Out of the Norwegian glaciers: Lendbreen—a tunic from the early first millennium AD

Abstract

DiscoveryDue to global warming, rapid melting of snow patches and glaciers is taking place in the mountains of Norway as in other parts of the world (Hansen et al. 1985;Spindler 1995;Ceruti 2004;Hare et al. 2004;Suter et al. 2005;Farbregd 2009), and hundreds of archaeological finds emerge from the ice each year. The upland areas in which snow patches are found are little frequented by humans today, but hunting and trapping have been carried out there since prehistoric times. Reindeer often congregate on snow patches in late summer to regulate their body temperature and to avoid parasitic insects, making them attractive hunting grounds (Callanan 2010: 49-50). Artefacts from multiple periods were deposited on the ice patches, many of them made of organic material rarely preserved elsewhere; ice patches provide exceptional preservation conditions for textiles.

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

“…Those crossing Lomseggen may have maintained extensive connections. The Lendbreen tunic, for example, is best paralleled at Thorsberg in northern Germany (Vedeler & Bender Jørgensen 2013).…”

“…The Lendbreen ice patch came to prominence in 2011, following the discovery of a third- or fourth-century AD wool tunic (Vedeler & Bender Jørgensen 2013). 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 (Pilø 2018; see below).…”

Climate change threatens archaeologically significant ice patches: insights into their age, internal structure, mass balance and climate sensitivity

“…Approximately 2000 of these archaeological finds are in central southern Norway, making it by far the most find-rich region in the world (Curry, 2014;Lars Pilø, personal communication, 2014). Among the most spectacular finds are a Bronze Age leather shoe that melted out in late autumn 2006 and a well-preserved tunic dated between 230 and 390 (Common Era) CE (Finstad and Vedeler, 2008;Vedeler and Jørgensen, 2013). The shoe was dated to be around 3400 years old (1429-1257 Before Common Era, BCE), and is by far the oldest shoe found in Norway.…”

Naturally Dyed Wool and Silk and Their Atomic C:N Ratio for Quality Control of14C Sample Treatment

“…Wool and silk, and textiles in general, are gaining more attention as suitable radiocarbon dating material due to their short lifespan, potentially presenting the true age of an object made of these materials (Rageth 2004; Van Strydonck et al 2004; van der Plicht et al 2004; Kim et al 2008; Mannering et al 2010; Kuzmin et al 2012; Van Strydonck and Grömer 2013; Vedeler and Bender Jørgensen 2013; Hajdas et al 2014).…”