After searching and speculating for nearly a decade, archaeologists from the Norwegian Insтιтute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU) have confirmed they found the missing medieval town of Hamarkaupangen in Hamar, southern Norway. This discovery marks a significant advance in Norwegian archaeology and offers fresh insights into one of the country’s inland urban settlements from the Middle Ages.
Norway’s last medieval town is finally located by GPR and confirmed through excavations. Credit: PH๏τo: JAni Causevic, NIKU. GPR image: Monica Kristiansen, NIKU.
The project began in earnest in 2023, when researchers returned to the Kringkastingsjordet field near the medieval cathedral at Domkirkeodden, a site long thought to possibly contain the lost town. Earlier surveys hadn’t turned up much, but a new approach using cutting-edge ground-penetrating radar (GPR) from Guideline Geo—like the equipment used to find the Gjellestad Viking ship in 2018—revealed promising indications.
The GPR data showed a complex urban layout underground, with clusters of buildings, pᴀssageways, and street alignments. These features matched historical accounts in the Chronicle of Hamar (16th century), which describes a settlement to the east of the town’s episcopal residence and cathedral. The experts are not sure when Hamarkaupangen was founded, but most evidence points to its establishment in the mid-11th century during Norway’s Christianization period.
To verify the radar results, NIKU archaeologists started a small excavation in late June 2025. The site, buried under a one-meter-thick layer of cooking stones, revealed timber wall logs and wooden floorboards that matched the radar imagery. These remains were part of a two-room structure built in multiple stages. NIKU researchers say that while this excavation uncovers a small section of a building, it is a critical part of the broader urban landscape shown in the ground-penetrating radar images.
Hamarkaupengen is back on the map. Credit: Monica Kristiansen, NIKU.
Archaeologist Monica Kristiansen, who—together with colleagues Jani Causevic and Ole Fredrik Unhammer—conducted the survey, said: “We had no prior experience of how these stone-filled layers were going to affect the visibility of wood structures in the GPR data… It is therefore highly encouraging that the radar interpretations are being confirmed!”
These are the first physical remains discovered from Hamarkaupangen’s urban area—buildings, streets, alleys, and layout. Until now, only scattered artifacts had been found in the topsoil, with no clue as to where the town was located.
These wooden structures were exactly where the GPR indicated. Credit: Håvard Hegdal, NIKU.
The excavation, limited as it was to just four square meters, has provided firm confirmation of Hamarkaupangen’s existence and structure. Researchers have sent timber samples to Uppsala University for radiocarbon dating and expect results soon, which will help place the wooden remnants in a more precise historical period.
Hamarkaupangen is especially significant among Norway’s eight documented medieval towns because it is the only inland site. Its discovery underscores the value of geophysical methods and persistent fieldwork. NIKU described the find as a “testament to the power of geophysical methods, patient investigation, and the enduring questions posed about Norway’s medieval past.”
More information: NIKU
