News - Remains of traveler who was lost 400 years ago is found in glacier

The 400-year-old remains of a wealthy traveler have been found in the Theodul Glacier in the Swiss Alps, reports the Business Insider. The man with thin leather shoes traveled with lots of coins, weapons, and possibly mules. The melting glacier revealed a skull with auburn hair clinging to it, several knives, nearly 200 coins, jewelry, glass buttons, bits of silk clothing, a shaving razor, a dagger, a sword, and a pistol, all scattered across the area. These items date to about 1600 AD. The remains of two mules were also discovered nearby, though it's unclear whether they belonged to the man. "They're not combat weapons. These are fencing weapons. These are ceremonial weapons that the rich had on them," said Pierre-Yves Nicod, a curator at the Valais History Museum in the Swiss Alps. The man's bones showed no signs of trauma, and he clearly wasn't robbed, so archaeologists believe he must have died by accident. Perhaps he fell into a crevasse or faced an unfortunate change in weather. The new scientific field of glacial archaeology thrives in the Alps. For about four decades, archaeologists have been trekking across the glaciers of Switzerland and Italy, retrieving artifacts that are thawing into view. The Theodul Pass was a common route from the Valais region of modern-day Switzerland to the Aosta Valley of modern-day Italy. Today, it's a ski slope and occasional archaeological site.