There's an amazing alchemy that happens when glaciers melt; they expose many hundreds or even thousands of years old remains that were kept fresh by the very ice cold that buried them.
RELICS
In Norway, a melted glacier brought forth 1700 year old artifacts of clothing, mittens, shoes, even horse skeletons.
And, a melting glacier revealed an 8th century ski!
In Alaska, retreating ice revealed a forest that once was over 2000 years ago!
In the Yukon, melting ice revealed 5000-year-old tools.
Another find in the Yukon included a 4300-year-old dart shaft found in Caribou dung.
GLACIAL MUMMIES
Inca Children: In the 1400s and 1500s, children were sacrificed on the mountains. Freezing temperatures made them instant mummies.
Otzi: He is perhaps the most famous one found on the border of Italy and Austria. He was about 5300 years old and in great shape.
In Switzerland, they discovered an ice mummy that is even older than Otzi, from about 4500 BC. It also included many objects of his including bow and quiver, goat leather clothing and more.
Climbers Alex Lowe and David Bridges were attempting to climb a very high peak in Tibet 16 years ago. Recently, melting glaciers revealed their bodies and added closure for the families.
On Mexico's highest peak, two climbers went missing in 1959 and melting glaciers revealed their mummified remains.
In Bolivia, the fuselage of a plane that crashed in 1990 and its occupant were found in the retreating ice. The pilot was still strapped in and mummified.
In 2015 in permafrost in Russia, two lion cubs were found of a kind that went extinct 10,000 years ago. These cubs were tested and believed to be 25,000 to 55,000 years old! (LINK)
VIRUS
A 30,000-year-old megavirus (LINK) was found in Siberian permafrost and brought back to life. To our great relief, it seems to only attack amoeba and cannot infect humans or animals. However, it remains to be seen if further viral threats exist under the melting permafrost....
