An entertaining pop-sci narrative investigating ice patch archaeology and the role of glaciers in the development of human culture. Glaciers figure prominently in both ancient and contemporary narratives around the world. They inspire art and literature. They spark both fear and awe. And they give and take life. In The Age of Melt, environmental journalist Lisa Baril explores the deep-rooted cultural connection between humans and ice through time. Thousands of organic artifacts are emerging from patches of melting ice in mountain ranges around the world. Archaeologists are in a race against time to find them before they disappear forever. In entertaining and enlightening prose, Baril travels from the Alps to the Andes, investigating what these artifacts teach us about climate and culture. But this is not a chronicle of loss. The Age of Melt explores what these artifacts reveal about culture, wilderness, and what we gain when we rethink our relationship to the world and its most precious and ephemeral substance-ice.
Early on, the story of Otzi, whose 3,000-thousand-year-old body was uncovered in the Italian Alps in 1991, is retold. Stacy Gonzalez brings a touch of suspense to the story, and she strikes a sympathetic chord as she narrates Otzi's pain while dying. Science writer Lisa Baril explores ice patch archaeology, the field that uncovers the history behind artifacts--and bodies--found when the ice melts.
