Interesting idea. Lots of meat from a kill, need to store it, but also protect it from preditors
This seems like the obvious case. They could probably excavate large areas of ice for mass refrigeration with ease.
There are many ways to refrigerate with snow around—everything from burying to immersing in animal fat to curing. I’d guess this was intended at least in part for regular human interaction, e.g. a reliable hunting camp.
Which makes me wonder when people figured out that refrigeration was a good idea. Presumably they noticed that food out in the sun went bad sooner and took it from there.
Or ritual, perhaps.
That's the lazy archeologist explanation. What was this building? A temple! What was the purpose of these artifacts? A ritual! And so on for everything.
I now believe is just code for "we don't have a clue yet", but growing up, it gave me the wrong impression that acient societies were praying all day long.
It's likely that rituals were they way they structured complex activities.
Put the food beneath the snow and sing a song, using prescribed steps, so the gods will preserve it. Bandage a wound, put a poultice on it and sing a song, so the spirits will make it heal. Again, using prescribed steps handed over from generation to generation, because they knew it worked but didn't know why.