Ytre Norskøya [79° 50' N 11° 30' E]

View from Ytre Norskøya towards Norskøysundet and Indre Norskøya. The area with the graves has been marked in yellow. The area to the east of it (to the left in the picture) is moist ground, and there are moss tundra and blubber ovens along the beach. These are vulnerable and should not be walked on. Go ashore to the west of the graves (to the right in the picture). It is a nice walk along the gravelled hill here, which does not harm vegetation or cultural treasures. (Image: Bjørn Fossli Johansen / The Norwegian Polar Institute)

View from Ytre Norskøya towards Norskøysundet and Indre Norskøya. (Image: Bjørn Fossli Johansen / The Norwegian Polar Institute)

Overview from the sea. The area of the graves has been marked in yellow. The recommended place to go ashore lies to the west of it (to the left in the photo). (Image: Bjørn Fossli Johansen / The Norwegian Polar Institute)

Ytre Norskøya – remains of the old whaling period

Ytre Norskøya was deemed a good place to be by the British in the early 1600s – years before the whaling station was built. The island is a part of the Nordvestøyane island group. The area consists of islands and sounds and is therefore ideal to anchor in, and it also offers shelter from the weather. The open sea is close by. The area was named Fair Haven.

The whaling station on Ytre Norskøya was one of the really large land-based ones in Svalbard. Its size can be compared to Smeerenburg, further south. In terms of fame, however, it cannot be compared to the legendary Smeerenburg. However, the station must have been very important at one point. As many as nine ovens are lined up along the beach in the bay to the north of Norskøysundet. Some are single ovens, others are double. Several sites above and to the west of the ovens are thought to be remains of the provisional structures which were used to shelter, storage spaces and workshops in the early period. It is also possible to find the remains of working platforms for carving whale blubber, platforms for cooling vessels and other constructions necessary for rendering whale oil.

No archaeological digs have been carried out at the whaling stations on Ytre Norskøya. However, archaeological work has been carried out at the graves, situated on the gravel hill just above the station. With 165 graves, it is one of the largest grave sites in Svalbard. At the time when Smeerenburg was excavated, so were 50 of these graves. They were examined by Dutch archaeologists in 1980. Any preserved whaler’s outfits and other textiles from the graves were taken to the Netherlands and are today a part of the Smeerenburg Collection, large parts of which were returned to Svalbard in 2005. Today parts of the collection are on display at the Svalbard Museum.