INNLANDET COUNTY, NORWAY—Science Norway reports that a metal horse’s bit and pieces of a leather bridle have been found near the Lendbreen pass on Galdhøpiggen, Norway’s tallest mountain. This mountain pass, reaching more than 6,500 feet above sea level, is known to have been in use for more than 1,200 years. Glacial archaeologist Espen Finstad of Secrets of the Ice said that the shape of the bridle suggests it dates to the Viking Age. “We have never made such a discovery before,” Finstad said. “It essentially completes the picture that this is an ancient travel route.” The date of the bridle will be confirmed with radiocarbon dating of the leather. Horse manure, textiles, horseshoes, and part of a horse snowshoe have also been recovered from the mountain pass. To read more about ancient artifacts that have emerged from ice patches and glaciers, go to “Letter from Norway: The Big Melt.”

Source: archaeology.org