Marek E. Jasiński Faculty of Archaeology and Cultural History University of Trondheim, Norway Vadim F. Starkov Institute of Archaeology Wyprawy Geograficzne na Spitsbergen UMCS. Lublin 1992 Academy of Sciences Moscow, Russia PRELIMINARY ACCOUNT OF THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS OF A CULTURAL LAYERS IN MORAINE DEPOSITS OF THE RENARD GLACIER, RECHERCHEFJORDEN, SVALBARD INTRODUCTION Archaeological investigation of the cultural layers discovered in 1986 in moraine deposits in the Renard Glacier, Recherchefjorden, Svalbard, was begun in July 1991. The investigation was led by Marek E. Jasiński, University of Trondheim, Norway and Vadim F. Starkov from the Institute of Archaeology, Moscow, who were assisted by Vladimir I. Zavialov and Efgenij N. Zimin from the same institute. The excavation was carried out in cooperation with a Geographical Expedition from Maria Curie-Sklodowska University, Lublin, Poland. The excavation was supported by the Norwegian Research Council for Science and the Humanities (NAVF RHF), the University of Tromsó, the University of Trondheim, and the Maria Curie-Sklod owska University, as part of the international geomorphological/archaeological research programme on Svalbard. THE MORAINE DEPOSITS During geomorphological studies of the Renard Glacier area in 1986, geomorphologists from the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University supervised by Kazimierz Pękala discovered a cultural layer deposited in the frontal moraine deposits which bordered upon a beach (Fig. 1, 2). The layer contained pieces of brick, wooden objects and animal skin. According to Pękala (1987), Pękala & Repelewska-Pękalowa (1990), the structure of the moraine is as follows. The core consists of deposits of older moraine whose age according to thermoluminescence dating is 8600 ±1300 9