Like giant frozen time capsules, Europe’s glaciers have locked away countless secrets from the past.
Perfectly preserved in the ice, artefacts which would normally rot within centuries can survive for millennia.
But as the climate warms and the ice retreats, archaeologists are now scrambling to recover thousands of objects suddenly emerging from the deep freeze.
From a mysterious medieval shoe to the aftermath of an unsolved murder, these unique objects offer a rare glimpse into the distant past.
But it’s not all ancient history – the ice has also revealed some strange and terrifying reminders of very recent events.
Dr Lars Holger Pilø, co-director of the Secrets of the Ice project in Norway, told MailOnline: ‘They often look as if they were lost yesterday, yet many are thousands of years old, having been frozen in time by the ice.
‘This extraordinary preservation provides unique insights into past human activities in the mountains, from fine details such as changes in arrow technology to broader patterns of trade and travel across the landscape.’
So, can you tell what these strange items really are? Scroll down for the answers!
1. This object was found on the Ötzi glacier in Italy in 1991 and is believed to be 5,300 years old. Can you guess what it is?
Ötzi the Iceman was an ‘ice mummy’ who was buried inside a glacier in Italy for thousands of years, before he was discovered by hikers in 1991.
Thanks to the unique climate conditions of the glacier, his body and everything he had on him at the time of death are almost perfectly preserved.
Katharina Hersel, research coordinator at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology where Ötzi is kept today, told MailOnline: ‘The extraordinarily well-preserved state of Ötzi is due to an almost unbelievable series of coincidences.
‘He died at a very high and remote mountain pass, underwent freeze-drying immediately after death, was covered by snow or ice that protected him from scavengers, and, crucially, was sheltered in a rocky hollow, preventing him from being transported downhill by a moving glacier.’
In addition to this rather striking hat, Ötzi wore a goat and sheep leather coat and shoes specially designed for crossing the freezing terrain of the glacier.
‘His clothing was practical but also had symbolic or decorative elements, such as different-coloured strips of goat fur on his coat, a bear fur cap worn with the fur outward, and insulated shoes designed for grip on slippery and steep terrain,’ says Ms Hershel.
Normally, when archaeologists find human remains, they are buried with ceremonial items relevant to their status in society.
But, since Ötzi was never buried, the objects and clothes he had on him are a unique view of everyday life in the Copper Age.
2. Theses strange objects was also found on the Ötzi glacier and all have a common connection. Can you tell what it is?
Ötzi the Iceman
Since his discovery in 1991 by German hikers, Ötzi has provided a window into early human history.
His mummified remains were uncovered in a melting glacier in the border between Austria and Italy.
Analysis of the body has told us that he was alive during the Copper Age and died a grisly death.
Around his body, archaeologists found the oldest preserved hunting equipment in the world.
This included a knife and a sheath, a bow with its string, fletched arrows, a preserved axe, and even a travel medicine kit containing birch bark and mushrooms.
However, while the details of Ötzi’s life are of great archaeological importance, the circumstances surrounding his death are even more fascinating.
During a forensic examination, scientists found a 2-centimetre-long flint arrowhead embedded in his back.
The researchers concluded that the injury wouldn’t have killed him right away but instead would have caused nerve damage and paralysis.
This means that Ötzi, for reasons we can never know, was shot in the back and left to die a slow, painful death on top of the glacier where he was found.
But what was a tragedy for Ötzi is a huge boon for modern-day archaeologists.
Ms Hershel says: ‘Ötzi’s body was taken straight from life by murder and remains as he died. For archaeology, Ötzi provides a unique window into the Copper Age. We can understand how carefully and thoughtfully people of his time dressed in daily life and what their equipment looked like.’
3. This is just one of the 4,500 objects found by archaeologists on eight glaciers in Innlandet County, Norway. Can you figure out what it is, and why it is one of the researchers’ favourite discoveries?
The next item is just one of the 4,500 artefacts that archaeologists have found on eight glaciers in Innlandet County, Norway.
However, of all those unique discoveries, Dr Pilø says that this is probably his favourite.
The object is a shoe discovered in 2019 on the ice in a mountain pass which has been dated to the third century AD.
‘What makes it truly fascinating is its design, which shows a clear influence from contemporary Roman footwear,’ says Dr Pilø.
‘Similar shoes have been found at the Roman fort at Vindolanda in England. That really makes you stop and think.
‘How did a Roman-style shoe end up on the ice in Norway?’
This frozen artefact is also a piece of ancient footwear, but one with a very different use.
This 40cm by 30cm ring of juniper and twisted birch roots was discovered in 2019 when it emerged from a glacier.
4. This strange hoop is made of woven juniper and birch roots and was found on the Lendbreen Pass, a lost Viking route through the high Norwegian mountains. What do you think it was used for?
Dr Pilø and the other archaeologists from Secrets of the Ice believe that it was a snowshoe for horses to help them cross the glacier.
The snowshoe strongly resembles similar footwear which was developed in the 18th century, but this is likely to be much older.
In a statement at the time, the archaeologists say: ‘Based on other finds here, it is probably from the Viking age or the medieval period.’
The shoe was found on the Lendbreen Pass, an important route through the high Norwegian mountains from the Roman era until the late Middle Ages.
