At an average altitude of about 1800 meters, high in the Jotunheim mountains in Norway, ice is melting.
This is the Landbrin Glacier, and over the millennia, it got bigger every year. But in the past two decades, the ice has been gradually melting as the climate gets hotter.
Glaciers are melting all over the world – but in the case of Landbreen, melting ice has opened up new possibilities for archeology.
As the Landbrin Glacier recedes, it discovers a treasure trove of artifacts, some of which have been buried under the ice for millennia.
Ice cover in 2006 (top) and 2019 (bottom). (Espen Finstad / secretsoftheice.com)
After careful examination of these sites, archaeologists have now confirmed that the region was once a mountain pass with intense trade about a thousand years ago, and not just a pass. The presence of horseshoes and other accessories indicates that the region may have once been a busy (at the time) Viking road.
Not all of the artifacts have yet been explored, but radiocarbon dating of some 60 sites shows that there was activity in the region during the Middle Ages before becoming forgotten after the Black Plague that swept Europe in the 14th century.
'Artifacts exposed by melting ice indicate use from about 300-1500. AD, with peak activity around 1000 AD. in the Viking Age – a time of increased mobility, political centralization and growing trade and urbanization in Northern Europe, 'the researchers write.
“We received new information about the socio-economic factors that influenced high-altitude travel and the role of mountain passes in inter- and intra-regional communication and trade.”
Over the years, several artifacts have been discovered in the region. Several of them have been donated to local archaeologists, including the impressive Viking Age spear.
Vegard Vike, Museum of Cultural History
“The results of the fieldwork made it clear that we had indeed discovered a lost mountain pass – a dream site for glacial archaeologists.”
The glacier retains all kinds of organic materials that would otherwise be lost. Objects of leather, bone, wood and wool have been discovered in excellent condition, giving us a rare insight into the daily life of people who have traveled through the Jotunheim Mountains for centuries.
But it was precisely the presence of horseshoes – including snowshoes made for horse hooves – that suggested that the region was a road. And archaeologists have discovered distinctive piles of stacked stones. They have been used many times throughout history as travel markers for travelers to keep people from going astray.
Snowshoe. (Espen Finstad / secretsoftheice.com)
“It is now clear that Landbrin was a center for regional transhumanization as well as long distance travel from the Iron Age to the end of the Middle Ages,” the researchers wrote in their article.
The research was published in Antiquity.
Sources: Photo: (J.H. Barrett & Glacier Archeology Program; Pilo et al., Antiquity, 2020)
