Ancient Hunting Blinds Found in Norway

 

Ancient Hunting Blinds Found in Norway

INLAND, NORWAY—More than 40 hunting blinds were discovered on the remote inland mountain of Sandgrovskaret by glacial archaeologists, according to a Science Norway report. Hunters would have hidden behind the semicircular stone structures to get close enough to shoot at reindeer with bows and arrows, according to archaeologist Espen Finstad of the Secrets of the Ice project. He explained that the reindeer would have traveled into the snow and ice of the mountains to escape biting flies. The hunters, he added, likely lived in the valleys. “In the Stone Age, they would have lived in simple settlements, and during the Iron Age they would have had grand long houses down in the valley,” he explained. The researchers also recovered 32 scaring sticks, which are about a yard long and thought to have been set in the soil with a flag on one end. The reindeer would have traveled away from the flapping flag toward the hunting blind, Finstad said. Five arrows, three with iron arrowheads, were also found. One of the arrowheads is in a style only found in one grave in Norway dated to between A.D. 550 and 600. The other two arrows are thought to date to 800 B.C., based upon their shape. To read about artifacts that emerged from melting ice in Norway's Jotunheimen Mountains, go to "Melting Season."

ow to determine the age of these blinds? How would those smallish rocks stay in place for so long? Reminds me of a place in the south of Norway, not really related, but I was amazed when I walked there: I've made a few like this myself while hunting. 20th and 21st century.

 

Tells us when that land was ice-free like it is now. Through finds. They found scaring sticks and arrowheads. One of the arrowheads was dated as above they were hunting blinds yet under the ice..meaning the ice/glacier wasn't there when they were used... kind of debunks global warming...

 

perhaps they were defensive positions. What a load of BS. No possible way to date those. So you dated an arrowhead.Stop telling us your dating rocks. Total BS only organic material can de date. And it's not accurate for over 5000 years.

 

We mapped forty hunting blinds at Sandgrovskardet. Hunting blinds are a regular feature on our reindeer hunting sites, both at the ice and further down the mountains. They are stone-built structures, erected as hiding places for the hunters. The reindeer are very wary of movement, so the hunters had to make themselves invisible to get within shooting distance. The bow-and-arrow shooting distance was probably no more than 10-20 m, so the hunters needed a good place to hide. And if there wasn't one, they built one themselves🙂

The shape of the hunting blinds can indicate the intended shooting direction of the hunters hiding inside. The one in the picture has an entrance closest to the camera and was used for shooting towards reindeer on the snow and ice in the background.

We had prior information on the presence of hunting blinds at Sandgrovskardet from Per Dagsgard, who has done the extensive mapping of ancient hunting structures on the ridge where both Lendbreen and Sandgrovskardet lie. His interest in archaeology started when he discovered an awesome Viking spear at Lendbreen as a young student in 1974.