A Lucerne museum puts objects melted out of Switzerland's glaciers on show, from an ancient bow to a tube of mayonnaise
AP's piece is a quick, vivid look at what shrinking glaciers are giving back, and why the museum wants people to see it now.
What happened: The Glacier Garden in Lucerne has opened an exhibit whose German title translates as "Treasury of Ice." It shows things that have come out of Swiss glaciers as they melt: a bow from an ancient hunt, a Roman-era statuette, a cow skull, boots, ski gear, a cracked alpinist's helmet, a wine bottle and a crushed tube of mayonnaise. Director Andreas Burri says the glaciers are disappearing "very, very fast" and the museum wants to show this archive before it's gone.
Why it matters: Swiss glaciologists recently reported that the country lost 5.5% of its total glacier volume this year, the second-largest drop on record. The ice also holds pollen, soot from 16th-century wildfires and fallout from 20th-century nuclear tests. In August, the bodies of two Belgian hikers missing for decades emerged near the Trift glacier.
How much agreement is there? Broad agreement that Swiss glaciers are shrinking fast. The exhibit itself is documentation, not a solution.
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Glacial archaeology
After exploring A 'Treasury of Ice' goes on show, revealing relics as Swiss glaciers rapidly melt, for the young science of what melting ice reveals, see Glacial archaeology.
A new field studying artifacts that emerge from melting ice. They are often well preserved but decay quickly once exposed. One early find was the Iceman Ötzi, found by hikers in 1991.
Wikipedia · Wade · 5 min
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