Posted on 05/12/2022 12:47:53 PM PDT by Red Badger
Melting ice sheets in Norway have revealed a bunch of incredibly well-preserved arrows from the distant past.
The array of arrows was found around the ice patches of the Jotunheimen Mountains in southern Norway during a 2019 expedition by Secrets of the Ice, a team of glacier archaeologists who scour the receded ice sheets for historical relics.
One of the most impressive discoveries includes an Iron Age arrow, approximately 1,500-year-old, that was found lodged in the icy ground before being thawed out using lukewarm water. The team described the condition of this arrow as “awesome,” noting that it still had its pointed iron arrowhead and, incredibly, a feather fletching.
Arrow It's unusual for feathers to have not degraded completely. Image credit: Espen Finstad/secretsoftheice.com
This was far from the only arrow found at the site. A previous expedition to the ice patch back in 2013 unearthed an arrow typical of the Viking Age (793–1066 CE).
It was assumed this was the only artifact amongst the ice sheet. However, between 2013 and 2019, the ice patch retreated approximately 100 meters (238 feet) as a result of thawing from warming temperatures linked to climate change. While that’s very bad news for the health of the ice sheet, it has helped to uncover more long-lost treasures.
The team discovered seven other arrows during their 2019 survey, one of which was an arrow found lying in a meltwater pond estimated to be roughly 4,000 years old from the Stone Age. They also found a rare and "unusual" arrowhead that dates to approximately 600 CE and an arrow with an antler arrowhead from around the same time.
The archaeologists discovered this 4,000-year-old Stone Age arrow lying in a meltwater pond. Image credit: Espen Finstad/secretsoftheice.com
After recently sharing the results of their 2019 survey on Facebook, the post quickly went viral — and it’s not hard to see why.
“We plan to return to the site with a proper large-scale systematic survey. The eight arrows recovered from the site, with only a limited survey, tell us that there is bound to be more arrows here waiting to be discovered,” Secrets of the Ice wrote on Facebook.
“There was very little snow this winter in the area were the site is located, so conditions for ice melt and archaeological survey may become excellent this autumn. As always, summer temperatures will decide."
Just last year, the Secrets of the Ice team revealed perhaps one of their most stunning finds: well-preserved skis that have laid untouched for some 1,300 years, still featuring their birch bindings and a leather strap. It’s believed the discovery is the best-preserved pair of skis from this time ever discovered.
PinGGG!...................
Mucho thanks to glow bull warming for revealing these items for us to look at and investigate.
Damned Vikings. Always leaving their stuff laying around: arrows, boats, shields, DNA.
I shot an arrow into the air.
And where it landed I know not where.................
Seriously .. more range time needed, eh?
Gotta keep pushin the mantra!
LOL!
the arrows were carried along in glaciers flowCome now, until the industrial revolution the ice was always there.
Climate change!! It is called spring when the ice and snow melts.
Ah... have they found the people who these arrows belong to?
Maybe they fell into a crevice like these ancestors of Scrats.
https://mtv.mtvnimages.com/uri/mgid:ao:image:mtv.com:204796?quality=0.8&format=jpg
Its almost as if it was warmer 1500 years ago or something......
Melting Ice Sheets In Norway???
So, at some point in history, the earth was actually warmer?
That string notch looks pretty sharp for hand made.
Norway finally returning to its correct temperature zone after 4,000 years!
“Its almost as if it was warmer 1500 years ago or something......”
That was my first thought.
“That string notch looks pretty sharp for hand made.”
Even if it was warming a bit back then a lot of your time would have been spent carefully making arrows and other things by some crude lamp during the long dark nights of Northern latitude winters. Carving Ivory might be “Artistic” but arrows are more practical.
Wow! The fletcher would be proud!
Well made notch in that arrow.... Nice balance in that arrow head!
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