Photo Credit: Secrets of the Ice. https://archaeologymag.com/2025/08/melting-ice-reveals-viking-age-packhorse-net/

In Jotunheimen National Park, a team of archaeologists uncovered an artifact dating around 1,000 years old. What’s even more impressive is that the artifact is thought to be the only one left of its kind in the world. This discovery was a Viking Age packhorse net.  

Although the discovery came together recently, pieces of the net were unearthed back in 2011. Archaeologists with the Secrets of the Ice program spotted traces of leather net and wood pieces in a high ice patch. They determined that their findings came together to make up a net to transport goods on horseback across Norway’s terrain, a thousand years prior.  

Now, more than a decade after the find, that same team of archaeologists returned to the site in hopes of adding to their initial discovery: they were not let down! The team would have liked to have proceeded with their search much earlier than this year, however heavy amounts of snowfall in the area prohibited items such as these to be easily uncovered. After all these years, their waiting came to an end with a season of lighter snow.  

With the melting of the glacier, they were able to see new pieces of leather net stuck between the rocks. This find was particularly exciting for them as artifacts made up of organic material such as leather and wood tend to break down much quicker in nature and thus aren’t often recoverable. Thanks to the makeup of the glacier, the leather net was hidden from open air and preserved for centuries.  

This discovery adds to other uncovered items from the Viking Age such as spears, bows, arrows, Viking mittens, and tunics. The nets were likely very common at the time as packhorses were frequently used to carry belongings over difficult terrain. It is remarkable to now have this concrete evidence and to glean more information from it about the time, the people, and how they lived. 

The archaeologists have no doubt there are more secrets under the ice and they hope to repeat memorable finds such as this.