Photos show the mysterious ancient objects that mountaineers are finding on the Alps' melting glaciers

Morgan McFall-JohnsenJul 9, 2024, 22:12 IST

Romain Andenmatten shows a horseshoe found on a melting glacier.Morgan McFall-Johnsen

Hikers and mountaineers are finding ancient human artifacts in the melting glaciers of the Alps.
Some discoveries are valuable snapshots of ancient economies, while others are total mysteries.

Hikers and mountaineers are stumbling on mysterious ancient objects in the Swiss Alps, and their discoveries are keeping archaeologists busy.

From the Iron Age to the Ancient Romans to the Middle Ages, people traveled across the Alps's icy mountain passes with cows, mules, oil, wine, skis, weapons, and more.

Their lost or abandoned belongings are now surfacing as the mountains' glaciers melt, revealing clues about past civilizations and eras.

Archaeologists gave Business Insider an inside look at some of their most mysterious and most revealing discoveries.

Melting glaciers in the Swiss Alps are revealing objects that humans have left behind over the ages.

This Iron Age statuette is one of the most mysterious objects to surface on Switzerland's melting glaciers.Morgan McFall-Johnsen

People who find unique artifacts lying on the ice sometimes take them as keepsakes.

Pierre-Yves Nicod shows off a mysterious wooden figure recovered from a melting glacier in the Alps.Morgan McFall-Johnsen

As the ice melts and discoveries accelerate, archaeologists in the town of Sion collect these objects for research.

The Valais History Museum is inside an old chateau atop a rocky hill in the middle of town.Morgan McFall-Johnsen

In the museum's archives, researchers are studying new objects closely.

Archaeologist Nicod stands in the basement of the museum archives.Morgan McFall-Johnsen

Some discoveries are total mysteries, like all these sticks.

Researchers were processing all these sticks from one col when BI visited their archives.Morgan McFall-Johnsen

Archaeologists still aren't sure what the little wooden statue was for, either.

Nicod thinks the statue could be a religious totem, but it's hard to say.Morgan McFall-Johnsen

Other discoveries, like these valuable belongings of a 17th-century man, shed light on the ancient Alps economy.

A selection of items recovered from the site where a wealthy traveler was frozen in the ice.© Valais History Museum, Sion; Michel Martinez

Some artifacts could carry long-extinct diseases like the Black Plague.

This hoof comes from the remains of a mule discovered on a melting glacier.Morgan McFall-Johnsen

Nicod is convinced this wooden artifact is a handle for some kind of tool. It fits perfectly in his hand.

A smooth, twisted piece of wood that Nicod believes to be the handle of an ancient tool.Morgan McFall-Johnsen

Many objects are vulnerable once the ice around them melts. Archaeologists have to hurry.

To help save as many objects as possible, the archaeologists created an app for hikers to report their findings.

Archaeologists believe this small barrel was used to carry wine.Morgan McFall-Johnsen

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