About the Journal

Editors
E. James Dixon, University of New Mexico 
Albert Hafner, University of Bern
William Taylor, University of Colorado Boulder

 

Web and Social Media Editor
Morgan Robins, University of Wyoming, United States

 

Journal Aims and Objectives

The cryosphere is the area of the earth that remains perennially frozen including permafrost, glaciers, ice patches, ice sheets, and sea ice. As the global climate warms, sea ice and permafrost respond by retreating pole-ward while glaciers are receding and ice patches are melting. Many of these cryogenic features contain unique well-preserved artifacts that have remained frozen for centuries and in some cases millennia.

Archaeological material from frozen contacts have been the subject of scientific inquiry since the early 20th century. Perhaps the most famous discovery is the Neolithic man of Hauslabjoch (Ötzi) found in the Tyrolean Alps in 1991. Significant discoveries have been made in Europe (Norway, the Alps and Ural Mountains), the South American Andes, and in interior Asia (the Altai Mountains). Through the efforts of researchers around the world glacial discoveries also have been made at melting ice patches and glaciers in North America including Greenland, the Canadian Yukon, Alaska, and the Rocky Mountain west. Important frozen objects continue to be recovered from melting ice, as the awareness of the scientific and heritage significance of this vanishing scientific resource increases. Te methods and theories employed in the identification, excavation, conservation, interpretation, and exhibition of these sites and discoveries are the subject of this journal.

Frozen discoveries often retain strong connections with indigenous people and their lifeways. Indigenous people occupy high-altitude and high-latitude environments in many areas of the world, and direct cultural connections often link them to archaeological sites preserved in glacial ice. Mountain divides also often define international boundaries and high-altitude research fosters international partnerships and collaboration between scientists, indigenous people, and non-indigenous local residents. JGA provides a platform for collaboration and rigorous scholarship that is inclusive and multi‐vocal.

The Journal of Glacial Archaeology disseminates worldwide research on all topics concerning archaeological discoveries from glacial, permafrost, polar and high‐altitude frozen contexts. Key themes include: archaeological survey and discovery of frozen sites, research and heritage preservation in response to climate change, analyses of recovered frozen artifacts, interpretations of frozen finds in relation to environmental, cultural and ecological processes, and social, political or ethical issues related to glacial archaeology.

JGA encourages interdisciplinary research across the social and environmental sciences that directly engages with issues of immediate social and scientific relevance. The Journal seeks original multidisciplinary research articles, and short reports and reviews relevant to archaeology in the cryosphere emphasizing anthropology, ethnography, glaciology, geography, indigenous knowledge, conservation science, paleoecology, and climatology. Potential contributors may submit online; please go to 'For Authors' at the top of this page to view submission guidelines.

Frequency
Annual 

ISSN 2050-3393 (Print)
ISSN 2050-3407 (Online)