Mountaineer and hobby archaeologist Reidar Marstein came across something very special when he was at lake Tesse in Lom municipality in June this year. The low water level revealed several small logs rising from the seabed. – I saw that these were in a specific system, Marstein tells news. According to the Cultural History Museum at the University of Oslo, one of the sticks, or posts as they are called, is now dated to be around 7,000 years old. They are therefore from 5000 BC, which means in the older stone age. IN THE SEABED: This spring, Reidar Marstein came across dozens of posts that had been sunk into the old seabed. He quickly understood that these were the remains of old fishing traps. Photo: Anders Bakkerud Larsen / news 7,000-year-old fish traps The poles have been used for fish traps. In fact, these are one of the very oldest fish traps we know of from Norway, and of their kind the very oldest we know of from Northern Europe. The cultural monument consists of at least three trapping chambers, and the discovery was made at an altitude of 850 m. One of the poles found on the seabed of Tesse in June 2022. Photo: Aleksandr Nedbaev / news The trap was in use around 5000 BC. That is, in the Old Stone Age. Photo: Anders Bakkerud Larsen / news The finders of the fishing facility have marked the many poles by placing fresh logs next to them. Photo: Reidar Marstein View beyond the area where 7,000-year-old fish traps have been discovered. Tesse is today a regulated water. 7,000 years ago, the fishing traps were located at approx. 1-1.5 meters deep. The Stone Age people may then have waded out or used simple boats. Photo: Reidar Marstein news was there when divers from the Norwegian Maritime Museum secured the unique cultural heritage in lake Tesse on Tuesday 21 September. Photo: Aleksandr Nedbaev / news In 2013 and 2014, traces of extensive Stone Age activity were found along the banks of the Tesse. Among other things from the period when the fishing traps were in use. Here is a small selection of the waste Stone Age people left behind along the Tesse. Photo: Birgitte Bjørkli / KHM Long fences have probably contributed to guiding the fish into the traps found in Tesse. – In a Norwegian and Scandinavian context, this is a startling discovery. It’s a gift package, says archaeologist Axel Mjærum at the Cultural History Museum at UiO. The traps have been placed in shallow water, and are probably trap chambers with funnel-shaped inlets. FROM THE STONE AGE: Through the new find, we can now see the contours of an extensive and very old fishery, a fishery we hope to learn more about through an upcoming survey, says archaeologist Axel Mjærum at the Cultural History Museum at UiO. Photo: Rolf Petter Olaisen / news So far, at least three trapping chambers with guide fences have been identified on the seabed. – In addition, it is located in a Stone Age environment here along the Tesse water. It tells about a fish whose age we only guessed, but which we didn’t really have certain knowledge about until now, says Mjærum. Must secure the find During the summer, Tesse has been completely filled with water. Divers from the Norwegian Maritime Museum were in the lake on Tuesday to measure the logs, retrieve dating samples and secure the unique cultural heritage against erosion and ice over the winter. Next year, when the ice has melted, land archaeologists from the Museum of Cultural History will begin the excavation. – It is so valuable that we cannot take the chance of waiting, says Mjærum. WATCH VIDEO: Divers from the Norwegian Maritime Museum filmed with a GoPro camera when they were in Tesse on Tuesday 27 September to secure the valuable cultural relics. In the video, you can see one of the many poles that were discovered last year. Every spring, the mountain water Tesse is drained to produce power, and then the old sea bed comes into view. – This is a fishing ground that has been used for thousands of years. When you started to regulate water, everything possible started to be dug up, says archaeologist Mjærum. At the seabed in Tesse, reel-shaped net sinkers from the Viking Age have been found, among other things. In Lom, Norway’s oldest shoes have also been melted down. Three years ago, archaeologists found the skeleton of a dog between Lom and Skjåk. – Around here there are Stone Age settlements in abundance. Here you can pick objects and bones. It has obviously been an attractive location. It has been thought that it was most likely linked to reindeer hunting in Jotunheimen, but also probably the good fishing grounds here, says Mjærum. NORWAY’S OLDEST SHOE: The 3,400-year-old Stone Age shoe was found in Jotunheimen in 2006. The shoe was size 39 according to modern standards and probably belonged to a hunter. Photo: klimaparken2469.no Check out more finds on the website of the glacial archeological protection program Secrets Of the Ice.
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7,000-year-old fishing traps discovered in Jotunheimen – news Innlandet – Local news, TV and radio
