Archeologists found a perfectly preserved 1,500 year old arrow inside a Norwegian glacier.
A team from a glacier archeology program discovered the arrow, dated to between 300 and 600 CE, in the Jotunheimen Mountains on 17 August. It was found during a survey of the reindeer hunting site, and was “really well preserved,” even when compared to other arrows from the ice.
Lars Holger Pilø, who co-directs the glacier archeology program at the Department of Cultural Heritage, told Newsweek: "We have found more than 200 arrows that have melted out of the ice in recent years in Innlandet County, Norway in the last 15 years. The earliest are 6,000 years old. The one we are talking about now is really well preserved though, with the arrowhead still attached and remains of sinew and pitch. Most arrows are preserved with only fragments of the shaft remaining," he continued.
"This is a reindeer hunting site, so the arrows were lost when the hunters missed the reindeer and the arrows disappeared into the snow. A missed shot, but an archaeological bull's eye."
“The arrows melting out of the ice are a very important new source material to archeology. Due to their preservation, we can learn we at lot more about the past, such as how advances their bow-and-arrow technology really was. The age of the arrow can be assessed by the shape of the arrowhead and the arrow shaft, which both point to AD 300-600.”
1,300 Year Old Skis Found in Norway: In 2014, archaeologists found a lone wooden ski frozen in ice on Digervarden Mountain in southern Norway. Now, Science magazine reports that researchers have uncovered the other half of the 1,300-year-old pair - and together, they’re among the best-preserved ancient skis ever found. More...