Archaeologists have recovered 48 prehistoric arrows from melting mountain ice in Norway, including one estimated to be 5,000 to 6,000 years old. The discoveries came during a three-week expedition in the Jotunheimen mountains.

The standout find is a fine slate arrowhead with fragments of its wooden shaft and traces of prehistoric bindings and birch bark tar, spotted among gravel at the Langfonne ice patch. Researchers say it dates to the Stone Age.

The team, from the Glacial Archaeology Programme known as Secrets of the Ice, worked across the Langfonne, Storfonne and Handklefonne ice patches. They found large areas of ice had simply disappeared.

The programme, running for 20 years, has recorded 73 archaeological sites and recovered more than 5,000 artifacts. Researchers note a clear shift: finds are now older, from the Stone and Bronze Ages, as the oldest ice layers melt away. The oldest objects in the wider programme date back more than 6,000 years.