When we search for ancient artefacts on the ice, we sometimes get a strange feeling that we are walking in the footsteps of our ancestors. This is especially the case when we find the actual shoes of people who crossed the ice centuries before us😮 Check out this shoe from the 7th century AD found on the Lendbreen ice!❤ It is made from rawhide. Some of the hair is still preserved and we can see that they were on the outside. That makes sense: this way the shoe provides a better grip on snow and ice.
The shoe will be exhibited in the new exhibition at @norskfjellsenter , opening in only five days🙂 #glacialarchaeology #climatechange #globalwarming
Textiles are very rare finds on our ice sites but not at the lost mountain pass at Lendbreen, Here there are an incredible hundred finds of textile, including a 1700-year old tunic and a Viking Age mitten.
Most finds are cut-off pieces of textile. We have previously dated two of these textiles and they were from the 10th (picture 2 with blue colour) and 13th century AD. Since many of these textiles are going to be on display in the new exhibition at Norsk fjellsenter (opening June 10th), we decided to radiocarbon date an additional nine. The radiocarbon dates have now arrived and most of these textiles are also Viking Age and medieval. There are two earlier ones though. The earliest is a piece of felted wool (picture 3) radiocarbon dated to the later part of the 6th century AD.
Why are there so many textiles in the pass? This is a question we have not been able to answer yet but we have some intriguing clues:
https://secretsoftheice.com/news/2017/01/17/mystery-cloth/ #glacialarchaeology #globalwarming #climatechange
We found this beautiful arrow only two meters from the melting ice. It is incredibly well preserved - the sinew at the front is intact, the wooden birch shaft is in one piece and there are even three fletches😮 A radiocarbon date from the shaft tells ut that the arrow is around 1200 years old, from the Early Viking Age. We only have two arrows with forked arrowheads from the ice. A great find❤ #glacialarchaeology #climatechange #globalwarming
A unique find: A forked iron arrowhead, mounted on a short foreshaft. So far, we have only found two forked arrowheads from the ice, and foreshafts are also very rare. The combination of these two elements makes this a very special find. The arrow is dated to the Early Viking Age, around AD 800, and was found at the Langfonne Ice Patch.
Were these arrowheads used to inflict big wounds in the game, or for more specialized hunting, for exemple birds? We tried out a replica on a reindeer carcass and the arrow broke the spine of the animal😮 So, such arrows penetrate in depth and do not only produce flesh wounds. They would have been a lethal weapon. #glacialarchaeology #climatechange #globalwarming