Rare Viking treasure found on mountain trail
Archaeologists recently documented a rare treasure trove of Viking Age objects littering a long-forgotten mountain pass, including the remains of a dog wearing its collar and leash. As climate change melts Norway’s glaciers, pockets of history hidden for centuries or millennia are finally seeing the light of day. Melting along a high-altitude trail in the Lendbreen glacier has revealed hundreds of artefacts dating to the Viking Age, the Roman Iron Age and even the Bronze Age. Remarkably well-preserved items littered the winding path, including clothing and shoes, a variety of tools and riding gear and animal bones and dung. They offer clues about daily life and hint at the challenges and importance of mountain travel in this region. The ice patch at the Lendbreen site extends from about 1,690 to 1,920 metres above sea level, and the mountain pass rises to nearly 1,973 metres above sea level.
In the new study scientists documented discoveries that appeared between 2011 and 2015, preserved by the dry, frozen climate and protected by layers of ice before being exposed. Among the objects were shoes made of hide, a woven mitten and more than 50 pieces of fabric, a walking stick inscribed with runes, a wood-handled knife, horseshoes and sled pieces and bones from pack horses. “The preservation of the objects emerging from the ice is just stunning,” said one of the scientists, Espen Finstad.
Dead animals and broken tools were likely abandoned along the path by the travellers, while tools in good condition may have simply been lost. The presence of usable clothing among the discarded objects is more puzzling, but these items may have been thrown away by people who were suffering from severe hypothermia, which can cause irrational behaviour. Carbon dating of approximately 60 objects indicated that the pass was actively used from around 300 to 1500 CE. Some objects, such as a ski and an arrow, dated to the Bronze Age, and several artefacts were even older. But the items that were most abundant dated to around 1000 CE – the Viking Age – suggesting that the mountain pass was busiest during this period.
Unlike many other ancient mountain passes that are known from the Alps and the Himalayas, this route was likely busiest when snow and ice were abundant, as the route would have been difficult for pack animals and sleds to navigate when rocks were bare.
By sifting through all the objects, scientists reconstructed how people used the path and how that changed over time. What was once a high-traffic roadway during the Viking Age waned in popularity and was all but abandoned by the 16th century, possibly due to climate change-related melting, economic upheaval and the arrival of pandemics from Europe.
“Remarkably wellpreserved items littered the winding path”