Glacial archaeologists systematically survey the mountainous areas of Oppland, Norway
Credit: Johan Wildhagen, Palookaville
Artefacts revealed by melting ice patches in the high mountains of Oppland shed new light on ancient high-altitude hunting. Town-dwellers needed mountain products such as antlers for artefact manufacture and probably also furs - James Barrett Climate change is one of the most important issues facing people today and year on year the melting of glacial ice patches in Scandinavia, the Alps and North America reveals and then destroys vital archaeological records of past human activity. Enter the glacial archaeologists - specialists who rescue now-threatened artefacts and study the relationship between variability in climate and the intensity of human use of alpine landscapes. Focusing on Jotunheimen and the surrounding mountain areas of Oppland, which include Norway's highest mountains (to 2649m), an international team of researchers have conducted a systematic survey at the edges of the contracting ice, recovering artefacts of wood, textile, hide and other organic materials that are otherwise rarely preserved. To date, more than 2000 artefacts have been recovered. Some of the finds date as far back as 4000 BC and include arrows, Iron Age and Bronze Age clothing items and remains of skis and packhorses. By statistical analysis of radiocarbon dates on these incredibly unusual finds, patterns began to emerge showing that they do not spread out evenly over time. Some periods have many finds while others have none. What could have caused this chronological patterning - human activity and/or past climate change?
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