Switzerland’s melting glaciers reveal ancient secrets
From Bronze Age weapons to ancient animal remains, Switzerland's melting glaciers are yielding remarkable discoveries. Glacier archaeologist Marcel Cornelissen is among the researchers racing to recover and study them before the ice disappears.
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Switzerland’s melting glaciers reveal ancient secrets
“Glaciers are treasure troves,” says Cornelissen, who works as a freelance archaeologist. His job frequently takes him high up into the Alps, where important artefacts emerging from the melting ice offer unique insights into the past.
But “recover” is not quote the right word. Most artefacts are found lying on glacier surface rather than buried beneath it. And in recent years, increasing numbers of finds have been emerging as glaciers continue to melt.
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There is far less digging involved than in archaeology conducted in towns or lowland areas. “But it’s not as if we just sit on a camping chair waiting for the ice to reveal something,” laughs Cornelissen.
He is often alerted after mountaineers spot an object on a glacier. He then travels to the site with a team. The finds are documented, stabilised and prepared for transport before being analysed and dated in a laboratory.
Glacier finds tell many stories
An ancient cow’s skull, a small Roman statue, a rosary and even a bow and arrow: glaciers have already yielded a remarkable variety of objects. Some of these discoveries feature in a current exhibition at the Glacier Garden in Lucerne, to which Cornelissen has also contributed.
As part of the “Bergeis” project at the Uri Institute Cultures of the Alps, he is particularly interested in the extraction and use of rock crystal during the Mesolithic period.
Entitled “Ice Treasure Trove”, the exhibition brings together glacier archaeology and ice core research for the first time.
Alongside artefacts recovered from glaciers, the exhibition features the work of ice core researchers, who use samples extracted from ice to reconstruct past changes to climate and the environment.
The exhibition runs until August 22, 2027.
What fascinates him most are the stories behind the finds. “How might people have lived 8,000 years ago? I find it really exciting to find answers to these questions,” says Cornelissen.
Major archive slowly melting away
One discovery he highlights was made on the Lötschen Pass, on the border between the cantons of Bern and Valais, where a Bronze Age bow and several arrowheads were found.
“A great deal of archaeological knowledge is being lost.”
Marcel Cornelissen, glacier archaeologist
The discovery immediately raised questions. What exactly was the weapon used for? Were people hunting or protecting their livestock? Or were there conflicts with other groups?
For Cornelissan, glacial ice is a unique archive of the past. The fact that this archive is disappearing at an ever-faster rate is a cause for concern.
In 20 years’ time, scientists may have many new methods for analysing both the ice and the objects preserved within it. By then, however, far less glacial ice may remain.
“A great deal of archaeological knowledge is being lost,” says Cornelissen.
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Translated from German, sub-edited by Simon Bradley/dos
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