Well above the treeline in Norway’s highest mountains, ancient fields of ice are "shrinking" as Earth’s climate warms.

such as the growth of farming "settlements" and the spread of international trade networks

And growing Norwegian towns, along with export markets, would have created a booming demand for "hides" to fight off the cold, as well as "antlers" to make useful things like combs

Fieldwork is hard work - hiking with all our equipment, often camping on permafrost - but very "rewarding"

Extreme cold is one reliable way to keep artefacts relatively fresh for a few thousand years, but once thawed out, these materials experience "degradation" relatively swiftly.

Unless they’re protected from the microorganisms that cause "decay", they tend not to last long.

"Reindeer" once "congregated" on these icy patches in the later summer months to escape biting insects