The Secrets of the Ice archaeological team recently retrieved 48 prehistoric arrows during an initial expedition this year, bringing the total recovered from one specific ice patch to more than 100. Over two decades of previous research mostly yielded items up to 2,000 years old, but the thawing of deeper layers has now produced a slate arrow dating back 5,000 to 6,000 years. The icy environment has also preserved organic artifacts like textiles, clothing, packhorse remains, and skis, though experts warn most artifact-bearing patches will disappear within 20 years.
Key points
Accelerating ice melt driven by climate change is exposing prehistoric hunting equipment…: Accelerating ice melt driven by climate change is exposing prehistoric hunting equipment that was frozen for millennia.
Archaeologists estimate that most of these artifact-bearing ice patches will completely m…: Archaeologists estimate that most of these artifact-bearing ice patches will completely melt away over the next two decades.
Researchers plan to conduct additional salvage expeditions in the coming weeks to rescue…: Researchers plan to conduct additional salvage expeditions in the coming weeks to rescue remaining organic relics.
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The oldest ice is disappearing: The Stone Age is emerging from the melting ice
'We have been at the edge of the ice. We have seen it happening. And we are witnesses to a rapidly changing archaeological landscape,' write the glacial archaeologists. Finds from the Viking Age are becoming scarce, while 6,000-year-old arrowheads are now emerging from the melting ice.
For exactly 20 years, archaeologists working with Secrets of the Ice have been recovering and preserving artefacts emerging from the ice in the mountains of Innlandet, eastern Norway.
Until now, most of the objects have been up to 2,000 years old. Many date from the Viking Age.
But the ancient ice is now beginning to melt.
And within this oldest ice lie the oldest finds: large quantities of arrow shafts and arrowheads from the Bronze Age and the Stone Age.
Here comes the Stone Age
One of the oldest finds from this year's first field expedition is an arrow with an arrowhead and shaft made of slate.
By comparing it with previously discovered arrows, archaeologists estimate that it is between…
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