4,000-year-old bow and arrow and food box discovered in Switzerland

The research team discovered many Bronze Age objects in a rock crevice near the top of Lotschberg mountain in the Swiss Alps.

Many Bronze Age objects were found on the top of Lotschberg mountain. Photo: Swissinfo.

Scientists discovered traces of a bow and arrow set, a wooden food box and many other 4,000-year-old Bronze Age objects near the top of the mountain.Lotschberg, Alps,Switzerland, NDTV reported on October 15.

They may have belonged to hunters or herders who once took shelter there, said Regula Gubler, an archaeologist from the canton of Bern, Switzerland. The site was discovered in 2011. Archaeologists from the Bern Archaeological Service had already conducted a survey and recovered some of the items in 2012, but bad weather prevented them from completing the excavation.

"There was a lot of snow in that area, but this year we were able to finish the job because the summer was very warm and the winter didn't have much snow. That combination helped melt some of the snow," Gubler explained.

The latest finds by the team include four shaped pieces of elm wood, possibly from two Bronze Age bows, several wooden arrows, some ancient leather fragments and a string made of animal hair attached to a knot made from buffalo or cow horn, Gubler said.

The team also examined the wooden box discovered in 2012 and found that it once contained a flour made from wheat, barley, rye and smelt, according to Scientific Reports.

Gubler believes the box was used to hold dry powder that could be mixed with milk or water before eating. This would have reduced the weight of the load, Gubler says. Early mountaineers may have chosen wooden food containers for similar reasons. “You wouldn’t carry a ceramic box up a mountain, it’s too heavy,” she says.

Analysis of the artifacts dates back to 2,000 to 1,800 BC, according to Live Science. The area where they were found is a rocky crevice about two square meters wide.located next to the glacier near the top of Lotschberg mountain.

According to VNE