Summarise settlement in Greenland and critically assess the reasons why settlement was abandoned. This is for an archaeology module Andrew J. Dugmore, Christian Keller and Thomas H. McGovern 2007 ‘Norse Greenland Settlement: Reflections on Climate Change, Trade, and the Contrasting Fates or Human Settlements in the North Atlantic Islands’ Arctic Anthropology , Vol. 44, No. 1, 12-36 Keller, C., 2010 ‘Furs, Fish, and Ivory: Medieval Norsemen at the Arctic Fringe’ Journal of the North Atlantic, 3(1):1-23. Arneborg J, Heinemeier, J, Lynnerup N, Nielsen H L, Rud N, Sveinbjrnsdttir E 1999 Change of diet of the Greenland Vikings determined from stable carbon isotope analysis and 14C dating of their bones, Radiocarbon, 41(2), 157168 https://journals.uair.arizona.edu/index.php/radiocarbon/article/view/3805/3230 Buckland, P. Amorosi, Barlow et al 1996 Evidence for the fate of Norse farmers in medieval Greenland in Antiquity 70, March 1996 Dugmore, A. J., C. Keller & T. McGovern 2007 Norse Greenland Settlement: Reflections on Climate Change, Trade and the Contrasting Fates of Human Settlements in the North Atlantic Islands Arctic Anthropology 44:1, pp 12-36 Edvardsson R. & McGovern T. H. 2005 Archaeological Excavations at Vatnsfjrur 2003-2004. Archaeologia Islandica 4: 16-30. McGovern, T.H., 1989 ‘A comparison of the Greenlandic Eastern and Western Settlements’ in Nordatlantisk arkeologi – vikingatid og middelalder bebyggelse og konomi, Hikuin 15 1989 https://www.bioone.org/toc/noat/2/sp2 Greenland Earliest settlement and chronology Both the archaeological and historical evidence suggests that Greenland was first settled from Iceland, in the late10th century. The Groenlendingasaga and Eiriksaga give a date of AD 982 for the first exploration by Eirik the Red, outlawed from Iceland. Two settlements were formed initially, the Eastern Settlement was the larger, with about 450 farms, and probably the earliest; the Western Settlement was a little later and smaller, c. 95 farms, and eventually there was a small (c. 20 farms) central settlement between the two. In c. 1124-6, Greenland was a separate diocese, with its own bishop based at Gardar. However, by the mid-14th century, the western settlement was reported as abandoned. The latest historical record from Greenland is of a wedding in Hvalsey in AD 1408. Archaeological Evidence There has been a significant amount of recent excavation and survey in Greenland. Climate change has been making frozen sites more accessible, whilst also speeding their destruction. Grden under Sandet, in the Western Settlement, is one of the most important recent excavations. It had excellent preservation, being both in permafrost and waterlogged, so there are large volumes of organic finds textiles, leather, wood and paleoenvironmental material from the site. The farm dated from the 11th 15th centuries, and began life as a rectangular, aisled hall, later used as a byre, which was replaced by a centralized farm that grew and changed, reaching a maximum of c. 30 rooms, before its final abandonment. The paleoenvironmental evidence emphasises the importance, again, of animal products for subsistence. It would always have been impossible to grow grain in Greenland. It is particularly interesting, however, to see the amount of probably imported timber on the site, up to its final occupation, suggesting that the site was not isolated from trade routes. Some of the timber may well have come from North America, providing concrete evidence of the important link between the Western Settlement and North America suggested by the sagas. Overall, the Greenland colony had perhaps a maximum of 2000 people. Trading in ivory, and skins, was important, and importing timber was essential. We will come back to the question of trade in later lectures. The end of settlement The Greenland colony was founded during a climatic optimum a warm period from AD 800-1200, which was succeeded by the so-called Little Ice Age. By the early 15th C. the climate had become much colder, with impacts on the amount of summer grazing, sea ice and migratory animal routes. As the climate deteriorated, the Inuit probably moved closer into the settlements increasing amounts of Norse artefacts have been found in mediaeval Inuit settlements, suggesting that the colonists were perhaps trading for food. Analysis of bones from burials indicates that the diet of the Greenlanders changed over time, from land-based to marine food. This probably reflects the deteriorating climate, and the increasing difficulty of gathering enough fodder to feed animals through the winter. Burials excavated in the churchyard at Herjolfsness, where clothing was well-preserved, indicate that the Greenland colony continued until the mid 15th century, and the fashions of the clothing suggest that the colony was still in contact with mainland Europe at that time. We dont know whether plague hit the Greenland settlements, but it was present in Norway and Iceland ain the 14th & 15th centuries. There is no evidence of a surviving Greenland colony any later than the middle of the 15th century.
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