In August 2018, a group of experts working with terrestrial/marine geophysics and remote sensing methods to explore archaeological sites in Denmark, Finland, Norway, Scotland and Sweden gathered together for the first time at the Workshop ‘Sensing Archaeology in The North’. The goal was to exchange experiences, discuss challenges, and consider future directions for further developing these methods and strategies for their use in archaeology. After the event, this special journal issue was arranged to publish papers that are based on the workshop presentations, but also to incorporate work that is produced by other researchers in the field. This paper closes the special issue and further aims to provide current state-of-the-art for the methods represented by the workshop. Here, we introduce the aspects that inspired the organisation of the meeting, a summary of the 12 presentations and eight paper contributions, as well as a discussion about the main outcomes of the workshop roundtables, including the production of two searchable databases (online resources and equipment). We conclude with the position that the ‘North’, together with its unique cultural heritage and thriving research community, is at the forefront of good practice in the application and development of sensing methods in archaeological research and management. However, further method development is required, so we claim the support of funding bodies to back research efforts based on testing/experimental studies to: explore unknown survey environments and identify optimal survey conditions, as well as to monitor the preservation of archaeological remains, especially those that are at risk. It is demonstrated that remote sensing and geophysics not only have an important role in the safeguarding of archaeological sites from development and within prehistorical-historical research, but the methods can be especially useful in recording and monitoring the increased impact of climate change on sites in the North.

The use of large-scale, high-resolution ground-penetrating radar surveys has increasingly become a part of Norwegian cultural heritage management as a complementary method to trial trenching surveys to detect and delineate archaeological sites. The aim of this article is to collect, interpret and compare large-scale, high-resolution ground-penetrating radar (GPR) survey data with results from trial trenching and subsequent large-scale excavations, and to extract descriptive and spatial statistics on detection rates and precision for both evaluation methods. This, in turn, is used to assess the advantages and disadvantages of both conventional, intrusive methods and large-scale GPR surveys. Neither method proved to be flawless, and while the trial trenching had a better overall detection rate, organic and charcoal rich features were nearly just as easily detected by both methods. Similarly, the spatial representability was similar, even though the total detection rates were lower with the GPR. This can be used as an argument in advance of integrating full-coverage GPR results into a site evaluation scheme, preferably in combination with other methods. Overall, these analyses have highlighted drawbacks and possibilities in both methods that are important contributions in understanding how to use them and integrate them in future site evaluations.

The 14 articles presented in this publication represent some of the latest and most relevant research on rural settlement and farming from the Late Neolithic through the Early Medieval Period in Norway. It deals with the impact of climate change, plague and the AD 536–7 volcanic event and some of the earliest farms north of the Arctic Circle. It provides new perspectives and archaeological evidence for the Viking age farm of Norway, differences in regional settlement structures of agrarian societies, the relation between houses and graves in the Iron Age, and varying food practices as indicators of societal change. The publication is part of the Joint Research Program (Forskning i fellesskap) conducted by the University Museums of Norway and co-funded by The Research Council of Norway. ----- Synopsis Denne boka presenterer rykende fersk forskning på bondelivet i Norge fra steinalder til vikingtid. Atten arkeologer og botanikere ved de fem Universitetsmuseene i Norge står bak prosjektet. Vi lærer om hvordan klimaendringer, pest og det store vulkanutbruddet i 536-37e. Kr. påvirket levevilkårene. Vi får nytt innblikk i arkeologiske vikingtidsgårder og en av de første sauegårdene nord for polarsirkelen, fra bronsealderen. Vi får vite mer om underlige skikker i jernalderen der de døde ble gravlagt inne i gamle hus og om hvordan forandringer i festens meny og måltidspraksis hang sammen med store samfunnsendringer. Prosjektet er en del av «Forskning i felleskap» finansiert av Universitetsmuseene i Norge og Norges forskningsråd.

Shielings are seasonal settlements found in upland pastures across Scandinavia and the North Atlantic. New investigations in the county of Møre and Romsdal, Norway, demonstrate the existence of this transhumant system by the Viking Age and Early Middle Ages. Sub-terranean features in these pastoral mountain landscapes have been identified by remote sensing technologies, but non-invasive methods still face challenges in terms of practical applicability and in confirming the presence of archaeological sites. Generally, aerial surveys, such as LiDAR and image-based modelling, excel in documenting visual landscapes and may enhance detection of low-visibility features. Thermography may also detect shallow subsurface features but is limited by solar conditions and vegetation. Magnetic methods face challenges due to the heterogeneous moraine geology. Ground-penetrating radar has yielded better results but is highly impractical and inefficient in these remote and rough landscapes. Systematic soil coring or test-pitting remain the most reliable options for detecting these faint sites, yet non-invasive methods may offer a better understanding of the archaeological contexts—between the initial survey and the final excavation. Altogether, the study highlights the dependency on landscape, soil, and vegetation, emphasising the need to consider each method’s possibilities and limitations based on site environments and conditions.

Hundorp is considered one of the most important Viking Age sites in inland Eastern Norway. However, our knowledge of the site is blurred by a mix of fact, fiction, and folklore, and little is known regarding its development and role in the overall power dynamics of the time. In this article, we present a whole new body of antiquarian, geophysical, and archaeological proxies, including the latest pagan burial documented so far in the region, and discuss its relevance in the wider socio-political picture. We argue that its role as an assembly site might go back to the Roman Iron Age, and that monumental burials continued right up to Christianization in the early 11th century. As the site lacks rich finds assemblages, Hundorp contrasts other contemporary power centres, and may have held other functions that are best understood within a wider framework of trade and power relations in the Late Iron Age.

– GPR survey at Bodøsjøen reveals a significantburialand settlementIron/VikingAge site.– Study based on a large-scale GPR survey combined with archival maps and aerial photos.