融化的冰川揭示了消失已久的維京山口和古代遺跡

融化的冰川揭示了消失已久的維京山口和古代遺跡

As the glaciers of Scandinavia melt, the long-forgotten journeys of intrepid Vikings are revealed.

隨著斯堪的納維亞的冰川融化，勇敢的維京人被遺忘已久的旅程被揭示。

Reported in the journal Antiquity today, a retreating Lendbreen glacier in the mountains of Norway has recently revealed a mountain pass used by Vikings over 1,000 years ago, along with a treasure trove of rare artifacts, weapons, and ancient horse poop.

據(jù)《今日古物》雜志報(bào)道，位于挪威山區(qū)的倫德布倫冰川正在消退，最近發(fā)現(xiàn)了1000多年前維京人使用過(guò)的山口，以及珍貴的文物、武器和古代馬糞。

Tom Hale

The mountain pass was brought to light in 2011 when the receding Lendbreen ice patch revealed a stunningly well-preserved wool tunic from around 1,600 years ago. While other archaeological digs have headed to these hills in the years following, a huge increase in melting on the glacier in 2019 revealed even more long-lost possessions that were carelessly dropped by Vikings centuries ago.

2011年，倫德布林冰原消退，露出了一件保存完好的1600年前的羊毛束腰外衣。在接下來(lái)的幾年里，當(dāng)其他考古發(fā)掘人員前往這些山丘時(shí)，2019年冰川融化的急劇增加揭示了更多幾個(gè)世紀(jì)前維京人不小心掉落的失物。

Archaeologists from the University of Cambridge in the UK and NTNU University Museum in Norway used radiocarbon dating on at least 60 artifacts from the site, suggesting the mountain pass was used by humans for over millennia, between 300 CE and 1500 CE. This also indicated that the mountain pass was most widely used around 1000 CE during the Viking Age, a time in Scandinavian history when Norsemen expanded their influence across Europe and beyond through trade and a hefty dose of violence.

英國(guó)劍橋大學(xué)和挪威NTNU大學(xué)博物館的考古學(xué)家們對(duì)至少60件來(lái)自該遺址的文物進(jìn)行了放射性碳年代測(cè)定，表明在公元300年到1500年之間，人類使用這座山口已經(jīng)有上千年的歷史了。這也表明，在公元1000年左右的維京時(shí)代，山口的使用最為廣泛。在斯堪的納維亞歷史上，北歐人通過(guò)貿(mào)易和大量的暴力活動(dòng)，擴(kuò)大了他們?cè)跉W洲和其他地區(qū)的影響力。

An array of horse-related objects discovered at the site. Pilø et al., 2020, Antiquity

Among the glacier’s hidden loot the team discovered a knife with a preserved wooden handle, the remains of a shoe, a fur mitten, and a distaff used to spin natural fibers. Many of the objects actually detail the journey of Vikings through the pass, including objects such as horseshoes, bones of horses, horse dung, remain of sleds, and a walking stick with a runic inscription.

在冰川隱藏的贓物中，研究小組發(fā)現(xiàn)了一把保存完好的木柄小刀，一只鞋的殘骸，一副毛皮手套，以及一根用來(lái)紡天然纖維的線繩。許多物品實(shí)際上詳細(xì)描述了維京人通過(guò)山口的旅程，包括馬蹄鐵、馬骨、馬糞、雪橇殘骸和一根刻有符文的手杖。

"My favorite find from Lendbreen is a small wooden bit with pointed ends [pictured below]. When we found it, we could not understand what it was used for," Lars Pilø, co-director Department of Cultural Heritage at Innlandet County Council, told IFLScience.

“我在倫德布倫找到的最喜歡的東西是一個(gè)尖頭小木塊(見下圖)。當(dāng)我們發(fā)現(xiàn)它時(shí),我們無(wú)法理解它是用于什么,”Lars Pilø文化遺產(chǎn)學(xué)系副主任Innlandet郡議會(huì),告訴IFLScience。

A "bit", probably for a young animal like a kid or lamb to prevent it suckling, maximizing milk for human consumption. Made from juniper wood in the 11th century CE. Pilø et al., 2020, Antiquity

"It was exhibited at a local museum, and an elderly woman who visited the exhibition immediately identified it. It is a bit for goat kids and lambs to prevent them from suckling their mother, as the milk was used to produce dairy products on the summer farms," Pilø explained. "The women had herself seen such bits in use in the 1930s. They were made in Juniper then, and so is ours, but the bit from Lendbreen is radiocarbon-dated to the 11th century CE!"

這幅畫在當(dāng)?shù)匾患也┪镳^展出，一位參觀過(guò)展覽的老婦人立刻認(rèn)出了它。有點(diǎn)為山羊的孩子和羊羔阻止他們吮吸他們的母親,牛奶是用來(lái)生產(chǎn)乳制品在夏天農(nóng)場(chǎng),”Pilø解釋道。在20世紀(jì)30年代，這些婦女自己就見過(guò)這種鉆頭的使用。它們當(dāng)時(shí)是用杜松木做的，我們的也是如此，但倫德布林的那塊是用放射性碳做的，可追溯到公元11世紀(jì)!”

Judging from the artifacts left here, it’s believed this passway was used to access high-elevation farms in the warm summer months and as a major trade route, whether for local use or even to transport rare pelts and antlers to the rest of Europe.

從這里遺留下來(lái)的文物來(lái)看，這條通道被認(rèn)為是在溫暖的夏季通往高海拔農(nóng)場(chǎng)的通道，也是一條主要的貿(mào)易路線，無(wú)論是用于當(dāng)?shù)厥褂?，還是將稀有的毛皮和鹿角運(yùn)輸?shù)綒W洲其他地方。

At some time around the 11th century CE, however, the journeys along this busy road dried up. In the centuries following 1000 CE, northern Europe was hit with a number of big social, economic, and climatic changes of fortune that saw the passageway become used less and less. One of these big changes was the Black Death, which first struck Norway in 1348 or 1349, and caused more than its fair share of human misery and economic turmoil.

然而，大約在公元11世紀(jì)的某個(gè)時(shí)候，這條繁忙道路上的旅行已經(jīng)干涸。在公元1000年以后的幾個(gè)世紀(jì)里，北歐遭遇了一系列重大的社會(huì)、經(jīng)濟(jì)和氣候變化，使得這條通道的使用越來(lái)越少。其中一個(gè)重大的變化就是黑死病，它于1348年或1349年首次襲擊挪威，造成了比它所能承受的更多的人類苦難和經(jīng)濟(jì)動(dòng)蕩。

"It seems likely that the amount of mountain travel here declined and ultimately stopped as the Little Ice Age and then, in the middle of the 1300s, the Black Death, took their toll," said Dr James H Barrett, Reader in Medieval Archaeology at the University of Cambridge.

劍橋大學(xué)中世紀(jì)考古學(xué)的讀者詹姆斯·H·巴雷特博士說(shuō):“似乎這里的山地旅行數(shù)量下降了，并最終在小冰河時(shí)期停止了，然后在14世紀(jì)中期，黑死病造成了損失。”

"The decline in population reduced demand for mountain products, and there were simply fewer travellers on the road. When population and the economy recovered, the pass had been forgotten and new routes were created."

“人口的減少減少了對(duì)山貨的需求，路上的旅行者也少了。當(dāng)人口和經(jīng)濟(jì)復(fù)蘇時(shí)，通口就被遺忘了，新的路線就出現(xiàn)了。”

Lendbreen within its regional and Norwegian setting. Pilø et al., 2020, Antiquity.