Archaeologists Followed a 500-Year-Old Clue—and Found a Lost Town Hiding in Plain Sight
Years of searching for a lost medieval Norwegian town was finally rewarded with a discovery.
Crews used a 500-year-old legend to start the search, but used more modern georadar techniques to pinpoint the right spot for excavation.
The team discovered the lost town of Hamarkaupangen, the first ruin being a two-room home.
A 16th century tale of a Norwegian town just east of a bishop's castle turned out to be far more than ancient lore. Archaeological crews from the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research and the Anno Museum have revealed the discovery of Hamarkaupangen, the lost medieval town from the story.
The Chronicles of Hamar—a 16th century text—describes the settlement, believed to have originated in the 11th century, as east of the cathedral and the bishop's castle in Hamar, located in southern Norway. The only problem? Every time archaeologists looked, they found just trivial topsoil-level artifacts and no real evidence of an established medieval village.
Belief the city ever existed started to wane altogether, while others questioned if maybe the village was only a seasonal trading post.
That doubt has all for naught. Georadar was only first used in 2023, and that really helped move the project along. Crews used the technology—in 2023 and 2024—to search a field east of the cathedral and castle, locating the town just where the 16th-century text said it would be, confirming the legend. This summer, an excavation dug three feet below a layer of stone into what the team believes is a two-room home, according to a translated statement from the institute.
Buried under the masonry, the team exposed wooden structures they believe are walls and floors, confirming the findings from the georadar survey that showed the remains of wooden buildings that once made up the town. Researchers believe the radar shows the site as a two-room living area with logs and plank floors. The hunt is now on for the fireplace.
'We were very excited about what it looked like down below, because thick layers of quarries are a context that we have not worked with before,' Monica Kristiansen, archaeologist on the project, said in a translated statement. 'We therefore have no prior knowledge of how the stone-filled layers will affect the visibility of, for example, wood in the georadar data. In addition, there are poor preservation conditions for organic material in these areas, and any remains of wooden buildings was therefore assumed to be poorly preserved. Therefore, it is very gratifying that the georadar impetrations are successful.'
To get inside, the team opened a small peephole into what they believe is the living area. Already, through the 43-square-foot hole, the crew has identified wall logs and floors, 'and that bodes well for the rest of the field,' Kristiansen said.
As the search continues for the fireplace, Kristiansen is confident that the radar findings showing additional urban structures in line with Norwegian medieval architecture, groupings of buildings, narrow passages, and even street layouts will play out in excavations just as this site has.
The long-held legend of Hamarkaupangen is no longer just a legend.
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