Norway’s rapidly melting Jotunheimen ice has revealed 48 prehistoric arrows; the oldest are 5,000-6,000 years old as archaeologists race to recover them before exposure destroys them

Norway’s rapidly retreating mountain ice has revealed 48 prehistoric arrows, including one estimated to be between 5,000 and 6,000 years old, as archaeologists race to recover artefacts before exposure to air and sunlight causes them to deteriorate. The discoveries were made during a three-week field expedition in the Jotunheimen mountains, where researchers have been studying archaeological remains preserved in ice for two decades, as per a report by Smithsonian Magazine.The latest finds include a slate arrowhead with parts of its wooden shaft that researchers estimate is 5,000 to 6,000 years old. The findings were made by the Secrets of the Ice project, a collaboration involving Innlandet County Council and the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo.The discoveries come as archaeologists say the character of the material emerging from Norway’s mountain ice is changing. When the glacial archaeology programme began in 2006, most of the objects being recovered were less than 2,000 years old, with many dating to the Viking Age. Now, increasingly ancient objects from the Stone Age and Bronze Age are appearing as older layers of ice disappear.

48 arrows emerge from melting ice

The latest expedition focused on the Kvitingskjølen mountain area of Jotunheimen, including the Langfonne, Storefonne and Hanklefonne ice patches. During roughly three weeks of fieldwork, researchers recovered 48 prehistoric arrows, according to Espen Finstad, who leads the Secrets of the Ice project. The discovery is particularly significant because the arrows represent several different periods of prehistoric activity rather than a single archaeological moment. Among the oldest finds is an arrow featuring a slate point and parts of its shaft. Researchers estimate it dates to between 5,000 and 6,000 years ago, placing it in the Stone Age.Other discoveries include a roughly 3,600-year-old complete arrow with a wooden shaft and an arrowhead made from freshwater mussel shell. Archaeologists have also recovered arrowheads made from bone, while some of the more recent examples were made from iron and date to roughly 1,000 to 1,500 years ago. The variety of materials provides researchers with clues about how hunting technology changed over thousands of years. The arrows are also part of a much larger archaeological record preserved in the region.Since work began in 2006, the Secrets of the Ice programme has recorded 73 archaeological sites and recovered more than 5,000 artefacts from Norway’s mountain ice. These include arrows, bows and other hunting equipment, as well as clothing, shoes, pack animals and objects associated with everyday life.

Ice preserved what normally would have disappeared

The importance of the discoveries lies partly in what ice can preserve. Organic materials such as wood, leather, textiles and sinew normally deteriorate over time. But when they become trapped in cold, stable ice, the conditions can slow biological decay and preserve materials for centuries or millennia. That has made Norway’s mountain ice an unusual archaeological archive.Researchers have previously recovered remarkably preserved objects from the region, including clothing and footwear. The project has also uncovered a complete tunic dating to around 300 AD, a mitten from around 1000 AD and what has been described as the world’s oldest intact pair of wooden skis. The same ice that protected these objects for thousands of years, however, is now disappearing.As the ice retreats, objects that were previously sealed away become exposed at the surface. Once exposed, the preservation process effectively stops. Wood, leather and textiles can then begin to break down rapidly under environmental conditions that would have had little effect while the material remained frozen. That has created an unusual race for archaeologists.

A race against time

Finding older artefacts is exciting for researchers, but the discoveries also carry a darker implication. The archaeologists say the ice landscape has changed dramatically during the two decades they have worked in the region. Areas that were covered by ice relatively recently are now completely exposed.The project estimates that many of the archaeological ice sites in Innlandet could lose their remaining ice within about 20 years, based on observations from the past two decades. That means archaeologists have only a limited window to locate objects as they emerge.Unlike conventional archaeological sites, where researchers can carefully excavate layers of soil, ice archaeology depends heavily on timing. An artefact can remain protected beneath or within ice for thousands of years, only to become vulnerable once the ice retreats.The team therefore documents discoveries quickly, photographs them at the site and recovers them for conservation.Some of the newest objects have already been placed in a refrigerated display at the Norwegian Mountain Centre in Lom, allowing visitors to see artefacts only days after their discovery. The objects are expected to be transferred later to the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo for further processing and conservation. Smithsonian Magazine

Ancient hunting grounds revealed

The concentration of arrows also sheds light on how prehistoric people used the high mountains. The archaeological evidence from the ice patches points to repeated reindeer hunting. Hunters appear to have used the high-altitude landscape over thousands of years, leaving behind equipment that was subsequently trapped and preserved in the ice. The arrows therefore offer more than isolated glimpses of prehistoric technology. Together with bows, clothing, footwear and other objects, they provide evidence of people travelling through the mountains and adapting their activities to the environment.Earlier archaeological research at Langfonne has already identified arrows dating back roughly 6,000 years, demonstrating that the hunting activity preserved in the ice stretches deep into prehistory. The latest discoveries are part of that longer record, but they arrive at a moment when the landscape itself is changing rapidly. Researchers say the paradox is difficult to ignore: the melting ice is making ancient history accessible while simultaneously destroying the conditions that preserved it.And as the oldest ice disappears, the artefacts emerging from it may offer some of the last opportunities to study traces of prehistoric life that have remained hidden since the Stone Age.