“We just made an incredible discovery on the south side of the Lendbreen pass,” read a post on social media from Secrets Of The Ice, an archeology program based in Norway. “An iron horse bit, with parts of the leather bridle preserved!”
The news was posted Saturday by the archeology program based in Innlandet County.
Researchers still need to conduct radiocarbon dating to be sure, but they believe the artifacts date to the Viking Age which lasted from 793 to 1066 AD. They say it’s uncommon to discover leather items because the material typically deteriorates over long periods of time.
“Inside the ice, the artifacts are in a gigantic prehistoric deep freezer,” said Lars Holger Pilø, co-director of the archeology program, explaining how the leather was preserved. “Once they melt out, the clock starts fast.”
“We have never found anything like it on our ice sites.”
Warm temperatures in Norway have contributed to the discovery of other Viking artifacts in the area, including a shoe, a mitten, and a knife, as well horse bones and other horseshoes. A particularly warm summer this year led to the discovery for the first time of items in the Lendbreen gully, where archeologists found the bridle and horseshoe.
“The Vikings used horses for farm work and for transportation,” said Holger Pilø. “Horses were an important part of Old Norse mythology, and were sometimes sacrificed and buried along with the dead. They weren’t really used as cavalry – the Vikings fought on foot.”
Archeologists in Norway anticipate further discoveries under mountain ice as anthropogenic climate change drives the gradual loss of glaciers in the country.