POW camp, during a few intense days of evacuation in November 1944.
KW - Conflict archaeology
KW - Norway
KW - POWs
KW - WWII
KW - contemporary archaeology
KW - excavation
KW - ruins
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85135800728&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/15740773.2022.2111539
DO - 10.1080/15740773.2022.2111539
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85135800728
SN - 1574-0773
VL - 17
SP - 87
EP - 127
JO - Journal of Conflict Archaeology
JF - Journal of Conflict Archaeology
IS - 2
ER -