Archeologists Keep Uncovering Ancient Corpses as Glaciers Melt. It’s a Race Against the Clock

In 2019, NASA released a striking yet somber document: a timelapse video showcasing the melting of Alaska’s glaciers over the past 50 years. This phenomenon isn’t unique to Alaska. As average temperatures have risen globally, glaciers around the world have shrunk.

Interestingly, the resulting rise in sea levels offers scientists a window into the past. The glacial ice contains trash, objects, and hundreds of human bodies from centuries ago.

Ötzi. When glaciers lose ice, they reveal everything that was once hidden beneath their white layers, including long-buried bodies. Among the most famous discoveries is Ötzi, also known as “the Iceman,” whose remains were found in 1991. Ötzi was a man who died around 5,000 years ago in the Ötztal Alps at the Austria-Italy border. His discovery is significant for several reasons.

The reconstruction of Ötzi, whose remains are well-preserved despite being 5,000 years old.

First, before Ötzi’s discovery, archeologists didn’t believe glaciers were worth exploring. Expert Andreas Putzer told the BBC that they assumed “humans didn’t visit or cross over the high mountains in the distant past” because the terrain was too challenging.

Second, Ötzi is recognized as the best-preserved ancient corpse ever found. His preservation allowed researchers to reconstruct his appearance and investigate the cause of his death. They were even able to analyze his tattoos and examine the items he carried, including a bow, arrows, clothing, tools, and a bearskin hat.

The third reason that explains Ötzi’s significance is more straightforward: The melting glaciers continue to expose remnants of the past.

Digging up the past. While less extreme than the case of Ötzi, the unearthing of human remains has become almost routine. Hikers and ski resort workers in Switzerland have discovered bodies that had been concealed for decades, some since World War II. One example is the case of Marcelin and Francine Dumoulin, two Swiss farmers who disappeared in August 1942. Their frozen remains were found in 2017.

The clothes Ötzi was wearing when he died.

Nothing new. In 2012, two British mountaineers were hiking on the Aletsch Glacier in the Alps when they found human remains, along with boots, clothing, and mountaineering equipment.

In 2014, a mountain rescue helicopter pilot located the remains of a British climber who disappeared in 1979 near the summit of the Matterhorn at an altitude of more than 13,000 feet. That same year, Swiss rescue services retrieved the body of a Czech explorer who had been missing since 1974.

In 2016, the melting of the Morteratsch Glacier in Switzerland revealed the remains of a German skier who had disappeared in 1963. Three years later, another group of mountaineers stumbled upon human remains on the Matterhorn at an altitude of about 2,800 meters. This time, they belonged to two Japanese climbers who went missing in 1970.

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The reconstruction of the objects found with Ötzi’s remains.

Not only human remains. These are just a few examples of human remains that have surfaced over the years as a result of rising temperatures. While recovering these bodies is important, the objects that have also been uncovered are equally significant. They allow experts to rediscover history. They can also help determine when certain technologies, previously believed to be developed at a later date, first appeared.

Among the findings are several prehistoric arrows with stone tips and feathers, and tools such as sticks, stakes, and hunting implements, including Ötzi’s axe. Archeologists have also uncovered leather garments that reveal the clothing techniques of the Stone Age. Other artifacts suggest spiritual practices, while a lice comb, 1,700-year-old snowshoes, and Roman coins have also been discovered.

Remarkably, researchers have found animals with preserved internal organs. Examples include a 4,000-year-old red-wing thrush and 4,200-year-old reindeer bones.

Bad news. This situation presents a unique opportunity for archeology. Ice effectively preserves organic materials that wouldn’t survive in different environments. As such, experts can study in detail how people lived millennia ago. However, the underlying issue remains critical: Climate change continues to worsen. The melting of glaciers is one harmful consequence, and the discovery of these remains compels archeologists to work against the clock.

An example of glacial melting is the Boulder Glacier, Washington, which has retreated more than 1,300 feet in the past 30 years.

A dying freezer. Thomas Reitmaier is the director of the archeological service of the Canton of Grisons in Switzerland. He compares the thawing process to leaving your freezer door open. “It’s like if you leave open your freezer, and then at some point, the frozen meat in there rots, and eventually, it’s gone,” he told the BBC.

Many discoveries made in the glaciers have been accidental, but Reitmaier is calling for community support: “We really need to appeal to the public, to lay people, who go hiking in the Alps, to alert us if they spot a potential find, because these areas are huge, and we can’t monitor all of them.” He wants to recover as many archeological samples as possible before they vanish. “Even the tiniest object can tell an exciting story,” he points out.

Geology lessons. Reitmaier is concerned that glacier archeology may be short-lived. “Once the ice is gone, we won’t have that archive in the glaciers anymore,” he explains. However, in addition to the human artifacts being uncovered, this phenomenon allows scientists to learn more about our planet.

Glacial ice contains vital information about abrupt climate changes that occurred thousands of years ago. It helps understand historical patterns and highlights how activities in one part of the world can impact the other side of the planet.

Images | Diego van Sommeren | Mauri Pelto | Davemor

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