The Archaeologist has a piece about the discovery of a 1300 year old arrow. The arrow was found during a research project on the Langfonne ice patch in the Jutunheimen Mountains in Norway. It dates to the Late Neolithic Age from about 2400 to 1750 BC. The Langfonne ice patch has shrunk 30% in the last 20 years due to climate change.
The arrow was discovered in a collection of broken rock fragments between larger stones on the lower edge of the icefield.
The team believes that the arrow was lost and deposited downslope by meltwater and that it has since been exposed several times by melting ice over the centuries.
This is indicated by the lack of fletching, the fin-shaped aerodynamic stabilization normally made from feathers or bark. Evidence of sinew and tar has also been identified, but this survives in a poor state of preservation. The arrow is tapered towards the end and the nock has been thickened for engaging with a bowstring. The remains of the tar would have glued the fletching to the shaft, while imprints of the thread securing the fletching are still visible.
In recent years, the team has found numerous arrows in the region during the Late Neolithic (2400-1750 BC) and especially during the Late Iron Age (AD 550-1050).
