t h e a r c h a e o l o g i s t w h o c a m e i n f r o m t h e c o l d（t h e r c h e o l o g i s t w h o c a m e i n f r o m t h e c o l d）.docVIP

THE ARCHAEOLOGIST WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD Henry Colburn “What do you expect to find here, Doctor?” “The secrets of Hyperborea. That’s what the Greeks called Iceland, you know.” -from Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis Svalbard 1931 It was a lovely summer night on Nordaustlandet. Of course, since it was summer it would be light well into August, and it had proven rather handy whilst I was attaching several sticks of dynamite and a timer to the fuel dump at the newly constructed Russian submarine base on the island. The entire archipelago of Svalbard had been officially demilitarised since the eponymous treaty of 1920, and my mission had simply been to ensure that it remained so with as little fuss as possible. It had all gone perfectly smoothly until an irate Russian officer placed a Nagant revolver in my left ear whilst I was attempting to borrow a seaplane. At that point things became rather pear-shaped, and I was deposited in a makeshift gaol. I was not alone in my incarceration. There was another gentleman in the cell, presumably the only cell on the entire base, but he appeared rather comatose. I greeted him as soon as the guards had departed. “Good morning, sir,” I said genially, as it was just past the stroke of midnight. By way of response he pushed his rumpled brown fedora up from over his eyes and gave me a keen glance. “Is it morning?” he asked. “I can never tell in this place.” From his voice I could determine that he was undoubtedly Canadian. “Yes sir,” I replied, “it’s six minutes past twelve in the morning.” He sat up slowly. I extended my hand to him. “I’m Alec Watmé,” I said. “Indiana Jones.” “Pleased to make your acquaintance, Mr. Jones. What brings you to Svalbard? The barnacle geese?” “I’m not especially interested in zoology.” “Pity. They only breed here, Greenland, and Nova Zembla. You know, it was originally believed they were produced underwater from barnacles-” “Which led Catholics to qualify them as fish, which conveniently pe