Edwards, K. J., Dugmore, A. J., Panagiotakopulu, E. , Simpson, I., Schofield, J. E., Golding, K. A. and Casely, A. F. (2009) Footprints on the edge of Thule: landscapes of Norse-indigenous interaction - a major new research programme. Journal of Northern Studies 2, 117-129. (original) (raw)
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The Norse colonisation or landnám of the North Atlantic islands of the Faroes, Iceland, and Greenland from the ninth century AD onwards provides opportunities to examine human environmental impacts on 'pristine' landscapes on an environmental gradient from warmer, more maritime conditions in the east to colder, more continental conditions in the west. This paper considers key environmental contrasts across the Atlantic and initial settlement impacts on the biota and landscape. Before landnám, the modes of origin of the biota (which resulted in boreotemperate affinities), a lack of endemic species, limited diversity, and no grazing mammals on the Faroes or Iceland, were crucial in determining environmental sensitivity to human impact and, in particular, the impact of introduced domestic animals. Gathering new data and understanding their geographical patterns and changes through time are seen as crucial when tackling fundamental questions about human interactions with the environment, which are relevant to both understanding the past and planning for the future.
The Norse landnám on the North Atlantic islands: an environmental impact assessment
Polar Record, 2005
The Norse colonisation or landnám of the North Atlantic islands of the Faroes, Iceland, and Greenland from the ninth century AD onwards provides opportunities to examine human environmental impacts on ‘pristine’ landscapes on an environmental gradient from warmer, more maritime conditions in the east to colder, more continental conditions in the west. This paper considers key environmental contrasts across the Atlantic and initial settlement impacts on the biota and landscape. Before landnám, the modes of origin of the biota (which resulted in boreo-temperate affinities), a lack of endemic species, limited diversity, and no grazing mammals on the Faroes or Iceland, were crucial in determining environmental sensitivity to human impact and, in particular, the impact of introduced domestic animals. Gathering new data and understanding their geographical patterns and changes through time are seen as crucial when tackling fundamental questions about human interactions with the environmen...
Raiding the Landscape: Human Impact in the Scandinavian North Atlantic
Human Ecology, 1997
Between ca. A.D. 800–1000, Scandinavian chiefly societies with a mixed maritime and agricultural economy expanded into the North Atlantic, colonizing Shetland, Orkney, Caithness, Hebrides, Faeroes, Iceland, Greenland, and Vinland. The settlers brought continental European economics and expectations to a widely varied set of island ecosystems. In many regions, rapid degradation of flora and soils took place associated with social and climate change. Recent research coordinated by the North Atlantic Bicultural Organization (NABO) highlights the extent of pre-modern impacts.
Europeanization of Sub-Arctic Environments: Perspectives from Norse Greenland’s Outer Fjords
Human Ecology, 2014
Europeanization of sub-Arctic environments by Norse communities in Greenland, from the early 11 th to mid 15 th centuries AD, varied spatially and temporally, with pastoral agriculture and associated homefield management at the heart of this transformation. This process is poorly understood for the outer fjord areas of Norse Greenland, and from this locality we contribute a homefield soils and sediments-based analysis. Our findings identify a recipe effectthe partitioning of turf, domestic animal manure and domestic waste resources used to manage soil fertility, field irrigation channels and the effects of eroded material deposition in the homefield. These management practices increased soil macro-nutrient status relative to pre-settlement concentration in some areas of the homefield, whilst macro-nutrient concentrations in other areas of the homefield were allowed to decline. We suggest that where resources were limited, sustainable intensification could only be achieved in some areas of the homefield with others areas managed unsustainably.
Interdisciplinary investigations of the end of the Norse Western Settlement in Greenland
Holocene, 1997
The loss of the Norse Western Settlement in Greenland around the mid-fourteenth century has long been taken as a prime example of the impact of changing climate on human populations. This study employs an interdisciplinary approach combining historical documents, detailed archaeological investigations, and a high-resolution proxy climate record from the Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2 (GISP2) to investigate possible causes
Arctic Anthropology, 2007
Changing economies and patterns of trade, rather than climatic deterioration, could have critically marginalized the Norse Greenland settlements and effectively sealed their fate. Counter-intuitively, the end of Norse Greenland might not be symptomatic of a failure to adapt to environmental change, but a consequence of successful wider economic developments of Norse communities across North Atlantic. Data from Greenland, the Faroe Islands, and medieval Iceland is used to explore the interplay of Norse society with climate, environment, settlement, and other circumstances. Long term increases in vulnerability caused by economic change and cumulative climate changes sparked a cascading collapse of integrated interdependent settlement systems, bringing the end of Norse Greenland.
Colonization in a Marginal Zone: the Norse in Greenland
The reason for the collapse of the Norse colony in Greenland has been debated in the literature, with pirate attacks, plague, and hostile natives among the more prevalent explanations offered. This paper integrates a cultural and ecological approach, and suggests that no one single cause can be held accountable, except perhaps the entire range of attributes which made Norse society "Norse."