Prehistoric and Medieval Skis from Glaciers and Ice Patches in Norway

Finstad, Espen; Martinsen, Julian Robert Post; Hole, R. S.; Pilø, Lars

doi:10.1558/jga.33147

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 6 publications

(4 reference statements)

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“…The Digervarden ice patch is of interest due to an archaeological ski find in 2014 (Finstad and others, 2018). The ice patch was mapped with Landsat for the 1999–2006 inventory but was only included in the PSF layer stored in the NVE database (Fig.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

An inventory of Norway's glaciers and ice-marginal lakes from 2018–19 Sentinel-2 data

et al. 2022

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We used Sentinel-2 satellite imagery at 10 m resolution to map the extent of Norway's glaciers and ice-marginal lakes over 2018–19. We applied a standardized semi-automated band ratio method to derive glacier outlines and ice-marginal lakes. To optimise the results, we manually edited the ice-lake interfaces, debris, snow and parts of the glaciers situated under shadow. We compared our Sentinel-2 derived outlines with very high-resolution aerial orthophotos and Pléiades satellite orthoimages. Glaciers larger than 0.3 km2 have area differences within 7%, whereas values are larger for smaller glaciers. The orthophotos and orthoimages provide more details and a higher mapping accuracy for individual glaciers, but require manual digitisation, have smaller spatial and temporal coverage and can have adverse snow conditions. We found a total glacier area of 2328 ± 70 km2 of which the ten largest glaciers accounted for 52%. The glacier area decreased 15% since the previous inventory (Landsat data from 1999 to 2006), the reduction being largest in northern Norway (22%) compared to southern Norway (10%). We detected more than 2000 previously undetected smaller glaciers and ice patches (covering 37 km2) and 360 new ice-marginal lakes.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

An inventory of Norway's glaciers and ice-marginal lakes from 2018–19 Sentinel-2 data

et al. 2022

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“…The positions of the objects (especially those of light organic materials), as found during systematic survey and recorded by GPS, therefore do not reflect the precise location of their original deposition (Pilø 2018). A Bronze Age ski, for example, was found in four pieces separated by as much as 250m (Finstad et al 2018). While these post-depositional processes blur the resolution of the finds distribution at Lendbreen, they do not obliterate what remains a clear trail of features and finds that delineate a short crossing place over the mountain ridge.…”

Section: Glacial Archaeology At Lendbreenmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…A Bronze Age ski, for example, was found in four pieces separated by as much as 250m (Finstad et al . 2018). While these post-depositional processes blur the resolution of the finds distribution at Lendbreen, they do not obliterate what remains a clear trail of features and finds that delineate a short crossing place over the mountain ridge.…”

Section: Glacial Archaeology At Lendbreenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Crossing the ice: an Iron Age to medieval mountain pass at Lendbreen, Norway

Pilø¹,

Finstad²,

Barrett

2020

Antiquity

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Mountain passes have played a key role in past mobility, facilitating transhumance, intra-regional travel and long-distance exchange. Current global warming has revealed an example of such a pass at Lendbreen, Norway. Artefacts exposed by the melting ice indicate usage from c. AD 300-1500, with a peak in activity c. AD 1000 during the Viking Age-a time of increased mobility, political centralisation and growing trade and urbanisation in Northern Europe. Lendbreen provides new information concerning the socio-economic factors that influenced highelevation travel, and increases our understanding of the role of mountain passes in inter-and intraregional communication and exchange.

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“…At the Lendbreen ice patch, fragments of a Bronze Age ski were found hundreds of metres apart (Finstad et al, 2018), as were the bones of a post-medieval horse. Many of the artefacts at Lendbreen have parts missing.…”

Section: The Broken Equipmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ötzi, 30 years on: A reappraisal of the depositional and post-depositional history of the find

Pilø¹,

Reitmaier

Fischer

et al. 2022

The Holocene

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When Ötzi, the Iceman, was found in a gully in the Tisenjoch pass in the Tyrolean Alps in 1991, he was a huge surprise for the archaeological community. The lead initial investigator of the find argued that it was unique, preserved by serendipitous circumstances. It was hypothesised that the mummy with associated artefacts had been quickly covered by glacier ice and stayed buried until the melt-out in 1991. It is now more than 30 years since Ötzi appeared. In this paper, we take a closer look at how the find can be understood today, benefitting from increased knowledge gained from more than two decades of investigations of other glacial archaeological sites, and from previous palaeo-biological investigations of the find assemblage. In the light of radiocarbon dates from the gully and new glaciological evidence regarding mass balance, it is likely that Ötzi was not permanently buried in ice immediately after his death, but that the gully where he lay was repeatedly exposed over the next 1500 years. We discuss the nature of the ice covering the site, which is commonly described as a basally sliding glacier. Based on the available evidence, this ice is better understood as a non-moving, stationary field of snow and ice, frozen to the bedrock. The damaged artefacts found with Ötzi were probably broken by typical postdepositional processes on glacial archaeological sites, and not, as previously claimed, during conflict prior to Ötzi’s flight from the valley below.

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Prehistoric and Medieval Skis from Glaciers and Ice Patches in Norway

Cited by 7 publications

References 6 publications

An inventory of Norway's glaciers and ice-marginal lakes from 2018–19 Sentinel-2 data

An inventory of Norway's glaciers and ice-marginal lakes from 2018–19 Sentinel-2 data

Crossing the ice: an Iron Age to medieval mountain pass at Lendbreen, Norway

Ötzi, 30 years on: A reappraisal of the depositional and post-depositional history of the find

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