The thaw in Norway continues to bring to light surprising fragments of the past. This time, in the mountains of the west of the country, the retreat of the ice has revealed an impressive reindeer hunting structure dating back to around 1,500 years agowhich remained hidden and protected from the cold for over fifteen centuries. A discovery that fascinates archaeologists, but at the same time raises disturbing questions about the rapid climate change underway.
The discovery in the mountains of Aurland tells how Iron Age communities exploited reindeer hunting with organized techniques, complex structures and a surprising attention to material detail
The site is located on the Aurland Highlands, in the mountainous heart of western Norway, beyond 1,400 meters above sea level. Here, the melting of the ice revealed hundreds of crafted birch trunks and branches, arranged to form two long converging barriers that guided the herds of wild reindeer towards a large final enclosure. A real collective hunting machine, designed to convey the animals into a confined space where they were killed with spears and arrows.
The discovery began almost by chance, thanks to a local hiker who noticed strange wooden remains emerging next to a tongue of persistent snow. From there the intervention of the archaeologists of the began Bergen University Museum and the authorities of Vestland County, who found themselves faced with one of the largest wooden trapping systems ever documented in Europe.
A pre-Viking hunting system
Analyzes indicate that the structure dates back to the mid-19th century 6th century ADtherefore to a period preceding the Viking era. Accumulations of reindeer antlers with clear cut signs were found near the fence, unequivocal evidence of a slaughter carried out directly on site. This detail suggests intensive and planned hunting, fundamental to the economy of surrounding valleys such as Aurland and Lærdal.
Alongside the main structures, the thaw also returned a small but precious set of finds: iron spearheads, arrow shafts, fragments of wooden bows and personal objects linked to hunting activity. Among these stands out a clothes pin made from a reindeer antler, carved in the shape of a small axe, probably lost by a hunter during operations. An object that archaeologists define as exceptional, because it would hardly have been preserved in normal conditions.
Even more enigmatic is the discovery of a decorated pine oar, discovered among the trunks at a great distance from the fjords. Its presence in the high mountains remains without a definitive explanation and opens up new hypotheses on the symbolic or ritual value of some objects used during hunting.
From the cold that preserved everything to global warming
The extraordinary conservation of the site is linked to an ancient climate change. After its use, the area entered a cooling phase which led to snow and ice permanently covering the structure, making it unusable but preserving it in an ideal, cold and humid environment. Today, paradoxically, global warming is bringing it back to light, but also threatening its survival.
Once exposed to air and sun, antique wood begins to deteriorate rapidly. For this reason, the most fragile finds have been transferred to the freezers of the Bergen museum, where they will be slowly dried and treated to avoid decomposition, while the metal artefacts will receive specific interventions against corrosion.
A discovery that enriches science and sends out a clear alarm signal
The find is part of a long series of discoveries linked to the thaw in Norway, which in recent years has brought to light skis, sandals, tools and objects from the Roman and Viking era. Every summer becomes a race against time to document what emerges before it is lost.
At the same time, the discovery helps to better understand the millennia-old relationship between human populations and reindeer, a link now under pressure from habitat fragmentation and the increase in human activities in the mountains. What has been protected from frost for centuries now survives thanks to the speed of archaeologists, while the ice that seemed eternal continues to retreat.
