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Finds from under the snow

Bildet kan inneholde: sky, himmel, fjell, snø, skråningen.

Areas permanently covered by snow in the high mountains are called snowfields or snow patches or ice patches. In Norway, these are shrinking rapidly because of climate change.

Objects that have lain hidden for hundreds, even thousands, of years are coming to light and are threatened by exposure to the air. Ice archaeology is telling us more about the age-old interplay between people, reindeer, hunting and trapping.

People have been “stalking reindeer in the snows” for over 10 000 years. On hot summer days, reindeer head for the mountain snow to escape the swarms of insects that plague them. But against the snow, the animals are easy targets for hunters.

Bowmen lay in stone-built blinds as they waited for herds of reindeer. These blinds come to light when the ice melts, as do their “scare-sticks” used to steer the reindeer towards the blinds.

When an archer missed his target the arrow fell onto the snow. An arrow, with its iron point and well-made shaft, was a valuable object. The hunters probably looked for their lost arrows, but not all were found. They remained in the snow until the ice finallymelted – and until the day they were found by hikers or archeologists.

What is the difference between a glacier and a snow patch?

Both glaciers and snow patches consist of ice. Glaciers are in constant motion and crush everything that comes in their path including all traces of human activity. This is why we do not find archaeological remains when a glacier melts. Although a snow patch may also move, it does not move with anything like the same force as a glacier.

Wild reindeer – domesticated reindeer

Wild reindeer roamed Norway long before people arrived. We know that reindeer came to Norway during warmer periods of last Ice Age (which lasted around 105 000 years), but we do not know if they were followed by human hunters. It is only after the end of last Ice Age (12 000 years ago) that we can be certain that both people and reindeer migrated to Norway. People have been hunting reindeer ever since.

Norway is the only country in Europe to have herds of wild reindeer in the high mountains. No one owns the wild reindeer. Domesticated reindeer are marked and herded by their owners.

Bildet kan inneholde: kart, verden, organisme, atlas, skrift.

Grazing and migration routes

Herds of wild reindeer roam over vast areas in search of food. Reindeer will follow the same migration route for centuries, if their path is not blocked by modern obstacles such as roads, power lines and holiday homes.

Recent genetic analyses has shown that reindeer came to Norway from at least two different areas. Some reindeer, the so-called Beringa population, migrated to Norway from Siberia. Genetic traces of this group are found in every type of reindeer in Norway.

Another group seems to have migrated to Norway from the south. Genetic traces of this group are found in wild reindeer in the Hardangervidda, Setesdal and Nordfjella regions, and in tame reindeer in both south- ern and northern Norway.

The reindeer of the Dovre-Rondane Mountains differ genetically from all others found in Scandinavia and in Eurasia. They seem to have rarely mixed with other groups. Their origin may go back to the last Ice Age.

Using wild reindeer

Wild reindeer have been an important resource in much of the northern circumpolar world.

In Alaska and Canada, reindeer (called caribou in North America) are hunted by the Inuits and other indigenous peoples of the tundra. In Siberia reindeer have served a vital role in the lives of nomadic peoples such as the Ewenks and the Nenets. In Scandinavia reindeer have been important for farming communities in the mountains and valleys, as well as for nomadic people like the Sami.

Almost every part of a reindeer can be used; meat, offal, sinews, skin and fur. The bones can be boiled up to make marrow broth, the antlers to make tools and knifehandles.

Bildet kan inneholde: himmel, økoregion, snø, arbeidsdyr, skråningen.

Hunting Life

The objects that have emerged from under the melting mountain snows represent various aspects of hunting life. After the animals were killed, they had to be cleaned and butchered. The meat, skins and antlers were packed and transported down to the valleys. The hunters would have had food, clothes, shoes and other equipment they needed during their stay in the mountains. The objects on display are from various periods – from the Early Iron Age to post-Medieval times.

There are spades, perhaps used to dig holes in the snow to store meat, or to make hunting blinds. Wooden hooks and withy bands may have been used to tie animal carcasses onto the back of the hunter or to a horse, or to secure bundles of ”scare-sticks” during transport to the mountains. Finds of horseshoes indicate that horses were sometimes used.

