High in the icy mountains of Norway, archaeologists have found a unique 1,500-year-old reindeer trap and several mysterious wooden objects. As he writes Live scienceamong them, for example, an ornamented oar shovel, discovered at an altitude of about 1400 meters above sea level.

“These are things that we would never have found in a normal excavation, such as a pine oar and a brooch made of horn. The fibula resembles a miniature axe, a truly exceptional find,” said Leif Inge Ostveit from the University Museum of Bergen in a statement from the Vestland municipality.

Unique finds

Since August, archaeologists have been excavating in the Aurlandsfjellet mountainous area in western Norway. They came across hundreds of tree branches stacked into two wooden barriers, which apparently served as an enclosure or a place for mass herding of animals.

“The 1.5-thousand-year-old barrier of branches that is literally melting out of the ice before our eyes is probably unique both in Norway and in Europe,” Ostveit said.

Near the trap, archaeologists discovered many deer antlers. All show signs of cutting, indicating that the animals may have been butchered on the spot.

In addition to the trap itself, scientists recovered artifacts related to hunting:iron spears, wooden arrows and three bows.Among the finds was an elegant horn fibula in the shape of a miniature axe, probably lost by a hunter.

However, researchers are puzzled by the carefully carved wooden paddle. Why such an oar ended up at such a height is still unclear.

Ancient cooling and modern warming

Experts believe that the place with the trap was preserved due to a cold snap in the middle of the 6th century. The exceptional preservation of the antlers indicates that the trap was covered with snow and ice shortly after the people left.

“This discovery allows for a completely new interpretation of how such structures functioned,” Ostveit said.

Global warming is contributing to the re-exposure of such glacial monuments, scientists note. In 2022, a similar hunting site with weapons and barriers was already found in the Norwegian mountains. Archaeologists also recently recovered 1.3-thousand-year-old wooden skis, Viking horse harnesses and 1.7-thousand-year-old leather shoes from the glaciers.