A melting ice patch in the Rocky Mountains has revealed the remains of up to 5,900-year-old trees that could offer insights into past climate conditions, according to new research.

Scientists discovered more than 30 dead whitebark pine trees (Pinus albicaulis) that were entombed in ice for millennia, according to a new paper published late last month in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

They found the previously hidden stand of trees on the Beartooth Plateau in northwest Wyoming, which is part of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. The whitebark pines were lying flat but had been preserved in good condition, suggesting they were rapidly enveloped by ice.

The trees were recently exposed when the ice patch began melting due to hotter temperatures related to human-caused climate change, reports New Scientist’s Taylor Mitchell Brown. In the same area, receding ice patches have also revealed fragments of wooden hunting weapons, including one that was more than 10,000 years old.

“The plateau seems to have been the perfect place to allow for ice patches to establish and persist for thousands of years, recording important information on past climate, human activity and environmental change,” says study lead author Greg Pederson, a paleoclimatologist for the United States Geological Survey, in a statement.

The trees are located 10,140 feet above sea level, which is roughly 590 feet higher than the region’s current tree line. (The tree line, also known as timberline, marks the edge of a high-elevation habitat that can support trees. Above this invisible marker, the conditions are too harsh for trees to grow.) This suggests the region’s climate was once warmer than it is today.

By studying the trees’ rings and using radiocarbon dating techniques, researchers were able to determine that they lived 5,950 to 5,440 years ago. Then, they looked at data from Arctic ice core samples to understand what the climate was like during that time, a period known as the mid-Holocene.

The trees were alive during an era of falling temperatures, which have been linked with ongoing volcanic eruptions. As volcanoes in the Northern Hemisphere erupted, they spewed so much debris into the air that they blocked sunlight from reaching the surface, which caused temperatures to drop.

Eventually, around 5,100 years ago, it seemingly became so cold that the trees at that high elevation could no longer survive. The chilly weather also caused a nearby ice patch to expand and engulf the whitebark pines.

The trees are “a valuable ‘time capsule’ that tells us not only about these mountain forests 6,000 years ago, but about the climate conditions that allowed them to exist,” says Kevin Anchukaitis, a paleoclimatologist at the University of Arizona who was not involved with the research, to New Scientist.

By learning more about the region’s past climate, scientists say they can more accurately predict the future. If global temperatures continue to rise, for example, they expect trees to start growing at higher elevations, so long as they have enough moisture.

“Year-over-year records, as well as decadal records and even century-level records are exceedingly important,” study co-author Craig Lee, a researcher of environmental archaeology at Montana State University, tells the Billings Gazette’s Brett French. “They provide comparative data points for allowing us to contextualize our more nuanced observations of the current climate that we experience today.”

Today, the whitebark pine is considered “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act. These trees face several stressors, including rising temperatures, drought and wildfires. They’re also battling a pest called the mountain pine beetle and a deadly invasive fungus called white pine blister rust.

Healthy whitebark pines can live for hundreds of years—and sometimes survive up to 1,000 years. They grow at high elevations throughout the western United States and Canada, providing food for red squirrels, grizzly bears, Clark’s nutcrackers and many other creatures. They also play an important role in their high-elevation ecosystems, as they provide shade that helps keep snow cold and stable.

The annual Shane Shatto Wrestling Tournament was held in Douglas over the weekend and on the girl’s side, 30 teams were entered from Wyoming and Nebraska. The ladies’ tourney was held at the Douglas Middle School gym with no shortage of enthusiasm. Chadron, Nebraska finished 1st in the team standings with 150.5 points, Cheyenne East 2nd with 149, Sheridan 3rd with 137, Natrona came in 4th with 122 and Campbell County 6th ringing up 113.5 points.

Here are the top two Wyoming finishers in each weight class.

100 lbs:

1st Place – Hailee Cooper of Riverton
2nd Place – Kailyah Bento of Cheyenne East

105 lbs:

1st Place – Ellie Bouzis of Campbell County
3rd Place – Peyton Arnhold of Shoshoni

115 lbs:

1st Place – Alaina McNees of H.E.M.
2nd Place – Avianca Guzman of Laramie

120 lbs:

1st Place – Lilly Quintanilla of Thermopolis
3rd Place – Malorey Lawrence of Glenrock

125 lbs:

1st Place – Catherine Hendricks of Torrington
2nd Place – Tai Mcbride of Jackson Hole

130 lbs:

1st Place – Jordan Nielsen of Lander Valley
2nd Place – Carlee Roth of Thunder Basin

135 lbs:

1st Place – Halley House of Cheyenne East
2nd Place – Nalani Jordan of Powell

140 lbs:

1st Place – Danika Crumrine of Lovell
2nd Place – Kalli Garci of Burns/Pine Bluffs

145 lbs:

1st Place – Andie Gibson of Lander Valley
2nd Place – Bailey Mueller of Natrona County

155 lbs:

1st Place – Eva Anderson of Sheridan
2nd Place – Alix Sorensen of Thermopolis

170 lbs:

1st Place – Bridgette Price of Sheridan
2nd Place – Harlie Velarde of Lander Valley

190 lbs:

1st Place – Becca Oetken of Sheridan
2nd Place – Joci Davis of Cheyenne East

235 lbs:

1st Place – Marley Dickinson of Natrona County
3rd Place – Aleah Marquez of Riverton

We have a large batch of photos from the Shane Shatto Girls Tournament and you can find them in our gallery below. Enjoy and look for someone you know.