We have also found remains of a ski and a piece of cloth which had been reused as a patch, as seen from the stitches still remaining along the edges.

There are also three canvas cotton bags from the 18th and 19th centuries. They contained pieces of animal tissue, fat and sinew and were sewn shut. Are they the remains of the hunters ́ ”lunch packs”, or were they used to pack animal offal for transport down the mountain. But if so, why were they sewn up?

Hunting and trapping methods

“Stalking reindeer on the snow” with a bow and arrow was a simple but effective way of hunting. Hunters could go up to the mountains on a warm summer day and wait behind stone blinds for reindeer that had come to cool themselves on the snow.

Bildet kan inneholde: himmel, sky, snø, økoregion, fjell.

The use of animal pitfalls probably goes back to the Bronze Age in Norway. The pits are difficult to date because they have been in use, on and off, over a very long period of time.

Building large-scale trapping systems required a thorough knowledge of reindeer and their migrations and also a high level of planning and organizing. Many people were needed to dig and line the pits and build the fences that led the reindeer towards them. The large numbers of animals caught had to be slaughtered and transported back down to the farms.

Hunting drives: Reindeer could also be driven to a place where hunters were waiting. At Sumtangen on the Hardangervidda mountain plateau people built rows of stone cairns that led the reindeer into Finnsberg Lake. There they were set upon by hunters in boats. Archaeologists have found vast amounts of bones from this large-scale hunt.

Scare-sticks

Scare-sticks were placed in long rows to steer the reindeer in the direction the hunter´s wanted. They are made up of three parts: a shaft, a string and a moveable upper part. The shaft was made of a spilt piece of wood or a twig and may have a notch and ”head” for attaching the string. The string – made of wool, animal hair or sinew – was used to fasten a light, thin ”flag” of shaved wood. The top of the scare-stick could also be made of birch bark strips or birch twigs fastened to the shaft with a withy band.

Trees and bushes do not grow this high in the mountains, so the scare-sticks must have been brought here. In two places, archaeologists have found large numbers of scare-sticks lying in one place. Were these stocks of scare-sticks that were brought up to the mountains and laid aside for later use? Or were they sticks the hunters collected at the end of the hunting season, and stored to be used again next year?

Effective weapons

At first glance, the bow and arrow may seem a very simple and primitive weapon, but this is far from the case. The complex interplay between the arrowhead, shaft and bow is of great importance for the way in which the weapon functions. The hunter ́s own knowledge and experience would have determined how the bow and arrows were shaped and made.

Bildet kan inneholde: hersker, kontorlinjal, tre, kunst, kvist.

The arrows that have come to light from under the mountain snow are unusually well-preserved. The arrowheads have been carefully lashed to the shafts with thin cords of animal sinew followed by an outer binding of birch bark strips. It is also possible to see the imprints of the lashings used to fasten the feather vanes.

The shape of arrowheads varied through time, and archaeologists can date them according to these stylistic differences. The objects displayed here range from the Early Iron Age to the Middle Ages.

The bow and arrow was the most important hunting weapon, but spears were probably also used although we rarely find them. A spear that missed its target was much easier to spot and retrieve than a lost arrow.

Who were the reindeer hunters?

Perhaps Viking chieftains organized the large-scale hunt and reaped the benefits? Or was it the Medieval kings? Or a powerful bishop? The Medieval church had economic interests in both town and country. Or were the reindeer hunters independent farmers who got together in hunting bands?

Bildet kan inneholde: yttertøy, erme, kunst, kappe, kappe.

Recent research has revealed 1000 year-old traces of Sami settlement far south in Norway, both in forest areas and in the high mountains. Did the Norsemen and the Sami exploit the same hunting grounds? Did they hunt together or did they compete? Perhaps the reindeer-hunters did not think of themselves as either Norse or Saami, but as a mixture of the two?

We have no certain answers to these questions, but the search for evidence goes on.

