Norway: 3000-year-old shoe recovered from melting mountain ice patch

NordenBladet — Over the past two decades, thousands of ancient artifacts have been recovered across Norway’s melting mountain ice patches, including the oldest shoe in Norway, a shoe from the Bronze Age that’s over 3,000 years old.

The recovered artifacts found in Norwegian ice patches are often found in perfect condition with minimal decomposition due to ice patches being relatively stable, unmoving, and free from corrosive compounds.

Over the years, weapons, textiles, clothing, plants and animal remains have all been found, which helps map out the country’s history.

The shoe was discovered in 2007 in Jotunheimen, a mountainous region in the south of Norway. The shoe was a small leather shoe, either fitting a woman or a child. Alongside the shoe, a variety of items were discovered, including arrows and a wooden space, suggesting that the site was previously a hunting ground.

Experts have predicted that the shoe dates to approximately 1100 B.C., which makes the shoe the oldest shoe in Norway, and possibly the oldest article of clothing discovered in Scandinavia.