Climate change reveals ancient artefacts in Norway’s glaciers
A Well above the treeline in Norway’s highest mountains, ancient fields of ice are shrinking as Earth’s climate warms. As the ice has vanished, it has been giving up the treasures it has preserved in cold storage for the last 6,000 years – items such as ancient arrows and skis from Viking Age* traders. And those artefacts have provided archaeologists with some surprising insights into how ancient Norwegians made their livings.
B Organic materials like textiles and hides are relatively rare finds at archaeological sites. This is because unless they’re protected from the microorganisms that cause decay, they tend not to last long. Extreme cold is one reliable way to keep artefacts relatively fresh for a few thousand years, but once thawed out, these materials experience degradation relatively swiftly. With climate change shrinking ice cover around the world, glacial archaeologists need to race the clock to find newly revealed artefacts, preserve them, and study them. If something fragile dries and is windblown it might very soon be lost to science, or an arrow might be exposed and then covered again by the next snow and remain well-preserved. The unpredictability means that glacial archaeologists have to be systematic in their approach to fieldwork.
C Over a nine-year period, a team of archaeologists, which included Lars Pilø of Oppland County Council, Norway, and James Barrett of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, surveyed patches of ice in Oppland, an area of south-central Norway that is home to some of the country’s highest mountains. Reindeer once congregated on these icy patches in the later summer months to escape biting insects, and from the late Stone Age, hunters followed. In addition, trade routes threaded through the mountain passes of Oppland, linking settlements in Norway to the rest of Europe.
D The slow but steady movement of glaciers tends to destroy anything at their bases, so Pilø, Barrett and their colleagues focused their attention on stationary patches of ice, mostly above 1,400 metres. That ice is found amid fields of frost-weathered boulders, fallen rocks, and exposed bedrock that make up the terrain.
E With clocks ticking, Pilø, Barrett, and their team combed 51 ice patches, finding more than 2,000 artefacts. Radiocarbon dating was used to determine the age of the items, which included arrows, clothing, and even a wooden ski. They found that some periods had produced a lot of artefacts, which indicates that people had been pretty active in the mountains during those times. But there were few or no signs of activity during other periods.
F What was surprising was what these periods were. It had long been assumed that people would have avoided the mountains during periods of extreme cold. However, the radiocarbon dates showed that hunters went into the mountains even during extremely cold periods. This was based on the amount of stuff they had clearly dropped there.
G The discoveries also showed that people had been trading goods extensively. Although we usually think of ships when we think of Scandinavian expansion, recent discoveries show that plenty of goods were transported on overland routes, like the mountain passes in Oppland. Growing Norwegian towns, along with export markets, would have created a booming demand for hides to fight the cold, as well as antlers to make useful things like combs. Business must have been good for the hunters.
*Viking Age: a period of European history from around 700 CE to around 1050 CE when Scandinavian Vikings migrated throughout Europe by means of trade and warfare
Matching Information
Reading Passage 2 has seven paragraphs, A-G.
Which paragraph contains the following information?
Select the correct letter, A-G, from the dropdowns below.
NB You may use any letter more than once.
Summary Completion
Complete the summary below.
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.
The discoveries in Oppland
In Oppland, archaeologists searched for artefacts in stationary patches of ice. The movement of 20 meant that artefacts were unlikely to be found at their bases. The team found over 2,000 items, and used 21 dating to establish their age. They discovered that hunters had visited the mountains even during 22 periods.
Multiple Choice
Choose TWO letters, A-E.
Which TWO of the following statements does the writer make about the discoveries of Pilø’s team?
- A Artefacts found in the highest ice patches were the most useful.
- B Hunters went into the mountains even during extremely cold periods.
- C The number of artefacts from certain periods was relatively low.
- D Radiocarbon dating of artefacts produced some unreliable results.
- E More artefacts were found in Oppland than at any other mountain site.
Multiple Choice
Choose TWO letters, A-E.
Which TWO of the following statements does the writer make about the Viking Age?
- A Hunters at this time benefited from an increased demand for goods.
- B The beginning of the period saw the greatest growth in the wealth of Vikings.
- C Vikings did not rely on ships alone to transport goods.
- D Norwegian towns at this time attracted traders from around the world.
- E Vikings were primarily interested in their trading links with the Middle East.
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