The ''Schnidejoch'' is a

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since many of the world's mountain ranges have presented formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human a ...

in the Bernese Alps, at above sea level, cutting across the ridge connecting the

Schnidehorn The Schnidehorn is a mountain of the Bernese Alps, located on the border between the Swiss cantons of Bern and Valais. It lies in the massif of the Wildhorn, west of the Rawil Pass. A ridge connects the Schnidehorn and the Wildhorn to the southw ...

and the Wildhorn. Archaeological artifacts, their dates spread over six millennia (from the Neolithic to the Late Middle Ages), have been discovered near the pass. They suggest that the pass was in regular use as a short route across the Bernese Alps, connecting the Bernese Oberland and the Valais, throughout this period. The nearest easier passes across the massif are the

Sanetschpass Sanetsch Pass (French: ''Col du Sanetsch'' or ''Col de Sénin'') (el. 2242 m) is a high mountain pass in Switzerland across the western Bernese Alps, connecting Gsteig in the canton of Berne and Sion in the canton of Valais. Although a road lea ...

() and the Rawilpass (), situated a short distance to the west and east, respectively. In September 2003, Bronze Age or Neolithic artifacts were discovered at the icefield just below the pass, at ca. . 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 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 The 5th millennium BC spanned the years 5000 BC to 4001 BC (c. 7 ka to c. 6 ka). It is impossible to precisely date events that happened around the time of this millennium and all dates mentioned here are estimates mostly based on geological an ...

(

linear pottery The Linear Pottery culture (LBK) is a major archaeological horizon of the European Neolithic period, flourishing . Derived from the German ''Linearbandkeramik'', it is also known as the Linear Band Ware, Linear Ware, Linear Ceramics or Inc ...

period) in a 2008 press release.
NZZ, Schweizerische Depeschenagentur 21 August 2008 The revised dates would establish the artifacts as older than Ötzi the Iceman.

References

External links

*http://www.be.ch/web/index/kanton/kanton-mediencenter/kanton-mediencenter-mm/kanton-mediencenter-mm-detail.htm?id=6706 * {{Authority control Archaeological sites in Switzerland Bernese Alps Neolithic sites of Europe Bronze Age sites in Europe Corded Ware culture