Overview
- A 76-year-old hiker, Helge Titland, reported cut logs in 2024 on the Aurlandsfjellet plateau about 1,400 meters above sea level.
- Teams from Vestland County Municipality and the University Museum of Bergen excavated in 2025, confirming two long timber fences that funneled reindeer into a kill zone.
- Archaeologists date the complex to the end of the Early Iron Age, roughly 1,500 years ago, based on context and preservation under long-lasting snow and ice.
- Recovered items include hundreds of logs, reindeer antlers, iron spearheads, wooden arrows, bow parts, a carved antler brooch, and intricately decorated oars found high in the mountains.
- All finds are now stored frozen for conservation, with researchers warning that continued ice retreat risks rapid decay and unauthorized collecting.