Norway archaeologists find 6,000-year-old Stone Age arrows in melting ice

Archaeologists in Norway’s Jotunheimen mountains are recovering prehistoric artifacts that have been revealed by rapidly melting glacial ice. The Secrets of the Ice team, working within the Innlandet County Municipality’s Glacial Archaeology Programme, recently discovered 48 prehistoric arrows during a three-week expedition in the Kvitingskjølen region.

The most significant find includes a slate arrowhead and shaft estimated to be between 5,000 and 6,000 years old. Other recovered items include arrowheads made from bone and freshwater mussel shells dating to the Bronze Age, as well as iron arrowheads from the Viking Age. Due to the preservation conditions of the ice, organic materials such as wood, leather, textiles, clothing, and even ancient cordage have remained intact.

Researchers note a shift in the types of artifacts surfacing; while previous decades primarily yielded Viking Age items, the receding ice is now exposing much older Stone and Bronze Age remains. While these finds provide unprecedented insight into ancient reindeer hunting and human life in western Scandinavia, experts note that the increasing rate of melting is driving this trend.