Melting ice exposes pre-Viking artifacts in northern Europe

[one...two...tree 2,762]

By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent

JUVFONNA, Norway (Reuters) – Climate change is exposing reindeer hunting gear used by the Vikings' ancestors faster than archaeologists can collect it from ice thawing in northern Europe's highest mountains.

"It's like a time machine...the ice has not been this small for many, many centuries," said Lars Piloe, a Danish scientist heading a team of "snow patch archaeologists" on newly bare ground 1,850 meters (6,070 ft) above sea level in mid-Norway.

Specialized hunting sticks, bows and arrows and even a 3,400-year-old leather shoe have been among finds since 2006 from a melt in the Jotunheimen mountains, the home of the "Ice Giants" of Norse mythology.

As water streams off the Juvfonna ice field, Piloe and two other archaeologists -- working in a science opening up due to climate change -- collect "scare sticks" they reckon were set up 1,500 years ago in rows to drive reindeer toward archers.

But time is short as the Ice Giants' stronghold shrinks.

"Our main focus is the rescue part," Piloe said on newly exposed rocks by the ice. "There are many ice patches. We can only cover a few...We know we are losing artefacts everywhere."

.....

"This is the first summer since 1994 when we began our Alpine field excavations above 8,000 ft that we have not been inundated by even one day of rain, sleet and snow flurries," he said.

"I expect we will see more 'ice patch archaeology discoveries'," he said. Hannibal found snow on the Alpine pass he crossed in autumn, according to ancient writers.

Glaciers are in retreat from the Andes to the Alps, as a likely side-effect of global warming caused by human emissions of greenhouse gases, the U.N. panel of climate experts says.

The panel's credibility has suffered since its 2007 report exaggerated a thaw by saying Himalayan glaciers might vanish by 2035. It has stuck to its main conclusion that it is "very likely" that human activities are to blame for global warming.

"Over the past 150 years we have had a worldwide trend of glacial retreat," said Michael Zemp, director of the Swiss-based World Glacier Monitoring Service. While many factors were at play, he said "the main driver is global warming."

In Norway, "some ice fields are at their minimum for at least 3,000 years," said Rune Strand Oedegaard, a glacier and permafrost expert from Norway's Gjoevik University College.

The front edge of Jovfunna has retreated about 18 meters (60 ft) over the past year, exposing a band of artefacts probably from the Iron Age 1,500 years ago, according to radiocarbon dating. Others may be from Viking times 1,000 years ago.

link

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Weird. There wasn't ice, then there was, now there isn't. I sense a pattern.

[mawilson 2,133]

Weird. There wasn't ice, then there was, now there isn't. I sense a pattern.

Those damn Vikings must have done something terrible to the environment to cause global cooling.

[thongd4me 69]

IC;

that whalebone spatula used for artificial insemination had been missing from my family for centuries...

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

So it was warm there before? Did they have SUVs?

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

I sense a corporate plot. I do believe Enron sneaks in at night, and plants the artifacts to be discovered the next morning, just like the Easter Bunny and Santa Clause.

ETA: Oh, and this belongs in the P&R forum.

Edited September 15, 2010 by ##########

[one...two...tree 2,762]

ETA: Oh, and this belongs in the P&R forum.

That's your opinion. If you feel strongly about it, I'd suggest you take up with one of Mods.

[alienlovechild 75]

Weird. There wasn't ice, then there was, now there isn't. I sense a pattern.

Could be the Viking PR machine at work when they named Greenland and Iceland.

Greenland was warmer but got colder within a few years due to them driving farting reindeer and polluting longboats.

[Amby 490]

weird...being the nerd I am, my friend and I were talking about this over the weekend.

[alienlovechild 75]

weird...being the nerd I am, my friend and I were talking about this over the weekend.

If you liked this story you must love the one about the iceman found in the Alps a few years ago.

[Calypso 464]

Can you please cure my ignorance by telling me what the ancestors of the Vikings were called? I wonder if their ancestors were the Norse gods.

[/url]

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Can you please cure my ignorance by telling me what the ancestors of the Vikings were called? I wonder if their ancestors were the Norse gods.

The Vikings were exploring the North Atlantic as far west and south as the East Coast of North America during the period uncovered reflecting artifacts from near 1000 years ago.

3000 years ago:

Proto-Germanic peoples settle in the general area of modern Scandinavia and begin to develop a linguistic/cultural/religious complex separate from that of the general Indo-European stock.

2500 years ago:

IRON AGE begins in Scandinavia.

http://www.vikinganswerlady.com/timeline.shtml

[Ban Hammer 13,360]

That's your opinion. If you feel strongly about it, I'd suggest you take up with one of Mods.

or just pm an organizer

[natty bumppo 297]

By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent

JUVFONNA, Norway (Reuters) – Climate change is exposing reindeer hunting gear used by the Vikings' ancestors faster than archaeologists can collect it from ice thawing in northern Europe's highest mountains.

"It's like a time machine...the ice has not been this small for many, many centuries," said Lars Piloe, a Danish scientist heading a team of "snow patch archaeologists" on newly bare ground 1,850 meters (6,070 ft) above sea level in mid-Norway.

Specialized hunting sticks, bows and arrows and even a 3,400-year-old leather shoe have been among finds since 2006 from a melt in the Jotunheimen mountains, the home of the "Ice Giants" of Norse mythology.

so ... the GW folks can simply claim this is .... an anomaly ... that gore was right ... that unicorn is served for lunch with a 2 martini minimum ....

Edited September 15, 2010 by frank bama

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Those damn Vikings must have done something terrible to the environment to cause global cooling.

After all, they were white.