The Age of Melt: What Glaciers, Ice Mummies, and Ancient Artifacts Teach Us About Climate, Culture, and a Future Without Ice (Lisa Baril, Timber, 2024)

In The Age of Melt, Lisa Baril takes readers on a journey through Earth’s frozen landscapes, focusing on the insights glaciers and ice patches provide about past cultures, the environment, and what we might face as these ice masses disappear. Baril, a science journalist with a passion for exploring nature, taps into her experiences hiking in places like North America's Rocky Mountains, where remnants of snow often linger in the summer, to reveal that many of these ice patches are not simply leftovers from recent winters but are ancient, having lasted 10,000 years or more. Some contain well-preserved artifacts from past human civilizations, as well as critical information about historical climates.

Baril’s exploration of the "cryosphere" includes massive polar ice sheets, sea ice, permafrost, and smaller ice patches and glaciers found in mid-latitudes where people are more likely to interact with these frozen formations. What fascinates Baril most is how ice, particularly in the form of mountain glaciers and semi-permanent ice patches, has shaped human life for millennia—and how the rapid loss of ice due to climate change is now reshaping the future.

Ötzi the Iceman: A Key Discovery

Baril begins by recounting one of the most significant ice-related discoveries: Ötzi the Iceman. Found in 1991 in an Alpine ice patch between Italy and Austria, Ötzi’s 5,000-year-old body, along with his belongings, was remarkably well-preserved thanks to the ice patch’s unique conditions. Unlike glaciers, which flow and crush any objects in their path, ice patches are stationary and thin, preserving materials like organic fibers, wood, and even leather for thousands of years. This distinction between ice patches and glaciers is crucial to understanding why Ötzi’s remains were so intact and why ice patches worldwide are revealing similar treasures as they melt.

Baril explains that the discovery of Ötzi launched the field of ice-patch archaeology, an emerging discipline that studies human artifacts trapped in ancient ice. These artifacts, which often include tools, clothing, and even everyday objects, provide new insights into the lives of ancient civilizations. Baril highlights the critical role ice patches played in preserving these materials, as ice is capable of keeping organic items in a state far better than most other environments, which would normally decay such items quickly.

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Insights from Melting Ice Patches Worldwide

Baril travels to various parts of the world to meet archaeologists and Indigenous peoples studying melting ice patches. One of her key stops is in Norway, where archaeologists have uncovered ancient artifacts, such as tools used for reindeer hunting, from ice patches that have melted as a result of warming. These findings provide insights into how people interacted with ice-covered landscapes and the animals that used them as refuges. Reindeer and other large animals would gather on these patches to escape the summer heat and biting insects, making them ideal hunting grounds for early humans.

In the Yukon, Baril learns about an ice patch where caribou dung was discovered melting out of the ice, despite the caribou’s long absence from the area. This discovery led to further investigations, which revealed ancient hunting tools and an atlatl (a spear-throwing device) that was over 5,000 years old. These artifacts have helped archaeologists and Indigenous communities collaborate to document and preserve a vast collection of ancient materials that are continually being uncovered as ice melts.

Climate Change and a Vanishing Cryosphere

Baril highlights that these discoveries are bittersweet. On one hand, the melting ice is providing unprecedented access to ancient artifacts, giving researchers a rare glimpse into the past. On the other hand, the loss of glaciers and ice patches is a tangible consequence of climate change. Baril describes how, in places like the Andes, the shrinking glaciers threaten not just cultural traditions but also the water supply for millions of people who rely on summer river flows from glacier melt.

Baril also delves into innovative efforts to mitigate the impact of glacial melt. For example, in the Himalayas, communities have created artificial glaciers called "ice stupas" to store water for use during the growing season. These human-made ice towers slowly melt and provide water, helping to counterbalance the shrinking glaciers. However, as Baril points out, these are temporary solutions, and the broader loss of glaciers will have serious ecological and societal implications.

A Future Without Ice

Baril concludes by emphasizing the irreversible nature of some of these changes. While the melting ice patches offer an unprecedented opportunity to learn about our ancestors, the disappearance of glaciers and ice sheets also brings us closer to a future climate that Earth hasn’t seen in millions of years. This raises concerns not only about water availability but also about the loss of ecosystems that have thrived in icy environments for millennia. The loss of these landscapes threatens not just natural habitats but also the cultural heritage of Indigenous peoples who have lived in harmony with these icy environments for generations.

Through her interviews with archaeologists, climate scientists, and Indigenous leaders, Baril captures the urgency of the situation while also celebrating the remarkable discoveries being made in the frozen world. The Age of Melt ultimately asks us to consider how the loss of ice will reshape our future and what lessons we can learn from the treasures that have been hidden within it for thousands of years.

This book offers a vivid and accessible look at how climate change is not just a future problem but one that is already revealing deep connections between human history and the natural world—and how that world is rapidly changing beneath our feet.

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