Melting Ice Reveals Ancient Artifacts as Archaeologists Race Against Climate Change
In 2006, hiker Reidar Marstein discovered a Bronze Age leather shoe on a patch of ice in Norway, which led to the establishment of Norway's Secrets of the Ice initiative, co-founded by Marstein and archaeologist Espen Finstad. Collaborating with Oslo's Museum of Cultural History and the Innlandet County Council, the program has unearthed approximately 4,500 artifacts, including the oldest wooden skis and a Viking arrowhead dating back 3,000 years. With only five archaeologists tasked with examining items from 70 sites, the urgency has intensified due to rapid ice melt caused by climate change; projections suggest that up to 80% of Norway's mountain ice could vanish by 2100. In 2023, the program received two European Heritage Awards, underscoring the importance of documenting and safeguarding these discoveries.
Key facts
- A 3,400-year-old leather shoe found in 2006 by Reidar Marstein led to the founding of Secrets of the Ice.
- Secrets of the Ice is a joint initiative with Innlandet County Council and Oslo's Museum of Cultural History.
- The program has recovered about 4,500 artifacts from 70 sites.
- Glacial archaeologist Julian Post-Melbye works with the program and the Museum of Cultural History.
- Up to 80% of Norway's mountain ice is projected to disappear by 2100.
- The Stockholm Environment Institute reported in 2023 that global fossil fuel production will more than double by 2030 beyond Paris agreement levels.
- Post-Melbye predicts most ice patches will vanish within 20 years.
- William Taylor has excavated in Mongolia since 2011 and warns of rapid loss of ice heritage in mountain Asia.
- Glacial archaeology began after the 1991 discovery of Ötzi the Iceman.
- In 1999, Constanza Ceruti co-led an expedition that discovered the Children of Llullaillaco mummies at 22,100 feet.
- Next-generation DNA sequencing revolutionized the field around 2010.
- Secrets of the Ice earned two European Heritage Awards in 2023.
- Klimapark 2469 ice tunnel in Lom was carved by locals in 2012 and features sculptures by Peder Istad.
- The oldest artifact is a 6,000-year-old arrow shaft; most finds are from the late Roman Period.
- A Roman sandal changed understanding of high-mountain trade routes.
- Rune Strand Ødegård studies glaciology for Secrets of the Ice and oversees Klimapark 2469.
Entities
Artists
- Peder Istad
Institutions
- Secrets of the Ice
- Innlandet County Council
- Museum of Cultural History
- University of Colorado Museum of Natural History
- Stockholm Environment Institute
- Norwegian University of Science and Technology
- European Heritage Awards
Locations
- Norway
- Innlandet Mountains
- Lom
- Jotunheimen National Park
- Klimapark 2469
- Alps
- Rockies
- Altai Mountains
- Mongolia
- Montana
- Canadian Yukon
- Alaska
- Andes
- Austria
- Italy
- Yellowstone
- Glacier National Park