With the rising global temperatures, former bastions of ice, glaciers, are increasingly shrinking or disappearing altogether. As they melt and retreat, thousands of organic artifacts are emerging, both increasing our archeological knowledge and highlighting the loss brought by these changes. The Age of Melt: What Glaciers, Ice Mummies, and Ancient Artifacts Teach Us about Climate, Culture, and a Future without Ice serves as both an introduction to the growing field of ice patch archaeology and a history of the major archaeological discoveries since the 1990s.

To anyone with a passing interest, no doubt the discovery of the natural mummy named Ötzi will be familiar. In September 1991 his body was discovered by hikers in the Alps, who believed they'd found a dead mountaineer. It was quickly apparent the body was far older than at first thought and an archeologist examined the body and found evidence that he was believed to have been murdered. From this well reported case, Baril moves around geographic regions, such as Mongolia, Norway, Yellowstone or the Andes. In each area she speaks with experts, both archeological and environmental and locals.

The narrative is both travelogue, science reporting and history. Alongside detailing the discoveries and what analysis or collaboration with indigenous peoples reveals, Baril also discusses different strategies or businesses focused on fighting climate change. There are descriptions of building glaciers or shielding them from the sun with fleece or man-made snow. One chapter focuses on the Ice Stupa Project in Ladakh, India where out of season ice melts are captured in artificial glaciers and saved for later use.

It is a work both fascinating and alarming. The latter section details the placement of plaques to mark glacial locations as they might be just geographic locations. The revealing of these organic artifacts is a highlight of climate change, if not discovered and preserved many of them will return to the earth just like the ice that melts them.

Recommended for readers of environmental science, climate change and archeology.

Past, present and future all come together in this amazing book. Fast paced and super interesting for those who want to understand climate change mingled with the remants of what came before us locked in ice.

From the Alps to the Andes, melting glaciers are revealing ancient artifacts and sparking a race against time to understand their secrets. This book explores the deep cultural connection between humans and ice, revealing how these melting landscapes tell stories of climate change, resilience, and the enduring power of nature. Entertaining and easy to read, this book provides a unique perspective on human history and humanity’s future.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

I didn’t really know what to expect going into this book, as other than knowing a little about Otzi, this isn’t a topic that I’ve ever really looked into before. This was such an interesting look into this relatively new area of study and it was great to learn more about what’s been discovered through ice patch archeology. I would have preferred a little bit more time spent on the actual artifacts and discoveries found in the ice, but other than that it was very in depth and I’ll definitely be paying more attention to news about these kinds of discoveries in the future.

The first time I remember reading about glaciers and their effects was when I was in elementary school taking the required class on the history of Indiana. How amazed I was that we could still see the effects of glaciers long after they were gone!
That was why I wanted to read The Age of Melt. In a way, the scientists studying glaciers and what they leave behind are modern detectives. There are several interesting stories about what scientists and even travelers have found.
Of course, with glaciers melting, we're going to find more and learn about what happened before people were able to put history in books. Melting glaciers are also going to cause challenges. Even people who aren't normally interested in reading about science may be as intrigued as I was as a young school kid, seeing the evidence and putting the clues together.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this

I read this as I visited various glaciers in Alaska, and found the concept of Ice Archeology fascinating. Very well written, it did feel like somehow the continental organization worked well, but the amount of background on Andean culture seemed a bit too in depth / unneccessary. Clearly well researched, it's well worth reading this tidy volume.

In the Age of Melt, Lisa Baril explains how ice patches and glaciers work and how they help us reconstruct and understand human history and our relationship with ice through time. Baril talks about how humans and ice bodies have experienced climate changes in the past, compared to how the current severe climate warming affects the melting of glaciers. As the ice melts, artifacts found get older, which helps us understand better how our ancestors lived and our climate history.

The book also analyses the implications of the loss of ice in how it affects the Earth's climate, our water supplies, and the challenges it represents to different communities and cultures. It also studies a few solutions some communities currently use for water scarcity. I believe the writing is accessible and explains concepts clearly so readers can understand scientific terms and ice patch archeology regardless of their background. I expected the book to expand more on the historical context and how our understanding of ice patches and glaciers has shaped human history and different cultures. I also wished it would have focused more on solutions and how our future may look instead of questioning whether we have done enough.

I highly recommend this book if you want to understand more about glaciers and how the ice and the artifacts found in them give us an insight into what the past looked like for the glaciers and the people living near them.

Thank you to Timber Press and Net Galley for the advanced copy of the book!

Despite the Global Warming/Climate Change controversy, most people agree something is happening to our temperatures. Wrath from God, mythical creatures, just natural occurrences, or volcanic action?

This book explores the consequences of melting glaciers: think fresh water supply. There is also knowledge hidden in those melting glaciers through ice patch/glacial archaeology. The ice thaw presents archaeologists with knowledge and First Nations with pieces of their heritage and culture by exposing, through melt, a wide assortment of artifacts nearly perfectly preserved.
Of particular interest to me is the fascinating details of the discovery and examination of Otiz, the Iceman, and the “Long Ago Person. The telling of their stories based on science was particularly interesting.
The writing style is simple to understand for so many age groups. I highly recommend this short nonfiction book.

Thank you to Timber Press for providing a copy of this book for review.

The Age of Melt - What Glaciers, Ice Mummies, and Ancient Artifacts Teach Us about Climate, Culture, and a Future without Ice by Lisa Baril is a fascinating exploration into the glaciers that cover 10% of our Earth, that's 15 million square kilometers (5.8 million square miles) of glacierised areas (including Greenland and Antarctica)

I adore readng and learning about the natural world but at no point did I imagine that I could become so invested in the investigation and backstory of a body found in the ice of the Otzal (Alps) which was affectionately nicknamed "Otzi" by the researchers. This body defied all knowledge of those that had been trapped in such a way. It was not torn asunder, but perfectly preserved aside from an abrasion on the back of the head and weighing about 30lbs

This account got me hooked into the writing of Lisa Baril which is interesting, engaging and concise. This book gave me so much information but I did not feel overloaded due to it's affable, conversational style.

Watching and learning about glacier behaviour or Ice-Cap Archaelogy is a brilliant insight into the behaviour of our global eco-system and defines just how important they are on so very many levels. A book that would be loved by ecologists, climate watches, conservationists and indeed anyone with an interest in our natural world

Wonderful and highly recommended

Thank you to Netgalley, Timber Press and the author Lisa Baril for this fascinating ARC. My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own