What archeologists are finding in Norway's melting glaciers | Focus on Europe

Climate change is making glaciers melt in Norway. According to archeologist Julian Post Melbye, there's one good thing to come out of this: The melting ice allows him and his colleagues to understand the country's ecological past.

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[feelincrispy]

Nothing like finding a good stick. Men have been fascinated with good sticks for 1000s of years and we still appreciate a good one to this day

[amirlach]

1000 yr old tree stumps were melting out of Mendenhal Glacier. Many were still upright with roots embedded and bark showing. So a forest was growing there during the Medieval Climactic Optimum.

[rd]

If they're finding artifacts at the bottom of the glacier, doesn't that mean that there is a possibility that those same artifacts were on bare ground way back then??

[jBigjohndoe]

What if the glacier was the anomaly that through off our ancestors journey, and the melting of the glaciers is just turning the world back to it's normal state.

[Muddywatersist]

So the glacier had been there the past 6-7 thousand years? So it was warmer prior?

[Sptthedgt]

So the ice wasn't there in centuries past. Then it got colder. Now it's warming, but not yet as warm as it used to be.
So nothing to do with humans then.

[shavinmccrotch]

That stick looks perfect after almost 2000yrs but my frozen tater tots are shot after 12 months. 😐

[gjkorfinhays]

You mean people lived when the world was much warmer? I'm sure these same people panicked and thought the world was ending when the glaciers started growing at an incredible rate also.

[steelestrella]

That animated rendering was awesome! Excellent work animators!

[payasa]

So, there was no ice, people walked and hunted there. Climate cooled. Now ice is retreating. Natural cycle.

[stephenskinner]

The Holocene Climate Optimum was the warmest period in the Holocene, by as much as 2C above now. All these artefacts were found under the ice from a period when the ice wasn't there.

[jusadude]

Thank you for not turning this into a political statement on climate change but a factual story on archaeology.

[LesleyDT]

Always love finding a interesting stick.

[FlushGorgon]

An 8 hours walk to fetch a stick. That's dedication.

[freetibet]

Reading comments below stating that since the artifacts where found on the rocky ground must mean that the area was free of ice and glaciers at the time is not a correct conclusion. Being someone living in these part I know that these mountainous areas have always been used as hunting grounds and caravan routes even during severe conditions. A glacier can be quite ideal for crossing over mountain passes depending on local conditions and type of ice covering (free from crevices and such). Herds of reindeers where driven to their death across ice sheets towards steep crevices by huntsmen. Bows, arrows, clubs and spears were dropped and lost on top of the glaciers and where slowly buried within the compressed mass of ice. This is the only reason why they are so well preserved today. Until very recently they where still embedded in the protective layers of ice but as soon as they hit ground they start to decay very rapidly. This is the reason why archeologists are in such a hurry to retrieve these items as soon as they emerge from the receding ice. The melting of the glaciers is a golden opportunity for the archeological community to find many new and well preserved artifacts. I know that this is a field of studies that have become a priority now since the clock is ticking while these glaciers are rapidly receding due to warmer climate.

If the dating of the items found are correct that is a sure indication that the glacier in question have been intact and in place since the time of the artifact was deposited, at least. So, if the artifact is found to be, lets say 4000 years old, that can only happen if its been continuously embedded within the layers of ice since that time. That means that the climate in this area haven not been warm enough (for a longer period of time) to melt it away. Until now. In this way these artifacts becomes an indirect factor to consider also for glaciologists and climatologists as well.

[chrisjames]

Cleary demonstrates that the Medieval Warm Period was warmer than recent times and that the Vikings hunted and settled in these areas that were then Ice free.

[Bookodus]

Hallo DW, please make a full documentary on this. Its highly intriguing!

[JacovanRensburg]

It is so amazing that people lived there before it got iced up .. wow!!

[neilwiggins]

No gas cars 5000 years ago, when the glaciers were not there. People all survived, and then the glaciers came by purely natural means, and now they recede naturally--cars notwithstanding.

[davepeoples]

The glaciers come and go, they'll be baaack!