Norway ́s oldest shoe

The shoe was found at Langfonna, on Kvitingskjølen in Lom County. It is around 3,300 years old (1420 – 1260 BC). The shoe is made of a single piece of untanned reindeer hide, joined by a seam at the heel. The lace, which originally tightened the opening for the foot, was missing. The shoe is a size 39.

Bildet kan inneholde: gest, skrift, kunst, utesko.

Bildet kan inneholde: hode, bein, menneskekroppen, kjeve, gest.

Bildet kan inneholde: hvit, kjeve, organisme, linje, skrift.
Illustration: Vegard Vike, Museum of Cultural History

Weather is not climate­­­­!

Weather is something we are aware of every day. Meteorologists measure the weather several times a day. We may experience a cold winter or two, but this does not mean the climate is getting colder.

Climate is the average weather in one place over a longer period of time (at least 30 years). Climate measurements are based on individual observations and must be recorded statistically according to international guidelines.

While weather plays an important role in our daily lives, information about the climate is important for long-term planning. In order to plan for the future we need to know about climate changes in the past.

Global warming occurs when there is an increase in the average temperature on a worldwide basis. Global climate is determined by temperature measurements taken from all around the world. Norway may experience an exceptionally cold winter, while in other parts of the world it can be unusually warm.

When measurements from the entire world are compiled, we can clearly see that temperatures have risen during the last 200 years. Scientists are discussing whether our planet is at a climatic tipping point – that significant climate change may no longer be stopped.

The world’s average temperature has increased by about 0,8 degrees C. over the last hundred years, but the UN’s international climate panel (IPCC) estimates that the average global temperature may rise by as much as 3 – 5 degrees during the next hundred years.

The amount of ice covering the Arctic Ocean surrounding the North Pole is decreasing rapidly, especially in the summer months. Climate experts warn that if this continues, the summer ice will be gone from the Arctic by 2050. The consequences will be catastrophic for animals like polar bears who hunt on the ice.

No cause for celebration!

Even though many interesting finds are appearing from under the melting snow, archaeologists are not happy. The mountain snow patches are melting so rapidly that it is almost impossible to rescue and preserve the finds for the future. Objects start to deteriorate as soon as they are freed from the ice; metal rusts, while wood, leather, and textiles rot or dry out and are soon lost to wind and weather.

Mountain ice has conserved these objects for thousands of years, but if global warming continues, these relics of the past will soon be lost forever.

Climate change affects our culture heritage. In Norway, the remains of our mountain heritage are disappearing, and the medieval German Wharf in Bergen is already threatened by rising sea levels. Heritage sites in many parts of the world are threatened by erosion, landslides, floods and drought.

Climate change will affect the way we think about cultural heritage, both past and future. What should we save? How can we preserve sites threatened by climate change for future generations?

Save the past

When objects emerge from under the melting ice, they meet a harsh mountain climate. Exposure to weather, wind and constant melting and freezing, threaten these vulnerable objects. Micro-organisms also help to break them down. Some objects are still intact, with many fine details remaining.Others are only small fragments of what they once were.

Bildet kan inneholde: berggrunn, grå, tre, linje, dannelse.

Bildet kan inneholde: avis, nyheter, utgivelse, skrift, avisavtrykk.

A worldwide phenomenon

Archaeological finds are emerging from the snows patches of Canada, the USA, the Alps and Norway. The most famous find is the “iceman” Ötzi who was discovered in the mountains on the border between Austria and Italy.

An important site in Europe is the mountain pass at Schnidejoch in Switzerland. Here archaeologists have found leather and birch bark from the late Stone Age, metal objects from the Bronze Age, coins from the Roman period – even hobnails from Roman boots.

Leather and birch bark tell the story of climate because they disintegrate quickly when exposed to sun, rain and wind. When we find pieces of leather that are 5,000 years old, this means they must have been covered by ice and snow until very recently. It also means that the area covered by snow in the mountain pass has not been as small as it is now in the last 5000 years.

