Predicting the Buried Past: Using Digital Tools in the Search for Hidden Graves in the Falstad Forest
In this lecture, a research project is presented that employs advanced digital methods to search for unknown graves in the Falstad Forest - a national memorial site linked to Gestapo executions during World War II. Using GIS technology, geophysical surveys, and historical sources, researchers aim to shed new light on the fate of the missing, without disturbing the protected area.
Main content
The lecture will be held in Norwegian.
Falstadskogen in Levanger is a national memorial site associated with executions carried out by the Gestapo during World War II. As many as 200 people may have been killed here, but only 88 have been found. This project combines historical source studies, archaeological methods, and digital technologies to search for unknown graves鈥攚ithout disturbing the protected area.
A key component of the project is the use of GIS software to collect, structure, and analyze data from various methods鈥攊ncluding LiDAR, digital surveying, magnetometry, ground-penetrating radar, and photogrammetry. All material is integrated into a GIS-based platform, where data is visualized in layered maps and multidimensional models of the study area. This approach provides both a spatial and historical overview of Falstad Forest and, hopefully, helps identify areas of interest for further investigation鈥攁nd perhaps one day, physical excavations.
The presentation demonstrates how digital tools can be used both for knowledge development and for an ethically responsible search for the missing.
About the lecturer
Kristoffer Eliassen Grini is a researcher at . He holds a PhD in contemporary archaeology from NTNU (2022) and works with both material and immaterial traces of war and conflict.
The DH Lecture Series
The DH Lecture Series is a collaboration between听the Digital Lab听at the University of Bergen Library, the D-lab at NTNU and the听. The lecture series addresses DH-related topics, and gives researchers and others involved in DH projects or research the opportunity to share their experiences, successes and challenges related to the use of digital tools and/or methods.
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In the spring of 2025, you can attend digital DH lectures on the following dates and times:
Thursday 13th of February at 11.30-12.00
Thursday 13th of March at 11.30-12.00
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