Archeologists unearthed a haul of frozen artifacts from one of Norway’s melted ice patches on Thursday, November 26. The artifacts include ancient arrows used for reindeer hunting more than 6,000 years ago. The team discovered a total of 68 arrows at the Langfonne ice patch located in the Jotunheim Mountains, north of Oslo, Norway. The archeologists noted that the arrows trace back from thousands of years ago, from the Stone Age to the Medieval Period. The study published in The Holocene journal states that remains of reindeer antlers, Iron Age scaring sticks for reindeer hunting, and a 3,330-year-old leather boot from the Bronze Age are among the found artifacts.

The Langfonne ice patch has since 70% liquefied two decades ago due to global warming. Lars Pilø, an archaeologist from the Innlandet County Council and the study’s lead author, said “With the ice now retreating due to climate change, the evidence for ancient hunting at Langfonne is reappearing from what is in essence a frozen archive.” He added, “The ice melt, sad as it is, provides an unprecedented archaeological opportunity for new knowledge.” According to further inspection, the arrows were in poor condition, which led researchers to surmise that ice movement resulted in their bad state.