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archaeologist in Norway ’s spate have discovered a " very rare " ancient arrow that still has its quartzite arrowhead and plume fletching in post .
It ’s likely that reindeer hunters used the arm up to 3,000 geezerhood ago , fit in to archaeologistLars Pilø , who lead theSecrets of the Iceproject in the Jotunheimen Mountains of central Norway ’s Oppland part .
The newly discovered arrow has a quartzite arrowhead that was attached to a birch shaft.
While archaeologists with the labor have antecedently rule human - madehunting blinds where hunters shroud while targeting reindeer , the newfound pointer was n’t unearth near one .
" There are no hunting blinds in the immediate vicinity , but this arrow was found along the upper bound of the ice , so the hunters may simply have been hiding behind the upper ridge , " Pilø told Live Science in an email .
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The wooden shaft still has feather fletching attached to it.
Secrets of the Ice gelid archaeologist Espen Finstad pick up the pointer on Sept. 13 . Due to human - have climate change , the snow and ice in the Jotunheimen Mountains is fade , exposing artefact from 100 to thousands of years ago . If archaeologist do n’t retrieve these human - made items quickly after being disclose , the artifacts can deteriorate in the constituent .
Finstad constitute the pointer during a targeted sketch , when he and colleagues " contain newly scupper area along the edge of the ice , " Pilø said .
An analysis divulge that the arrow ’s scape was made of birch rod and that it still had an aerodynamic fletching with three maintain feathering . Hunters use fletching to assist point the pointer in flight , but these typically decay over prison term .
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The quartzite arrowhead at the front of the shaft " is barely seeable because tar covers most of the arrowhead , " Pilø allege . " The pitch was used for assure the arrowhead to the shaft and to shine the front of the pointer , allowing for better penetration . Arrows with preserved arrowheads still attached are not uncommon during the Iron Age on our ice site , but this early they are very rarefied . "
The pitch likely issue forth from birch charcoal , he added .
Despite its well - preserved arrowhead and feather , the rest of the arrow fared slightly worsened . The some 2.9 - foot - long ( 90 centimetre ) pointer break down into three pieces along its shaft , " in all likelihood due to snow pressure , " Pilø said .
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