3,500-Year-Old 'Lunch Box' with Traces of Grain Found in Swiss Alps

[Judi Lynn]

By Megan Gannon, Live Science Contributor | July 27, 2017 03:54pm ET


About 3,500 years ago, an intrepid traveler in the Swiss Alps lost their lunch box.

Archaeologists recently discovered the wooden vessel as the ice where it was buried melted near the top of a mountain. They even uncovered clues about the box's final contents; a chemical analysis revealed faint traces of cereals like wheat and rye, perhaps from a hearty whole- grain porridge.

Baskets, barrels and boxes made from organic materials like wood or leather rarely survive in the archaeological record, but some examples have been found in the Alps before. In fact, Europe's oldest mummy, Ötzi the Iceman, was found with two birch-bark containers. These lightweight vessels were probably preferred over ceramic containers for long journeys over snowy mountain passes. (Hikers today are careful about every ounce of equipment they pack. It probably wasn’t much different during the Bronze Age.) Just this month, the mummified remains of a couple buried in the Alps 75 years ago turned up. [Top 9 Secrets About Ötzi the Iceman]

Archaeologists have identified some ice patches in the Alps where artifacts that were once frozen in time are being newly exposed as the climate warms. One such place is an ice patch near the summit of the Lötschenpass at an altitude of 8,700 feet (2,650?meters). The wooden box was discovered there in 2012. It has a round base made of Swiss pine and a rim made of willow, and it is sewn together with splint twigs of European larch. It also had a mysterious residue on its surface.

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[underpants]

1. :-)

[central scrutinizer]

2. No Twinkies?

What's the shelf life of Twinkies? Depends on what the shelf is made of.