Researchers surveying the Scandinavian mountains recently uncover ancient wooden tools once use by reindeer hunters. This discovery offers valuable insights into historical practices in the region.
Discover in Bernheimer National Park, Norway, these artifacts are referred to as ‘scaring stick’ flags.
A team of two archaeologists and a mountain guide discover the artifacts when a significant area of ice melt away, exposing them.
The ice resemble a compact, immobile glacier that had become firmly anchor to the ground. Over time, some melting had cause it to fragment into smaller ice pieces.
“Climate change is driving the retreat of glaciers across Inlander County, Norway, and has a global impact,” state Lars Holger Pilo, co-director of Secrets of the Ice, a glacier archaeology initiative.
The frightening stick flags date back approximately 1,500 years. The team initially discover a complete flag and later found a damage one about 65 feet away.
Scaring sticks are typically three feet long wooden poles design for pest control. These lightweight and portable devices feature a thin wooden flag or similar object attach to their top, which helps in deterring animals and birds.
Ancient Norwegians employ these tools for reindeer hunting. While similar artifacts have been discover in places such as Greenland and Siberia, no equivalent tools have been found in North America.
“According to Pilø, scaring sticks are employ to guide reindeer toward hunters who are conceal behind natural elements like boulders or stone hunting blinds.”
“Scaring sticks vary in design, but they typically feature a wooden stick with a movable object mount on top. This setup is essential for their function.”
“Due to its movement in the wind, the attach object cause anxiety among the reindeer. Being situate above the tree line, any motion in this area signal potential danger.”
Secrets of the Ice has conduct extensive analysis on numerous ancient scare sticks, predominantly from the period A.D. 200 to 1000.
Scaring sticks with wooden flags, often made from slender, split pine like the recently uncover example, usually originate from Norway’s Early Iron Age, approximately A.D. 300 to 600.
Pilø explains that ice patches are relatively small and highly sensitive to fluctuations in weather and climate. As the ice melts, artifacts buri within these patches often become expos. Subsequently, wind and meltwater can carry these artifacts downslope, ultimately depositing them on the ground.
The exact timing of when the scaring sticks were first discover remains uncertain. They could have been intermittently expose to ice over the past decade.
Wooden and bone artifacts frequently endure as the only materials that remain intact after extend exposure.
Under optimal conditions, wood undergoes a natural freeze-drying process, a method employ in laboratories for effective wood preservation.
The team will keep investigating the site through the winter season. To date, they have examin 69 locations and uncover over 4,000 significant discoveries.
