Norway’s Ice Secrets team found a perfectly preserved ancient arrowhead in the Langfonne ice field, dating back to the Iron Age in Northern Europe (500 BC-800 AD). Rapid melting and climate change are turning the Langfonne and Lendbreen ice patches, about 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) apart, into “treasure glaciers.” The latest ice-patched arrow is exceptionally well preserved and will tell us more about life in this ancient northern pass used by Viking hunters and travelers from far and wide.
The year 2011 is known as “The Great Meltdown”. And as temperatures soar across Europe, an ancient road has been discovered on Norway’s Langfonne ice sheet in the Jotunheim mountains. This isn’t the first time Ancient Origins news has reported on “treasure” artifacts found among the rocks of this ancient hunter’s visitor site.
Over the past decade, Ancient Origins newsletters have detailed a number of discoveries from the melting ice patches in Norway, including hundreds of prehistoric cairns, a 1,300-year-old ski, a pair of Mule sandals Code and 68 arrows.
Earlier this year, Live Science reported the discovery of a Stone Age arrow with a piece of feather attached. Incidentally, it is the attachment on the arrow shaft that provides rotation, which in turn maintains the arrow’s speed, flight stability, accuracy, and impact force.
Dr. Lars Pilø, co-founder of Secrets of the Ice, said preserving arrows is “rarely possible” because the delicate feathers that help guide the arrow’s flight often decay over time.
The latest ice-patched arrow, a 1,300-year-old hunter’s arrow, found at this high-altitude archaeological site, contains evidence of lost craft skills from a bygone world.
The warhead of the latest ice-patched arrow lies among the rocks at the lower edge of Norway’s Langfonne ice road. (The secret of the ice)
8th Century Ice Patch Arrow and Summer Monster Hunter
Dr. Pilø said shortly after arriving at their base camp earlier this year, located 1,750 meters (5,741 feet) above sea level, the team found the Norwegian Iron Age arrow at the edge bottom of the ice rink. It was discovered among broken rocks nestled among larger boulders about “100 meters [328 feet]” from the edge of the glacier.
According to Arkeonews, Dr. Pilø said this 1,300-year-old ice plate arrow was recovered from “the deepest core of the ice plate.” The archaeologist and project director suggests that the first hunters “followed the creatures in the ice sheet to avoid insect bites during the summer months.” And now, in 2022, this Iron Age broken arrow has “surfaced.”
Ancient arrow dynamics
The team believes that the original Iron Age arrow was lost by a hunter and deposited on the slope, where it was found, by meltwater. Over the past 1,300 years, projectiles have probably been exposed to air many times at low ice melt levels. This is inferred because, unlike other arrows discovered at the site, the newest arrow does not have feathers at the notched tip, as the image below shows.
Iron Age arrows were tapered toward the projectile, and the tab (notch) at the feathered (feathered) end of the arrow was designed to receive a thick bowstring. Archaeologists also identified evidence of tar on the arrowhead, which was used to attach the arrowhead to the shaft. Furthermore, traces of threads ensure that the wing remains visible. Together, these features are telling archaeologists more about the craftsmanship and technology of these ancient Norse hunters.
The notched end of the recent ice patch arrow no longer has feathers due to exposure and is designed for thick bowstrings. (The secret of the ice)
The ancient treasure chest will soon be empty
Most of the ancient arrowheads found at the Langfonne site date to the Neolithic and Late Iron Age, the surface being close to the present-day ice edge.
Many poorly preserved artifacts were found in front of the lower ice edge, while artifacts in a better state of preservation were often identified along the sides of the glacier and above the upper ice edge.
Northern archaeologists are working to map patterns of such discoveries elsewhere, but in the not-too-distant future, the ice sheets will completely disappear and any remaining hunting equipment will blown by the wind at altitude.
The website Secrets of the Ice says the Langfonne Ice Sheet now has “only 10% of the maximum ice area during the Little Ice Age (1450-1920 AD)”. Furthermore, it has retreated significantly over the past two decades and is now “less than 30% of the size it was twenty years ago.”
This 70% glacial retreat means that every year teams of researchers find newly exposed patches of bedrock that are free of moss and lichen. But over the next decade, all this research will slow down as the wind carries away much of the remaining treasure.
