Whalers’ graves on Svalbard reveal the human cost behind Europe’s first oil industry

At the Likneset burial site in Smeerenburgfjorden on Svalbard, researchers from the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU) and Oslo University Hospital (OUS) have examined the remains of men who died during whaling in the 17th and 18th centuries. The skeletons show clear traces of heavy physical labor, a monotonous diet, disease, and long-term strain—often from a very young age.

“Skeletons are a unique type of material because they give us access to the body as a historical archive. We can see how work, diet, disease, and labor migration have actually left their marks on the people who took part in whaling,” says Lise Loktu, researcher and project leader at NIKU.

However, this unique material is now threatened by accelerating erosion and deterioration as a result of climate change on Svalbard.

Likneset is the largest burial ground on Svalbard. Here, the remains of whalers are preserved in permafrost, along with textiles, wooden coffins, and other organic materials that rarely survive in archaeological contexts. This is now beginning to change. 

The study is based on analyses of 20 individuals excavated in three periods: 1985–1990, 2016, and 2019. This makes it possible to investigate both the health conditions of the individuals buried here and how preservation conditions at the site have changed over time. 

The material is particularly important because it tells us not only about death and burial in the Arctic, but also about working life, mobility, health, and lived experience during a period when European whaling developed into a major international industry. 

– “We have focused particularly on documenting pathology—injuries and disease markers in the skeletons—in order to understand how this industry affected their lives,” says Loktu. 

Early modern Arctic whaling was among Europe’s first large-scale energy and resource industries. Before the fossil fuel era, whale oil was a highly sought-after commodity, used for lighting, heating, soap production, and lubrication. 

Yet we still know surprisingly little about how this working life affected the people involved—ordinary labourers whose lives are rarely documented in written sources. 

This is where the Likneset material stands out. Because the remains are so well preserved, researchers can study health, nutrition, labour, and life histories in a way that is rarely possible for this group. 

– “This is a rare material, also internationally. It allows us to investigate early modern working life at the level of the body itself. This makes the burial ground important not only for Svalbard research, but also for broader questions of labour, mobility, and health in Europe’s early global economy,” says Loktu. 

The researchers identified extensive evidence of heavy and repetitive physical strain across large parts of the skeleton. Particularly pronounced wear is found in the shoulders, upper arms, clavicles, chest, spine, hips, knees, and feet. 

Many individuals show changes in the shoulders and upper chest, including stress markers at the clavicle, sternum, and shoulder joints. This suggests repeated heavy use of the upper body—possibly linked to lifting, pulling, rowing, handling ropes, and other demanding physical tasks both on board and during whaling operations.

The spine also shows clear signs of strain. Several individuals exhibit degenerative changes, joint alterations, and vertebral damage typically associated with heavy and repetitive physical activity. These changes are not limited to older individuals, but are also present in young adults. 

– “One of the most striking aspects of the material is the age profile. These are not only older men with long lives behind them. Many died very young, yet still show clear signs of heavy strain, disease, and physical stress,” says co-author Elin Therese Brødholt, forensic anthropologist at OUS. 

The researchers also found extensive signs of physiological stress and disease. Almost all individuals showed skeletal changes consistent with scurvy, a severe or recurring deficiency of vitamin C. 

– “This was a well-known and feared condition among sailors and whalers at the time, and could lead to weakness, pain, bleeding, and in severe cases death,” says Brødholt. 

These findings point to nutritional stress likely linked to long sea voyages, a monotonous diet, and limited access to fresh food. 

In addition, dental evidence shows that many individuals experienced stress during childhood. More than half exhibited enamel defects—small disruptions in tooth enamel that occur when the body is exposed to disease, malnutrition, or other severe stress during development. 

– “Taken together, this paints a picture of men who worked under extreme conditions in the Arctic, but who in many cases also appear to have had difficult childhoods before they arrived there,” says Brødholt. 

Arctic whaling must have been among the most demanding and hazardous maritime industries in Europe at the time. The work took place in cold, wind, and damp conditions, and involved heavy manual labour. Whales had to be located, hunted, towed, processed, and loaded under extreme conditions, often over long seasons. 

Many individuals show strain-related changes in multiple parts of the body simultaneously. This suggests that the wear was not caused by isolated injuries, but by a lifetime of repeated heavy labour. 

– “Although we can rarely identify a specific cause of death, the material suggests that many died in a state of considerable health vulnerability. It appears to be the combined effects of disease, nutritional deficiency, physical strain, and prolonged stress that shaped these bodies,” says Brødholt. 

The study also indicates that the individuals buried here did not necessarily belong to a single national group. Both historical sources and biomolecular analyses suggest that this was a transnational workforce, recruited from different parts of Europe. 

Preliminary isotope analyses from Likneset suggest that some individuals grew up in regions corresponding to present-day Netherlands, while others appear to have originated from Norwegian coastal areas, particularly along the western and northern coasts. 

This aligns well with what we know about early labour migration between Norway and the Netherlands during this period—a history documented in written sources, but still only partially understood through archaeological and biological evidence. 

– “This makes the burial ground particularly interesting. We can see the outlines of a transnational workforce, where people from different parts of Europe met within a shared labour regime in the Arctic,” says Loktu. 

At the same time, the study shows that this unique material is under pressure. Comparisons between excavations from the 1980s and more recent investigations show that textiles and other organic materials are now far less well preserved. 

Increasing evidence shows that thawing permafrost, reduced sea ice, and increased precipitation are accelerating coastal erosion and destroying cultural heritage sites. 

– “When these graves deteriorate, we lose an entire archive of human lives, health, labour, and mobility in the past—an archive that is rarely preserved elsewhere,” says Loktu. 

While environmental change in the Arctic is closely monitored, cultural heritage has long occupied a more peripheral position in research, management, and policy. This is problematic, the researchers argue, because such sites provide unique insights into both past societies and ongoing environmental change. 

Likneset demonstrates how quickly such archives can be lost—and how much they still have to tell. 

– “Cultural heritage on Svalbard must be far more integrated into climate work and political priorities. Otherwise, we risk losing some of the most unique sources we have for understanding both human history and the consequences of climate change in the Arctic,” says Loktu.