Ancient ice is melting in Norway

In Norway, a piece of ice several millennia old is retreating slightly more each year due to climate change. This melting has opened an unprecedented window into the past.

Tunnel reveals prehistoric hunting tools

Beneath the Galdhøpiggen, the highest point in the country at 2,469 meters, a manually dug tunnel passes through ice dated to about 6,000 years and reveals hunting objects left by prehistoric hunters. A 60-meter tunnel manually dug into the Juvfonne ice sheet passes through ice dated approximately 6,000 years, or up to 7,600 years according to the site operators.

Ancient hunting setup uncovered

The melting of the glacier has revealed a reindeer hunting setup from the Iron Age, including 50 stone caches and scaring sticks, as well as 48 prehistoric arrows, one of which is dated between 5,000 and 6,000 years. A study from January 2017 confirms that the oldest ice in continental Norway, dated around 5,600 BCE, is located at the bottom of the Juvfonne ice sheet.

Outdoor discovery center at high altitude

The Klimapark 2469 is not a classical museum. Located at approximately 1,850 meters altitude, at the foot of the Galdhøpiggen in the Jotunheimen massif, this outdoor discovery center is accessible via a network of walkways placed on the Juvflye plateau.

Park name reflects mountain height

There, one can explore the history of climate, hunting and gathering traditions, local geology and biology, all while literally walking above a millennium-old ice. The number 2469, which gives the park its name, corresponds to the altitude of the Galdhøpiggen, the highest peak in Norway. At the end of the walkway, at Juvfonne, a tunnel extends 60 meters into this ice approximately 6,000 years old.

Tunnel designed by artist

Designed and lit by artist Peder Istad, it was entirely dug and shaped by hand. A subtle indicator confirms the scale of the phenomenon. In 2014, moss carpets began to appear on the edges of the Juvfonne ice sheet. Their presence indicates that the ice mass has reached its smallest extent in at least 2,000 years, a landmark that scientists use to measure the speed of glacial retreat in the region.

Reindeer breeder finds artifacts

6,000-year-old arrows emerge from the ice intact. It was a local reindeer breeder, Jan Stokstad, who initiated excavations on this site. While exploring the surroundings of Juvfonne, he found numerous sticks known as scaring sticks, as well as stone hunting caches previously hidden under ice and snow.

Hunting methods from Iron Age

These scaring sticks were not weapons. Planted in lines in the landscape, they were used to scare and drive reindeer toward stone caches where hunters were waiting. In total, 50 of these caches have been recorded on the site, outlining the contours of a truly organized hunting setup. The dating places this activity mainly in the Iron Age, between approximately 250 and 900 AD.

Oldest arrows found in region

More recently, the Innlandet glacial archaeology program announced the recovery of 48 prehistoric arrows in the Jotunheimen. Among them, an arrow with a slate tip and wooden shaft stands out: it is dated approximately 5,000 to 6,000 years old, making it one of the oldest findings ever extracted from these glaciers.

Oldest ice reveals oldest artifacts

This type of discovery draws a logical, almost worrying pattern. It is the oldest ice that melts first, in places where the thickness was once the weakest. Result: it is often the oldest, best-preserved objects that resurface last, just before disappearing permanently if no one recovers them in time.

Ice layers reveal climate history

Juvfonna, a climate archive and reindeer trap since the Stone Age. In the tunnel, some layers of ice appear significantly darker than others. These bands correspond to accumulations of dust and reindeer droppings, deposited season by season. Each layer functions as a page of a geological book, readable in chronological order as one moves deeper into the wall.

Oldest ice confirmed by study

The site operators today advance a significant dating: ice 7,600 years old, presented as the oldest ever recorded in continental Norway. This announcement could have remained anecdotal if it had not found solid scientific support. Indeed, a study published in January 2017 confirms that the oldest radiocarbon dating of ice in continental Norway, excluding Svalbard, precisely comes from the bottom of the Juvfonne ice sheet, around 5,600 BCE.

Site reveals deep history

The two figures overlap and place this site at the top of the country's glacial archives. Already in the spring of 2010, a first tunnel had been dug into the ice sheet to access its central part and allow sampling of deep layers. It is this patient and meticulous fieldwork that gradually revealed that Juvfonne was not only a tourist curiosity, but a true reindeer trap transformed into a time capsule by millennia of freezing.

Site bridges two fields of study

What Juvfonne reveals goes far beyond the scope of a simple Norwegian attraction. Between melting ice and reappearing objects, the site offers a rare direct point of contact between climatology and archaeology, two disciplines that tell the same story here, that of a territory shaped by cold for millennia and now caught up by heat.