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Headline : Latest Finds of Norwegian Archaeology Team Whose Discoveries Are Revealed By Climate Change-Linked Melting Ice
Caption : PICTURE SHOWS: The team say: "Astounding, the first such find from the ice: The remains of a small dog, including the collar and leash. We have to await radiocarbon results before giving a precise date, but it is unlikely to be recent as the collar is made from twisted wooden fibres. Probably medieval or older based on the other finds here."


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STORY COPY:

In Norway, archaeologists do not have to dig, they just wait for ice to thaw and finds to be revealed.

Fascinating pictures show a few of the recent finds, uncovered mainly in August, of The Glacier Archaeology Program in Oppland.

They include artefacts from the Viking and medieval periods, with some discoveries, such as an arrow made from an antler, thought to be up to 2,000 years old.

The team say the combination of climate change and very well preserved artefacts melting out of the ice has made glacial archaeology possible. Many of these finds would have decomposed in other environments but have been almost perfectly preserved buried in the ice.

Other finds shown include the remains of a small dog, including the collar and twisted wooden fibre leash, a tinder box, still containing a wooden stick and small bits of resin-filled wood, and even ancient horse dung the team say “makes you think about the many humans and animals that crossed the ice here long ago."

One of the highlights of the surveys was a horse’s snowshoe. The team say: “This is a find we have been hoping and wishing for. It is a snowshoe for horses, found lying on the ice at nearly 2000m. Based on the other finds here, it is probably from the Viking Age or the Medieval Period. The preservation is just mind-blowing."
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