A major research project seeks to find out how cultural heritage in arctic and alpine environments degrade and how they can be preserved.
NIKU is an independent institute within the wider field of Cultural Heritage in Norway and beyond.
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We have expertise in the field of cultural heritage and perform large and small projects on behalf of private and public actors.
News
Vulnerable cultural heritage is under threat on Svalbard
Promising results with ground-penetrating radar in Iceland
This summer, archaeologists from Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage (NIKU) have carried out several surveys using ground penetrating radar in Iceland. Preliminary results show that the investigations have already been very successful.
NIKU and Scottish partners invites to a week of workshops and lectures in Oslo
The Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research invites researchers, heritage professionals and other interested groups to a week of workshops and lectures based on our collaborations with partners from The University of Stirling and The University of Edinburgh.
ERC funding for NIKU project on nomadic pastoral cooperation
Marius Warg Næss from NIKU’s High North Departement at The Fram Centre has received funding from the European research council as one of nine Norwegian researchers. The next five years, he will study how political complexity can evolve from small-scale cooperative groups in nomadic pastoral societies.
Rare rune finds in Oslo
In the last week before Christmas two runic inscriptions were unearthed during excavations in Oslo’s old town. One inscription is carved on bone and this is the first bone with runes found in Oslo in more than forty years. The second is carved on wood and contains a religious text in both Norse and Latin.
A 13th century figure with falcon found in Oslo – but is it a king or a queen?
A small carved figure was recently unearthed during excavation the medieval town of Oslo. The figure depicts a person in robes and crown with a falcon perched on his arm. But is it a king or a queen?
60 metre longhouse discovered with GPR near Viking ship at Gjellestad
At Gjellestad in Norway, archaeologists from the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU) have found a 60 metre longhouse. There is no longer a doubt that Gjellestad, where the same team discovered a Viking ship in 2018, has been a central place in the late Nordic Iron Age. In the next few years, researchers will hopefully find the answer to how Gjellestad became such an important place.
Cultural monuments in Iceland are threatened by volcanoes – NIKU helps secure knowledge
Volcanic activity on the Reykjanes peninsula in Iceland threatens several protected archaeological sites. In recent weeks, NIKU has been working hard together with the Icelandic National Heritage Board (Minjastofnun Íslands) to ensure solid digital documentation of three sites in danger of being covered by lava.
Past, Present, Future: Archaeological Climate Summit in Kiel
The global state of research on social archaeology and climate change it the topic for this years Summit on Social Archaeology of Climate Change (SACC) in Kiel.
Torgrim Sneve Guttormsen appointed Honorary Professor Position at The University of Stirling
Research Professor and head of the Department of Cultural Heritage and Society at NIKU, Torgrim Sneve Guttormsen, has been awarded Honorary Professor Position at the University of Stirling for the period 2021-2024.