In 1991 a husband and wife
climbing a mountain in northern Italy stumbled across what appeared to
be trash left by careless hikers. On closer inspection they realized
that it was a human corpse lying near the surface of a melting alpine
glacier. Ultimately, scientific study revealed that the man had lived
5,300 years earlier. Now known as Ötzi, he is one of the most important
archaeological discoveries ever made.
All around the world, from
South America’s Andes Mountains to the European Alps to Asia’s
Himalayas, glaciers are rapidly melting. Their disappearing ice uncovers
not only the rocky terrain that has lain beneath for thousands of years,
but also the long-hidden bodies of people who died in the glaciers. They
may have been hunters, soldiers, shepherds, mountain climbers,
dairymaids, or unfortunate travelers, and sometimes children. As their
bodies are revealed, scientists study them to learn more information
about the earth’s past. But what will happen if our grinding, gliding
glaciers disappear altogether?
With sweeping mountain
vistas, vintage images of early climbers, and a quiet respect for the
lives that are being uncovered and studied by scientists all over the
world, acclaimed author James M. Deem takes the reader on an icy and
epic adventure. He uncovers the magic lore of glaciers themselves,
sharing stories of pioneering female climbers and early Mount Everest
enthusiasts, and even stories of the glaciers themselves, at one point
considered to be a creation of the devil devised to punish sinners, full
of dragons and witches . . .
Illustrated in color and
black-and-white with over 65 photographs, many of them rare. For
ages 8 to adult. To be published by Houghton Mifflin in Fall 2008.
|
Contents
|
|
Chapter
1: Iceman
of the Alps
The discovery of the
glacier corpse that came to be known as Ötzi the Iceman
1 map and 10 photos,
including photos of the discovery site and the Iceman's
fatal wounds
|
|
Chapter
2: Grinding,
Gliding Glaciers
The search for an
explanation: if glaciers pulverize most of the people
who die in them, why did Ötzi remain whole after 5200
years?
1 map and 11
photos/illustrations, including views of key glacier
features and a close up look at the soldier from the
Theodul Glacier and the dairy maid from the Porchabella
Glacier
|
|
Chapter
3: Dragons
in the Ice
The story behind Europe's
alpine glaciers and how they were considered the work of
the devil until scientists began to study them,
sometimes with tragic consequences
1 map and 11
photos/illustrations, including the first ascent of Mont
Blanc, Europe's highest mountain
|
|
Chapter
4: Frozen
Children of the Andes
The melting glaciers of
the Andes have revealed the frozen bodies of Incan
children, sacrificed to appease their gods
1 map and 10 photos,
including rare images of the discovery of Juanita the
Ice Maiden and the Llullaillaco children
|
|
Chapter
5: The
Mystery of Mallory
The tragic story of
George Mallory to be the first man to reach the top of
glacier-covered Mount Everest: did he succeed or not?
The discovery of his body near the summit some 75 years
after his attempt provided some answers to the puzzle.
1 map and 10
photos/illustrations
|
|
Chapter
6: Another
Man from a Glacier
The most dramatic glacier
discovery in North America was the body of a man now
called Kwäday Dan Ts’ìnchí who was found along the
melting edge of a Canadian glacier
1 map and 7 photos,
including the location where Kwäday Dan Ts’ìnchí
was discovered
|
|
Chapter
7: Saving
the Past
The dilemma of melting
glaciers: archaeologists are discovering more
information about the past...but the future of
glaciers--and the planet--may be in peril
1 map and 6 photos
|
|
Acknowledgments,
Bibliography, Credits, Index
An
appendix of glaciers to visit and suggested websites for
further study is included
|
|
On the
morning of September 18, 1991,
while on vacation in northern Italy, Erika and Helmut Simon decided to
climb the Similaun, a 12,000-foot-high mountain near the Austrian
border. They had scaled the peak once before, in 1981, but this time the
journey would be much more challenging.
To reach the summit, the
couple had to cross part of the Niederjoch Glacier, which had once
deeply covered much of the nearby mountains. Although the Niederjoch had
been gradually retreating, or thawing, since 1850, its melting like many
other glaciers around the world, had greatly accelerated since 1981.
Snowfall had been lighter, and summer temperatures had been higher. Not
only did the new snow melt each summer, but the once-permanent glacier
ice thawed as well.
By 1991, after an especially
warm summer, the glacier that remained, which may have been more than
sixty feet deep in the 1920s, was only three feet deep in some places
and quite slushy in the heat. Still, wide gaps or fissures in the ice,
called crevasses, sliced deeply through other areas. One misstep
and the Simons could easily fall into a crevasse and be gravely, even
fatally, injured. As a result, they climbed cautiously, taking much
longer to reach the summit than they expected.
When they were ready to
return to their hotel in the valley below, it was almost dark and too
dangerous to continue their descent. Forced to spend the night in a
mountain lodge, they were not happy about their rustic accommodations;
they had no running water or indoor toilet. The next day, though, they
would learn how truly lucky they were: The melting of the Niederjoch
Glacier allowed them to make one of the most important archaeological
discoveries of all time....
Copyright © 2008 by
James M. Deem. This excerpt is taken from Bodies from the Ice
(Houghton Mifflin, 2008).
