(CNN) The retreat of melting glaciers has revealed a lost mountain pass in Norway -- complete with hundreds of Viking artifacts strewn along it, according to a new study.

Researchers first discovered the pass in 2011 and have been examining it, and the artifacts that have been revealed as more ice melts, ever since. Dating the objects helped them reconstruct the timeline of when this pass was used and its purpose.

The new study published this week in the journal Antiquity

In recent years, climate change has caused mountain glaciers to melt away, revealing well-preserved markers from different periods in history beneath. This is what happened in Lendbreen, Norway.

"A lost mountain pass melting out of the ice is a dream discovery for us glacial archaeologists," said Lars Pilø in a statement. He is the study author and co-director of the Glacier Archaeology Program. "In such passes, past travelers left behind lots of artefacts, frozen in time by the ice. These incredibly well-preserved artefacts of organic materials have great historical value."

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