The Schnidejoch is a pass in the Bernese Alps

Bernese Alps

The Bernese Alps are a group of mountain ranges in the western part of the Alps, in Switzerland. Although the name suggests that they are located in the Bernese Oberland region of the canton of Bern, portions of the Bernese Alps are in the adjacent cantons of Valais, Lucerne, Obwalden, Fribourg and...

, at 2,756 m above sea level, cutting across the ridge connecting the Schnidehorn

Schnidehorn

The Schnidehorn is a mountain in the Bernese Alps in Switzerland.A ridge connects the Schnidehorn and the Wildhorn to the southwest, via the Schnidejoch.-External links:*...

 and the Wildhorn

Wildhorn

The Wildhorn is the highest peak of the Wildhorn group in the Bernese Alps. The first ascent was made by Gottlieb Samuel Studer in September 1843....

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Archaeological artifacts discovered near the pass, their dates spread over six millennia, from the Neolithic to the Late Middle Ages, suggests that the pass was in regular use as a short route across the Bernese Alps, connecting the Bernese Oberland

Bernese Oberland

The Bernese Oberland is the higher part of the canton of Bern, Switzerland, in the southern end of the canton: The area around Lake Thun and Lake Brienz, and the valleys of the Bernese Alps .The flag of the Bernese Oberland consists of a black eagle in a gold field The Bernese Oberland (Bernese...

 and the Valais

Valais

The Valais is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland in the southwestern part of the country, around the valley of the Rhône from its headwaters to Lake Geneva, separating the Pennine Alps from the Bernese Alps. The canton is one of the drier parts of Switzerland in its central Rhône valley...

, throughout this period. The nearest easier passes across the massif are the Sanetschpass (2,252 m) and the Rawilpass (2,429 m), situated a few km to the west and east, respectively.

In September 2003, Bronze Age

Bronze Age Europe

The European Bronze Age is characterized by bronze artifacts and the use of bronze implements. The regional Bronze Age succeeds the Neolithic, it starts with the Aegean Bronze Age 3200 BC...

 or Neolithic

Neolithic Europe

Neolithic Europe refers to a prehistoric period in which Neolithic technology was present in Europe. This corresponds roughly to a time between 7000 BC and c. 1700 BC...

 artifacts were discovered at the icefield just below the pass, at ca. 2,500 m. The discovery was made possible by the melting away of the formerly permanent ice field during the exceptionally hot summer of 2003.

Further searches in 2004 and 2005 yielded more than 400 objects dating to various epochs, about half of them placed by carbon dating to between 29th and the 27th centuries BC (Corded ware

Corded Ware culture

The Corded Ware culture , alternatively characterized as the Battle Axe culture or Single Grave culture, is an enormous European archaeological horizon that begins in the late Neolithic , flourishes through the Copper Age and culminates in the early Bronze Age.Corded Ware culture is associated with...

 period). The objects include hunting weapons and clothing. A yew bow found at the site and taken home by a German tourist in 2003 was returned to the Bernese cantonal archaeologists in 2005.

The 3rd millennium dates of the oldest artifacts were revised to the mid 5th millennium BC

5th millennium BC

The 5th millennium BC saw the spread of agriculture from the Near East throughout southern and central Europe.Urban cultures in Mesopotamia and Anatolia flourished, developing the wheel. Copper ornaments became more common, marking the Chalcolithic. Animal husbandry spread throughout Eurasia,...

 (linear pottery period) in a 2008 press release. The revised dates would establish the artefacts as older than Ötzi the Iceman

Ötzi the Iceman

Ötzi the Iceman , Similaun Man, and Man from Hauslabjoch are modern names for a well-preserved natural mummy of a man who lived about 5,300 years ago. The mummy was found in September 1991 in the Ötztal Alps, near Hauslabjoch on the border between Austria and Italy. The nickname comes from the...

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External links

• http://www.landschaftsmuseum.de/seiten/Lexikon/Schnidejoch_CH.htm
• http://www.be.ch/web/index/kanton/kanton-mediencenter/kanton-mediencenter-mm/kanton-mediencenter-mm-detail.htm?id=6706