The chronology of reindeer hunting on Norway's highest ice patches.

The melting of perennial ice patches globally is uncovering a fragile record of alpine activity, especially hunting and the use of mountain passes. When rescued by systematic fieldwork (glacial archaeology), this evidence opens an unprecedented window on the chronology of high-elevation activity. Recent research in Jotunheimen and surrounding mountain areas of Norway has recovered over 2000 finds-many associated with reindeer hunting (e.g. arrows). We report the radiocarbon dates of 153 objects and use a kernel density estimation (KDE) method to determine the distribution of dated events from ca 4000 BCE to the present. Interpreted in light of shifting environmental, preservation and socio-economic factors, these new data show counterintuitive trends in the intensity of reindeer hunting and other high-elevation activity. Cold temperatures may sometimes have kept humans from Norway's highest elevations, as expected based on accessibility, exposure and reindeer distributions. In times of increasing demand for mountain resources, however, activity probably continued in the face of adverse or variable climatic conditions. The use of KDE modelling makes it possible to observe this patterning without the spurious effects of noise introduced by the discrete nature of the finds and the radiocarbon calibration process

Prehistoric and Medieval Skis from Glaciers and Ice Patches in Norway

Traditionally, ski history has relied on preserved skis from bogs, on rock carvings depicting skiers and on written sources. The on-going melting of mountain ice has led to the discovery of ancient skis from a new context. In this paper, we present ski finds from glacial ice in Norway, dated from the first millennium BCE to the Medieval Period. The finds of skis from glacial ice shed new light on the ski history of North-Western Europe - the development, the context of use in a high-alpine landscape and the skiing technique. One of the finds provides the earliest date yet for the use of fur on the underside of skis

La Toque blanche : organe professionnel hebdomadaire des chefs de cuisine de France et de l'étranger

29 décembre 19351935/12/29 (N298)

Figure S2 from The chronology of reindeer hunting on Norway's highest ice patches

Plot of the elevation of ice-patch artefacts from Oppland by uncalibrated radiocarbon date. The key indicates the direction of solar exposure or discovery in a canyon