With Glaciers Retreating, Archaeologists Uncover Evidence of Human Settlements in Central Norway

1500 years ago, life was much worse than it is today because the world is warming, right? Pilø et al. 2020 shows interesting things--and loads of bias in archaeology

So, why not bring up something else for a change?

Lars Pilø and colleagues, in ‘Crossing the Ice: An Iron Age to Medieval Mountain Pass at Lendbreen, Norway’, Antiquity 94, issue 374 (2020): 437-54 (DOI: https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2020.2), present a bunch of interesting findings; as per the abstract (my emphases)

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 high-elevation travel, and increases our understanding of the role of mountain passes in inter- and intra-regional communication and exchange.

So, past global warming has apparently contributed to humans moving to an area that was later covered by a glacier; said glacier is now retreated due to ‘current global warming’, as Pilø et al assert.

It’s also nothing new, as the authors state in their introduction (references omitted, emphases added):

The Lendbreen ice patch came to prominence in 2011, following the discovery of a third-or fourth-century AD wool tunic. Subsequent survey of the area surrounding this garment has revealed approximately 800 artefacts, some 150 bones and antlers, more than 100 cairns and the foundations of a stone-built shelter. It is now clear that Lendbreen was a focal point for regional transhumance and probably also long-range travel starting during the Roman Iron Age (AD 1–400) through until the end of the Middle Ages (AD 1050–1537). The site’s exceptionally rich archaeological material illustrates a long-lived transhumance system in seasonally changing mountain terrain, and provides a model pertinent to the study of mountain passes globally. Such passes played key roles in past mobility, facilitating and channelling transhumance, intra-regional travel and long-distance journeys.

[‘transhumance’ relates to seasonal migratory patterns of people engaged in animal husbandry, e.g., shepherds spending the summer in the mountains and winter in the low-lying areas]

Glacial Archaeology at Lendbreen

Lendbreen is a retreating ice patch on a steep north-facing slope of the Lomseggen ridge, the patch itself starting at 1690m asl [above sea level] and rising to approximately 1920m asl (Figure 1). The pass directly above the ice patch reaches 1973m asl. In a pattern typical of the periodic expansion and contraction of ice patches in response to climatic change, melting ice has revealed lichen-free areas of scree and bedrock. It is here that most of the artefacts have been found, lying on bare ground. The finds have thus undergone vertical displacement and have sometimes also been moved laterally by meltwater and strong winds. Although ice patches are predominantly stationary (unlike glaciers), some ice deformation (displacement from the plane of accumulation) also occurs. 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. A Bronze Age ski, for example, was found in four pieces separated by as much as 250m. 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.

Oh, look, advancing and retreating ice cover is due to ‘pattern[s] typical…in response to climate change’.

What did the archaeologists find?

The finds assemblage associated with the mountain pass is diverse, containing
transport-related artefacts and ecofacts, such as the remains of sleds, walking sticks, horse-shoes, horse bones and horse dung. It also includes everyday objects, particularly clothing and textile items, such as a tunic, a woven mitten, several shoes made from hide and more than 50 textile rags. The spatial distribution of these objects is clustered, with much of the patterning related to a combination of the route most travelled and post-depositional processes. In addition to the cairns, the main path is indicated by a distribution of horse-related artefacts and ecofacts. Given their mass, the iron horseshoes and nails are less likely to have been displaced than the lighter organic objects, and should therefore provide a reliable indication of the route. Other objects were more scattered, perhaps reflecting hunting activity or individuals taking different paths up the ridge. Alternatively, scattered finds may represent the post-depositional spreading of lighter objects.

In some places, the route indicated by cairns and artefacts crossed very rough terrain that, in the absence of thick snow cover, would have been challenging or impossible to cross with packhorses. If covered by firm snow, however, the route would have been easy to use. Historically, local people used snow-covered glaciers for travel, especially in spring and early summer.

A map (fig. 6) of these findings is reproduced below, but do check out the article for a bunch of cool pictures.

Bottom Lines

I think this is a cool thing: I mean, remains of human-built stone structures indicate more-than-casual operations over extended periods of time.

Climate change is, of course, happening, but given the archaeological evidence summarised in the above article, it is quite questionable if the warming that made the Lendbreen retreat 2000 years ago was caused by human activity, specifically the burning of fossil fuels.

Moreover, I do think findings such as these call into question the alleged ‘special’ nature of what is going on today.

Have a good day.