Bronze Age Arrows from Norwegian Alpine Snow Patches Martin Callanan Norwegian University of Science and Technology martin.callanan@ntnu.no 25 JGA 1.1 (2014) 25–49 Journal of Glacial Archaeology ISSN (print) 2050-3393 doi: 10.1558/jga.v1i1.25 Journal of Glacial Archaeology ISSN (online) 2050-3407 Keywords: Snow patch archaeology, bow and arrow, Reindeer, Hunting, Norway, Bronze Age The number of archaeological inds recovered from alpine snow patches in central Norway has increased dramatically during the last decade. In this article, eight Bronze Age (1800–500 B.C.) arrows are presented in detail. The arrows are of great interest to our understanding of Bronze Age archery in general. The inds include two arrows with projectiles made from the freshwater mussel Margaritifera margaritifera, as well as two reindeer antler arrows. These inds are further evidence of the fact that artifacts emerging from melting snow patches in central Norway are getting steadily older. Some contextual observations speciic to snow patch sites in a reduced state due to extreme melting are also highlighted. Introduction Alpine snow patches in central Norway have produced large numbers of archaeological inds over many years (e.g. Farbregd 2009 and Callanan 2012). The material recovered from these sites consists mainly of personal equipment such as bows and arrows, knives and snares that were used in the past during hunting expeditions in the mountains. Due to the frozen conditions on alpine snow patches many of these implements are recovered in relatively good condition. Well-preserved snow patch artifacts offer us rare glimpses of the archery technology of the past, as the organic portions of bows and arrows are usually missing from lowland sites. This article is a presentation of a group of eight Bronze-Age (1800-500 BC) shafts and projectiles from melting snow patches in the Oppdal region that were recovered by local collectors during the period 2003–2011. The presentation begins with a description of where and how these discoveries were made. A detailed description is also given of eight Bronze Age arrows identiied as part of a recent study. This is followed by a discussion of the implications these inds have for our understanding of archery technology in the region during the period c. 1800–500 BC. Finally, some issues speciic to snow patches as archaeological sites are highlighted and discussed.