While the Lebredeen Pass was previously lost under the ice, the glacier’s retreat has revealed evidence of a busy route including clothing, frozen horse dung, and even a small stone shelter for travellers.
Dating to around the third century AD, the unlucky horse that lost this shoe was probably one of the first pack animals to make the dangerous crossing.
While some of the items emerging from the ice are mysterious, there won’t be any prizes for guessing the next item.
This is a Viking sword made of iron which has been kept in unusually good condition by the cold climate of the glacier.
5. This striking artefact was discovered in an unusual location at 1,600 meters (5,250 ft), leaving archaeologists baffled. Do you know what it is?
Beyond its fantastic condition, there is nothing particularly special about this sword as it is a fairly standard design for a Viking warrior.
However, what makes this item so strange is where it was found.
The sword was found by a reindeer hunter at 1,600 meters (5,250 ft) – higher than the peak of Mount Washington in British Columbia.
Since there is no sign of a battle or burial nearby, it remains unclear why a Viking would have carried their sword to such a remote location only to abandon it.
In a blog post revealing the discovery, Dr Piløw wrote: ‘This could suggest that the person who left behind the sword was lost, maybe in a snow blizzard.
‘It seems likely that the sword belonged to a Viking who died on the mountain, perhaps from exposure.
‘However, if that is indeed the case, was he travelling in the high mountains with only his sword? It is a bit of a mystery.’
What makes some of these frozen artefacts so interesting is that they offer a snapshot of a way of living that is vanishing into the past.
6. This strange object baffled archaeologists when they first found it in the ice and its use was only revealed when an elderly visitor saw it in a local museum. Would you be able to figure out what this 1,000-year-old artefact was used for?
However, that makes some of the objects which emerge from glaciers rather hard to identify.
When the Secrets of the Ice team first put this simple wooden stick on display at a local museum, they actually had no clue what it was.
The mystery was only solved when an elderly visitor told the baffled archaeologists that she had used a similar device growing up on a farm in the 1930s.
While it looks like a simple dowel, it is actually a bit used for young animals such as sheep and goats to stop them from getting milk from their mothers.
String would fasten in the carved furrows at either end of the stick which was then looped around the animal’s ears.
By controlling when the young animals could feed, that meant humans could harvest the milk for themselves.
The only difference to the bits from the 1930s is that this artefact dates back to the 11th century AD, making it more than 1,000 years old.
However, not everything emerging from the glaciers is quite as ancient.
7. This image was taken of a startling archaeological discovery on the Presena Glacier,Italy in 2012, do you know what it might show?
In fact, archaeologists are now finding some artefacts which tell us a lot more about our recent history.
A strange collection of objects and bodies is all that is left of the so-called ‘White War’ which raged in the high mountains of the Italian Alps during WWI.
Between 1915 and 1917 Italian and Austro-Hungarian troops fought a bloody battle at altitudes well above 2,000m in which countless men were shot, starved, or froze to death.
However, just like Ötzi the Iceman, when those soldiers died their bodies were perfectly preserved in the glacier.
Historians have been collecting material from the mountains ever since, with regular finds since the early 1990s.
The most recent two soldiers to be uncovered, found side-by-side in 2012 on the Presena Glacier, were as young as 16 and 18 when they went to fight on the bitter Italian front and were buried by fellow fighters in a crevice.
Archaeologists who studied their bones to age the bodies said both were shot in the head in 1918.
8. Not every artefact emerging from the ice is ancient. Can you recognise this surprising modern discovery also from the Presena Glacier?
One of the young men still had a spoon tucked into his uniform for digging away at rations.
Archaeologists have also found equipment that was either abandoned or dropped during the fighting.
Finds include everything from guns and ammunition, lamps, boxes or rations, and even a remarkably intact letter from a soldier to his lover.
On the peak of Punta Linke, historians uncovered an entire cableway station concealed beneath the ice, with soldiers’ letters still pinned to the walls.
Although identifying objects preserved by glaciers is usually a job for archaeologists, this final discovery was actually a job for the police.
In 2017, workers at the Glacier 3000 ski resort in Switzerland stumbled upon a strange and terrifying scene – two mummified bodies were emerging from the rapidly thawing ice.
However, what the worker had found was not the scene of a recent crime, but of an extremely cold case.
Police in the canton of Valais confirmed through DNA testing that the two bodies belonged to Marcelin Dumoulin, 40, and his wife, Francine, a 37-year-old teacher.
9. When this suprising discovery was made on the Tsanfleuron glacier in Swizerland it wasn’t archaeologists but the police who were called in. Can you tell why?
10. This enigmatic object was found in the same spot on the Tsanfleuron glacier near the Glacier 3000 ski resort. Can you spot what was so strange about it?
Marcelin and Francine had gone missing while hiking across the Tsanfleuron glacier to milk their cows back in 1942.
The couple were dressed in well-preserved WWII-era clothing and were carrying a book and a pocket watch which helped police identify them.
Although they had been missing for over 75 years, the intense cold meant they were immaculately preserved.
As they froze, water was squeezed out of their tissues as ice which sublimated directly into a gas as it met the low moisture surrounding air.
This freeze-drying process meant that their bodies were both dried and frozen so that they could still be identified over seven decades later.
