Michigan Technological University Digital Commons @ Michigan Tech Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open Reports 2009 Winning coal at 78° North : mining, contingency and the Chaîne Opératoire in old Longyear City Seth C. DePasqual Michigan Technological University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/etds Part of the Archaeological Anthropology Commons Copyright 2009 Seth C. DePasqual Recommended Citation DePasqual, Seth C., "Winning coal at 78° North : mining, contingency and the Chaîne Opératoire in old Longyear City", Master's Thesis, Michigan Technological University, 2009. https://doi.org/10.37099/mtu.dc.etds/308 Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/etds Part of the Archaeological Anthropology Commons Winning Coal at 78˚ North: Mining, Contingency and the Chaîne Opératoire in Old Longyear City By Seth C. DePasqual A THESIS Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE IN INDUSTRIAL ARCHAEOLOGY MICHIGAN TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY 2009 This thesis, “Winning Coal at 78˚ North: Mining, Contingency and the Chaîne Opératoire in Old Longyear City” is hereby approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE IN INDUSTRIAL ARCHAEOLOGY. DEPARTMENT: Social Sciences Signatures: Thesis Advisor: ________________________________ Dr. Patrick E. Martin Department Chair: ______________________________ Dr. Patrick E. Martin Date: ______________________________ Acknowledgements This thesis would not have been possible without the encouraging words and guidance of my advisor Patrick Martin. His unremitting support saw me through a number of matters both academic and personal. I’d like to thank Carol MacLennan, who fostered my attention to socialized aspects of the Arctic Coal Company mining system and those related to the environment. Stanley Vitton, my outside reader, offered insightful perspective on mining strategies and their relation to environment and technology. Paul White deserves credit for my introduction to the Chaîne Opératoire and its relevance within industrial landscapes. I am extremely grateful to the rest of the faculty at Michigan Tech, who stimulated my perspective and appreciation of industrial history. I’d like to acknowledge those that offered financial support to MTU’s research on Spitsbergen: The Longyear Corporation; Christopher Longyear; The Svalbard Environmental Fund; Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani; and The National Science Foundation. None of this could ever have happened without your generous contributions to our common cause. Furthermore, I would like to recognize those that helped us along the way. In Norway this is: Per Kyrre Raymert, Trine Krystad, Liv Ødegaard, and Sander Solnes at the Svalbard Sysselmannen, and Tore Sørensen at the State Archives in Tromsø. To our LASHIPA colleagues: Louwrens Hacquebord, Dag Avango, Vadim Starkov, Gustav Rosnes, Ulf Gustafsson, Ypie Aalders, Hidde de Haas, Frigga Kruse, and Sarah Dresscher. Many thanks to Erik Nordberg and Rosemary Michelin, lead archivists at MTU Archives and the John M. Longyear Research Library, respectively. I’d like to acknowledge the contributions of Cameron Hartnell. Hartnell and I performed all of the 2007 and 2008 field research together, which could be stressful at times considering the work that had to be done and the terrain we needed to be cover. Furthermore, he is particularly adept at plugging through archival material, something that deserves recognition considering the overwhelming amount of documents we had in our reach. Many thanks to my fellow students and friends at Michigan Tech: Yolanda Beltran, Alessandra Brignola, George Carter, Carmelo Davila, Megan Glaziewski, Sean Gohman, Tim Goddard, Jessica Montcalm, Bode Morin, Elizabeth Norris, Scott See, Dan Trepal, and Craig Wilson. Our conversations, excursions and antics were memorable. My deepest regards go to Beth, the one who saw me through all of this, day in and day out. I sincerely apologize for the incessant rants about all things industrial. And to my Mother, who introduced me to the idea of history within the green mountains of Vermont. And many thanks to Markku, the intemperate traveler who misappropriated my boots, but was kind enough to return them after a sojourn through northern Europe. The final credit goes to Spitsbergen, a bleak, yet stunning mixture of rocky landscapes on which I experienced the romance of an arctic coal mine. Perhaps we shall meet again. iii Table of Contents List of Figures ..............................................................................................................v Abstract......................................................................................................................vii Chapter 1: Introduction.................................................................................................1 Chapter 2: Geography and History of Svalbard.............................................................9 Chapter 3: The Arctic Coal Company .........................................................................19 Chapter 4: Field Methods and Area 5 Overview..........................................................58 Chapter 5: Mine Features............................................................................................69 Chapter 6: Analytical Considerations and Application ..............................................132 Chapter 7: Conclusions.............................................................................................172 Bibliography.............................................................................................................180 iv List of Figures Figure 2.01: Map of Svalbard with global context ..................................................10 Figure 2.02: Map of Isfjorden (Ice Fjord) ...............................................................12 Figure 3.01: Map of Advent Bay ............................................................................30 Figure 3.02: 1910 map of ACC Mine No. 1 ............................................................32 Figure 3.03: 1908 photograph of Coal Hopper and Bleichert aerial tramway ..........36 Figure 3.04: 1912 map of Longyear Valley .............................................................38 Figure 3.05: 1913 map of ACC Mine No. 1 (room-and-pillar detail) .......................50 Figure 3.06: 1915 photograph of ACC Mine No. 1 .................................................56 Figure 4.01: Planview map of Mine No. 1 site complex ..........................................64 Figure 4.02: Overview photograph of Mine No. 1 ..................................................65 Figure 4.03: Detail of previous photograph .............................................................65 Figure 4.04: Hanging track section for aerial tramway ............................................66 Figure 4.05: Suspension hanger for aerial tramway .................................................66 Figure 4.06: Coupling/decoupling section for aerial tramway .................................66 Figure 4.07: Band brake for aerial tramway ............................................................67 Figure 4.08: Concrete wall section downslope from mine .......................................67 Figure 4.09: Iron debris beneath mine .....................................................................67 Figure 4.10: Timber from aerial tramway ...............................................................68 Figure 4.11: Wooden pit-tub ...................................................................................68 Figure 5.01: Site map for coal hopper and aerial tramway ......................................72 Figure 5.02: Profile drawing of Coal Hopper, east elevation ...................................73 Figure 5.03: Profile drawing of Coal Hopper, north elevation .................................74 Figure 5.04: Coal Hopper, south elevation ..............................................................75 Figure 5.05: Coal Hopper, south elevation from above ...........................................75 Figure 5.06: Coal Hopper, north elevation ..............................................................75 Figure 5.07: Coal Hopper, east elevation from below .............................................76 Figure 5.08: Coal Hopper overview ........................................................................76 Figure 5.09: Coal Hopper, detail of north elevation ................................................76 Figure 5.10: Planview map of Mine No. 1 site complex ..........................................86 Figure 5.11: Site map for Mine Surface Plant .........................................................87 Figure 5.12: Overview of Mine No. 1 site complex ................................................88 Figure 5.13: Remains of Eating House ...................................................................88 Figure 5.14: Primary coal chute at mine level, view from below .............................89 Figure 5.15: Primary coal chute at mine level, view from above .............................89 Figure 5.16: Wooden pit-tub and cutter-disc fragment ............................................89 Figure 5.17: South end of pit mouth platform .........................................................90 Figure 5.18: Hoist House Entry ..............................................................................90 Figure 5.19: