Melting Alaska Glaciers Draw Archaeologists In Race Against Time

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University of Colorado Scientists Search for Artifacts in Melting Glaciers

       BOULDER, Colo., Oct. 14 (AScribe Newswire) -- "Researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder continued their search in southeast Alaska last summer to pinpoint rapidly melting glaciers and ice fields that hold prehistoric human artifacts before exposure triggers their decomposition.

       For thousands of years, humans hunted on the glaciers and ice fields that cover what is now the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve in southeast interior Alaska. During the summer months these ancient ice fields attracted caribou and other animals seeking refuge from insect swarms that blanket Alaska during summer.

       At the same time, humans hoping to feed their families visited ice fields with the goal of finding meat. Unfortunately for the ancient hunters, they dropped some of their tools, or perhaps missed when they shot their arrows or spears. Over time, those weapons and tools were encased in ice, until now.

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Among their most significant finds this year were wooden arrow shafts, one with red ochre paint, and a stone point still lashed to its wooden shaft. They also found a birch bark container or basket recently thawed from the ice. What is significant about the findings is that because they are organic materials, they can be radiocarbon dated. However, when stone spear points and other stone artifacts are found, their age can only be estimated. "Global warming has exposed artifacts from the ice that has kept them preserved for hundreds and even thousands of years," he said. "So there is some urgency to our search for these artifacts, because once exposed they decompose or are destroyed quickly."

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