Sept. 20, 2013 — This week researchers high in the mountains of Norway found the skeletal remains of a horse in melting glacial ice, reported Archaeology.org. The horse and other findings were thought to be remnants from the Iron Age (550 BC – AD 700).
The researchers said they suspected the horses were used for hauling reindeer carcasess down from the mountains.
Also discovered in the melting ice were horse shoes and manure.
It is interesting that the researchers said that in that time, the reindeer were driven into the high mountains by horseflies. Once the reindeer were up on the ice, the locals would hunt the reindeer.
The article noted that researchers around the world are keeping a close eye on melting glacial ice because as artifacts that had been in the “deep freeze” are exposed, there is only a short amount of time until the relics begin to decompose.
