Espen Finstad, Julian Martinsen, Runar Hole, and Lars Pilø

“ Both the Mänttä ski and the Digervarden ski show that the use of a heel binding has a long tradition. Skis with a heel-binding make it possible to add power to the step forward and provide a much better stability than skis with just a toe-binding. ”

“ A traditional skier from Altai, Ma Liqin, tried out the reconstructed Digervarden skis during a visit to Oppland in 2015. He said they worked well, but he was convinced that they must have been fur-lined as all traditional skis in Altai are. Otherwise, one gains too much speed downhill, which can be hazardous, or will have too little traction going uphill. ”

“ The ski is made of birch, is 170 cm long and the width is 14.7 cm. The thickness is greatest in the binding area (2.9 cm) . The thickness is otherwise around 1 cm, which is probably somewhat less than the original thickness due to erosion and shrinkage.
There is a small round hole in the tip of the ski. This feature is also known from other prehistoric and medieval skis and from traditional skis today. One explanation for this hole is that it is a remnant from the bending of the ski tip. It is also known
Figure 4⁠ Runar Hole holding the Digervarden ski at the find spot. ”

“ The incomplete Utrovatn ski, also from Oppland County, has a raised foothold and a width of 13 cm, with a groove underneath (Sørensen 1995a) . This ski is radiocarbon-dated to the Viking Age, i. e. slightly younger than the Digervarden ski (Sørensen 1995b, 48) .
Experiments with a reconstructed pair of Digervarden skis show that they are fully functional. Since the foot is not stuck in a firm binding like modern skis, it is not possible to change course by adding more weight to the outer ski in the bend as it is done today. ”

“ Søre Dalfonn is a small ice patch extending from a canyon. The lower edge is at c. 1500 m. a. s. l. The ice patch has released two skis (Hole 2015) . The first one was found by Helge Hole in 1980 (Dalfonn 1) . Hole also found a second ski here in 2002 (Dalfonn 2) . The ice patch has also yielded Iron Age arrows.
The Dalfonn 1 ski (C36673a, Figure 9) was radiocarbon-dated to c. AD 500 shortly after it was found, according to the catalogue at the Museum of Cultural History,
Figure 9⁠ The Dalfonn 1 ski. ”

“ This is a great help when going uphill. With a heel binding it is also much easier to steer during skiing downhill or on flats. Skis with only a toe binding are more suitable when the ski is used intermittently—skiing some distances and walking others.
In contrast to the Lendbreen ski/snowshoe, the Digervarden ski fits well into the known regional and Nordic ski material. The ski from Alvdal, Hedmark County
Figure 8⁠ Ma Liqin, traditional skier from Chinese Altai, showing the technique of using a single pole as a rudder during downhill skiing. ”

“ The ice patch has also yielded remains of a sled from c. 600 CE (Bjørgo et al. 2015) . The general area is known as an important mountain crossing in historical times (Tobiassen 1988) .
The skis are so similar that it is very likely that they are a pair. A radiocarbon date from the ski found in 1963 gave cal 1215–1290 CE [3] (Sørensen 1995b, 63) . This was quite surprising to ski historians, who are more inclined to date the skis to no earlier than
Figure 10⁠ The Vossaskavlen ski pair. ”

“ The numerous other finds from the same time recovered in Oppland attest to this (Pilø et al. 2018) Wooden objects can preserve for some time outside the ice at high altitude. The variation in ice patch sizes also depends on factors other than temperature (Ødegård et al. 2017) . The binding area of the ski differs from the prehistoric skis, but fits well into what is known from Nordic skis from the Medieval and Post-Medieval Period (Sørensen 1996) . The same goes for the narrow width—10 cm at the binding.
Other ski finds
A ski tip was recovered from the Langfonne ice patch in 2014. ”

“ Type B has a slightly raised foothold with raised wood along the side of the foot, in which there are horizontal holes for the binding. The underside is flat and without grooves. Type C has a raised platform for the foot, with a horizontal hole for the binding through the foothold. Type C has four subtypes based on the character of the underside, of which type C1, with a flat or slightly convex underside without grooves, is the most common type and of special interest here. Types A and B are very rare. The only representative of type A known from the Nordic countries is the Kalvträsk ski. ”

“ Find spots for main ski finds from glacial ice. 1. Lendbreen; 2. Digervarden; 3. Dalfonn; 4. Vossa-Skavlen. Drawing: Lars Pilø, Oppland County Council. two prehistoric skis. Both were found and recovered by the Glacier Archaeology Program. Previously, there were four known finds of skis from the ice in Norway. The earliest find is from Vossaskavlen in Hordaland County, and was recovered as early as 1931. ”

“ The Lendbreen ski/snowshoe is the odd one out in this context. If it had been found in a bog in the lowlands, it would have been tempting to describe it as a ski/snowshoe for short distance movement around the camp. The high-alpine context of the find indicates a very different use. The shortness, the width and the fur-lining are all indications of a use in deep snow. ”

“ Pilø, L. 2017. “An old ski from the Hardangerjøkulen Glacier.” http://secretsoftheice.com/funn/2017/02/15/old-ski-hardangerjokulen/
Pilø, L., E. Finstad, C. Bronk Ramsey, J. R. P. Martinsen, A. Nesje, B. Solli, W. Wangen, M. Callanan and J. H. Barrett. 2018. ”The chronology of reindeer hunting on Norway’s highest ice patches.” Royal Society Open Science 5: 171738. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.171738
Pilø, L. and E. Finstad. in press. “Ancient reindeer hunting in Oppland, Norway.” In The Gazelle’s Dream: Game Drives of the Old and New Worlds, edited by A. Betts and W. P. van der Pelt. ”