Hiker’s Find Reveals 1,500-Year-Old Mass Reindeer Trapping System High in Norway

A walker in autumn 2024 reported wooden stakes on Aurlandsfjellet; a follow-up expedition in 2025 revealed a 1,500-year-old mass reindeer-trapping system preserved in ice. Archaeologists documented hundreds of carved posts, funneling fence lines, carved antlers, weapons and finely worked wooden objects, including an antler dress pin and decorated oars. The site was protected by a cold phase beginning in the mid-500s, but melting ice and looting now threaten preservation. Conservators are treating recovered items and urge the public to report discoveries rather than remove them.

02:50 AM, 11/22/2025Culture

Hiker’s Find Reveals 1,500-Year-Old Mass Reindeer Trapping System High in Norway

In the autumn of 2024, walker Helge Titland noticed wooden stakes protruding from melting snow on Aurlandsfjellet, a high plateau in western Norway. He reported the discovery to local archaeologists, but winter returned before a team could investigate. When specialists from Vestland County Municipality and the University Museum in Bergen revisited the site a year later, they uncovered what appears to be a 1,500-year-old mass reindeer trapping system preserved in ice.

What the team found

The exposed remains include hundreds of carved wooden posts and at least two funneling fence lines that would have directed reindeer into a killing pen. Archaeologists recovered carved reindeer antlers, iron spearheads, wooden spear and arrow shafts, fragments of bows, and several finely crafted wooden objects whose precise functions are still unclear. Personal items include a decorated antler dress pin and one or more ornately carved oars — surprising finds at about 1,400 metres (roughly 4,500 ft) above sea level.

'This is the first time a mass hunting facility made of wood has emerged from the ice in Norway, and the facility is probably also unique in a European context,'
- Øystein Skår, archaeologist, Vestland County Municipality

Preservation and significance

The site’s exceptional preservation is linked to a prolonged cold phase beginning around the middle of the 500s, which kept the area snowbound year-round and ultimately sealed the installation in ice. Those cold, dark and damp conditions helped protect organic materials for well over a millennium. The carved antlers and wooden components offer rare insight into large-scale hunting strategies and material culture in high-alpine landscapes during the early medieval period.

Conservation challenges

Recovered objects are being conserved in cold-storage facilities and are being slowly dried, but archaeologists were unable to remove every artifact from the field. Researchers warn that melting ice and looting pose urgent threats: exposed wood will decay rapidly once thawed and small artifacts can disappear quickly if visitors take them. Skår and colleagues urge the public to report finds to authorities and avoid removing objects.

This discovery provides unique evidence of organized mass hunting in northern Europe and underscores the need for rapid, professional response when melting ice reveals fragile archaeological sites. Conservators hope select items will eventually be displayed in museum exhibits to help tell the story of how past communities used high mountain environments.