Scientists studying melting ice in Norway have uncovered a deadly weapon last fired by a warrior 3,000 years ago.
The arrow is thought to date to around 1,300BC and would have been fired by a hunter in the Bronze Age.
It’s thought the weapon, which has a sharpened head made from a seashell, would have been used to hunt reindeer but this one missed its mark and became encased in ice.
Lars Holger Pilø, PhD, is part of a Secrets of the Ice team studying the archaeology from retreating glaciers in Norway. The arrow was found in the country’s Jotunheimen Mountains.
He told Express.co.uk: “This is extremely rare find. Arrows with shell arrowheads were not known in Europe prior to melting out of the ice in Norway.
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“This is by far the best preserved example until now. It appears that they were only used for a short period of time around 1300 BC, the Early Bronze Age. The shell (arrowhead) is freshwater pearl mussel, a species that does not live in or around our high mountains, but can be found in rivers a bit further away.
“The arrow was shot by a reindeer hunter. It failed to hit its target and disappeared into the snow. A missed shot for the hunter but a bullseye for archaeology.”
Professor Pilø, from the Department of Cultural Heritage, said rare finds were happening more as the ice melts in the Scandinavian nation.
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Professor Pilø, from the Department of Cultural Heritage, said rare finds were happening more as the ice melts in the Scandinavian nation.
He added: “The finds from the ice are appearing because the glaciers in the high mountains are melting due to climate change. Since the artefacts have been frozen in time by the ice, they are often incredibly well preserved.
“Once they melt out, the clock start ticking, so we try to find the artefacts as quickly as possible. To be a glacial archaeologist and make such fantastic discoveries is both exhilarating and sad at the same time.”
Most of the glaciers in Norway will disappear before the year 2100, according to an article published by the University of Oslo.
Professor Regine Hock at the Department of Geosciences, said in the study: “We estimate that Scandinavia will lose at least 60-80 per cent of its ice, even without further warming.”
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