In Norway, archaeologists excavated the area in the snowy highlands in the center of the country, where for the past several years a glacier melts, and found an ancient road, which was actively used by about 1000 years.
according to the journal Science, we are talking about a trade route, which was for centuries hidden under a glacier. In 2011, the travelers found in the snowy mountains of Central Norway, the remnants of the tunics, which was about 1,700 years.
the Find was made due to the fact that the ice in the area began to melt. Since the pass is regularly examined by archaeologists. Over the years, they found hundreds of artifacts. And after the extreme melting of ice in 2018, was made a major discovery: scientists have found that here lay the major trade route.
On this “highway” in both directions through the pass were pushing the cattle and transporting a variety of goods, including deer antler, oil and skins. Søren Michael Sindbaek, an archaeologist from Aarhus University in Denmark, called it an early example of globalization.
Scientists believe that there is a road in ancient times. The earliest artifacts found here date from around the year 1750 BC. However, as a trade route, it became a regularly used about 300 ad. This was indicated by radiocarbon Dating.
were established Nearby trading outposts down the river Otta, which is also nearby. Goods were transported seasonally. Peak use of this trade route reached around the year 1000 of our era, i.e. in the Viking age.
“It may seem counterintuitive, but high mountains do sometimes served as the main communication routes, and were not major obstacles, says study co-author James Barrett, from Cambridge University. – At high altitudes it is easy to travel as there the land is covered with a dense layer of snow”.
Researchers believe that around 1400 the use of the roads has decreased dramatically. Finds later than this period, almost none. Probably, the role played by the plague, which claimed the lives of nearly half the medieval population of the country.
in addition, around 1300 began the so-called little ice age, which lasted a whole century. Together with the plague it destroyed the economy of this region. Perhaps that is why the pass was abandoned more than 500 years – until, until archaeologists found it again.
the full study can be found in the journal Antiquity.
