Institute of Archaeological Sciences

Research projects

Schnidejoch and ice archaeology

Kathrin Glauser photographing an object in situ and Albert Hafner uncovering the Neolithic birch bark bow case. View to the west. Photograph from 2005 © Archäologischer Dienst des Kantons Bern, Urs Messerli.

Archaeology in the High Alps

Archaeological objects are also affected by the receding glaciers. Over thousands of years they have survived in the ice, now they are coming to light. In the hot summer of 2003, a hiker on the Schnidejoch found a strange object made of birch bark. It turned out to be part of a 4800 year old bow lining.

Between 2004 and 2011, the Archaeological Service of the Canton of Bern undertook more than 30 inspections of the north side and, together with the Cantonal Archaeology of the Valais, also of the south side of the Schnidejoch. Numerous other finds made of wood, leather and metal were recovered and scientifically examined.

Unique finds

One of the most spectacular finds from the Schnidejoch is a bow case made of birch bark. Also standing out among the approximately 900 finds are an bow, several complete arrows and fragments of a bowl made of elm wood. This is the oldest wooden vessel in Switzerland. Other outstanding finds include a Bronze Age wooden vessel made of birch bark, a Bronze Age garment needle and leather clothing and shoes. The special feature of the discoveries at Schnidejoch is the good preservation and the large time span of the find material. Only a few sites in Europe cover all epochs from the Neolithic to the Middle Ages like the Schnidejoch.

Publications

Albert Hafner, Schnidejoch und Lötschenpass. Archäologische Forschungen in den Berner Alpen.
Mit Beiträgen von Jehanne Affolter, Kurt W. Alt, Martin Bader, Guido Brandt, Sabine Brechbühl Trijasse, Christoph Brombacher, Philippe Curdy, Montserrat Ferrer, John Francuz, Suzanne Frey-Kupper, Kathrin Glauser, Jürgen Junkmanns, Johanna Klügl, Kurt Mischler, Ursula Räss, Antoinette Rast-Eicher, Charlotte Rérolle, Jörg Schibler, Angela Schlumbaum, Werner H. Schoch, Jorge E. Spangenberg, Peter J. Suter, Pascal Tschudin, Marquita Volken, Serge Volken, Daniel von Rütte, François Wiblé, Lucia Wick, Florian Zurfluh
und Rudolf Zwahlen.

2 Bände. Bern 2015. Insgesamt 524 Seiten mit 416 Abbildungen.
Preis: CHF 68.–. ISBN 978-3-907663-35-6
BEZUGSQUELLE: Archäologischer Dienst des Kantons Bern Brünnenstrasse 66, Postfach 5233
3001 Bern; adb@erz.be.ch, Tel. 031 633 98 22

Media

SRF Regionaljournal Bern Freiburg Wallis, 7.4.2017: 7000-jahre-so-lang-gibt-es-alphirten-im-berner-oberland

SWR2 Impuls. Das Wissensmagazin: Je mehr Gletscher zum Beispiel in den Alpen schmelzen, desto mehr Fundstücke kommen ans Licht. 
Charlotte Grieser im Gespräch mit Prof. Dr. Albert Hafner. 29.2.2016

NZZ, 6.11.2015: Gletscherarchäologie: Geschichte aus dem Tiefkühler.

NZZ, 6.11.2015: Fragen an Archäologe Albert Hafner: Die ganz besondere Fundstelle.

SWR2 Kontext: Die tiefgefrorene Lederhose. Sensationelle Geschichten aus dem Gletscher-Eis.
Von Elisabeth Brückner, 3.8.2015

SWR2 Wissen: Gletscherarchäologie. Steinzeitfunde aus dem Eis.
Von Elisabeth Brückner, 24.11.2015

SWR2 Wissen: Die Eisdetektive. Gletscherarchäologie - eine Multimediareportage.
Multimediale Reportage, 24.11.2015

SRF 1 und Radio SRF 4 News: Albert Hafner - auf der Suche nach dem «Schweizer Ötzi»
Tagesgespräch, Gast von Susanne Brunner. 3.4.2014

Journal of Glacial Archaeology