Secrets of the Ice team find new fragments of Viking Age packhorse net

The Secrets of the Ice glacial archeological team has had a great start to the exploration season in the Norwegian mountains.

Among other things, the archeologists have discovered fragments from the only known Viking Age packhorse net and a possible ancient arrow shaft. Hopes are high for further finds in the coming weeks.

"A very promising start"

The Secrets of the Ice team has been working in Norway's mountainous regions for nearly two decades.

Supported by Innlandet County Council and Oslo's Museum of Cultural History, the archeologists spend a part of every summer looking for artifacts that have emerged from the melting ice in the hotter weather.

Notable discoveries in previous years include Neolithic arrows, a 1,300-year-old ski, and Lendbreen Pass, a site in the Jotunheimen Mountains that was particularly well frequented in the Viking Age.

This summer, the snow is still entrenched in many of the areas typically explored by the Secrets of the Ice experts. For this reason, two separate teams have been exploring some older sites and also seeking out new areas.

Fortunately, the first forays have met with some success. "The season has had a very promising start," co-founder Lars Holger Polø informs The Viking Herald. "We have already recovered new pieces of the Viking Age packhorse net, which is a unique artifact not known from anywhere else." 

Fragments of the Viking Age packhorse net uncovered in South Jotunheimen in 2011. Photo: Secrets of the Ice

One of a kind

Fragments of a packhorse or cargo net were first uncovered in South Jotunheimen by the Secrets of the Ice archeologist Jostein Bergstøl in 2011.

The find consisted of netting held together by small wooden pieces. This year was the first time the archeologists had returned to the same area, and hopes were high that they might find more evidence of Viking Age transportation methods.

To their great delight, the 2025 team found more pieces of the same net, which is thought to have been used by traveling merchants to help carry their cargo. It is hoped the new fragments can provide greater understanding of exactly how the net was used in the Viking Age.

"We could not be more excited—history is literally unfolding before our eyes," the Secrets of the Ice commented in a social media post. 

• READ MORE: A Viking history of Norway – Part 1

The latest 2025 discovery of Viking Age packhorse net fragments in South Jotunheimen. Photo: Secrets of the Ice

Places unknown

With the snow still falling in many areas, the archeologists have also been taking the chance to explore unknown sites.

"Right now, our main sites with many artifacts are still hidden under snow," Lars explains to The Viking Herald. "Since we've already surveyed the ground that has been exposed there, it makes little sense to go back until more of the old ice melts out."

"Instead, our focus in the coming weeks will be on a couple of very promising sites that have only had brief exploratory surveys and have never been examined in a systematic way."

One of these sites has already revealed a broken wooden fragment that the team believes may once have been part of a composite bow or shaft. It is hoped that there will be more historic artifacts revealed in the coming weeks as the team explores new possibilities.

"That will be our priority for the season," Lars admits. "Though in the high mountains, the weather always has the final say."

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