Permafrost can preserve organic material – including corpses – for thousands of years. In the Altai Mountains, at the borders of Russia, Kazakstan, Mongolia and China, there are hundreds of burial mounds with well-preserved finds from a past “Skythian” civilization. For over 2,500 years human bodies, horses and their equipment have survived in the permafrost – even intricate tattoos are still visible. Now, as the permafrost melts, these finds are in danger. UNESCO has launcheda rescue program to save the finds.

An Ötzi in Norway?

The discovery of the “Iceman” Ötzi in 1991 was a sensation. But the conditions surrounding the find were also exceptional. The air in the mountains where Ötzi was found is extremely dry. He was covered by snow and ice shortly after he died, leaving him virtually freeze-dried and mummified. Furthermore, when he was discovered, he could not have been exposed to the elements for more than a few days.

The chances of finding a prehistoric body with skin and hair in a Norwegian snow patch are extremely small. Norway is close to the sea and has always had much rainfall, even in the high mountains. Conditions for freeze-drying are not good. But who knows, perhaps one day we will find a “Notzi”?

The Roof of Norway

The first finds from Juvfonn on the Galdhøpigg Massif were discovered in 2007 – the year after the exceptionally warm summer of 2006. They were found by experienced hikers who reported their finds to the archaeological authorities in Oppland County.

Juvfonn is one of three snow patches to have been systematically investigated. More than 600 archaeological finds have been found within a 80, 000 m2 area. Most are ”scare-sticks”. Fifty hunting blinds have also been registered.

Archaeologists plot the finds carefully so that they can be seen in context, both in relationship to each other, and their location in the landscape. Can rows of ”scare-sticks” be reconstructed? Through systematic investigations and studies we can learn more about how hunting and trapping was once organized.

The finds from Juvfonn indicate that hunting took place here in the Iron Age, from c 250 – 900 AD. What about the objects that will appear in the years to come? Will they become progressively older as the mountain snows recede? Preliminary dating of the deepest ice layers at the center of Jufonn indicates that it has existed for more than 3000 years.

Bildet kan inneholde: vannforsyning, økoregion, kart, verden, skråningen.

Collecting and mapping was carried out at Juvfonn in the late summer of 2009. A year later, the edge of the ice patch had receded by 18 metres. The edge of the ice in 2009 is marked in blue.

  • Blue line = Ice edge, August 2009
  • Black line = Field work 2009
  • Greene circle = Objects found in 2009
  • Red line = Ice edge, September 2010
  • Red circle = Objects found in 2010
  • Red star = Stone blinds

The fall and rise of a Dakota C-53

Objects from the recent past can also reappear from the melting ice. In November 1946, an American Dakota C-53 military aircraft crash-landed on the Gauli Glacier in Switzerland. The crash led to a dramatic rescue operation in which all of the eight passengers and four crew members were rescued.

Bildet kan inneholde: kjøretøy, snø, fjell, luftfartøy, luftfartsprodusent.

In 1946, relations between neutral Switzerland and the US were at a low, but the rescue operation marked the beginning of a thaw in diplomatic relations.

The plane, which lay buried in the snow for 60 years, is now reemerging as the ice melts- a thought- provoking relic of the Cold War.

Are we living in the Anthropocene Epoch?

Humans have had an enormous impact on planet earth since the beginning of the 19th century. Many scientists argue that we are no longer living in the Holocene Epoch – the geological period that followed the last Ice Age - but have already entered a new era – the Anthropocene Epoch (anthro means human).

Bildet kan inneholde: blomst, anlegg, botanikk, berggrunn, organisme.

Human activity not only affects the natural and cultural environment, but also the very geological processes taking place on earth. Never before have we been in such a situation.

What is Climate Park 2469?

Climate Park 2469 is located at Juvvass- hytta, in Oppland County, near Norway’s highest mountain, Galdhøpiggen (2469 m).Here vistors can learn about climate change and its impact on the material culture of the past.

Juvfonna is rapidly melting and hunting equipment from the distant past is exposed as the ice recedes.

A tunnel dug into the ice of the Juvfonna lets us explore the inner world of ice and experience the effects of climate change.

Published Jan. 25, 2021 12:36 PM - Last modified Nov. 24, 2021 5:35 PM

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