Late Holocene environmental change in southwest Greenland – fossil insect assemblages from Tasiusaq

• Published in: Boreas
• Main Authors: Panagiotakopulu, Eva, Buckland, Paul Christopher
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2012
• Subjects: Greenland; Tasiusaq
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1502-3885.2012.00277.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1502-3885.2012.00277.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1502-3885.2012.00277.x

Palaeoecological research based on insect remains from the vicinity of a N orse farm at T asiusaq in southwest G reenland provides information on the area surrounding the farm and new information on extirpations attributed to human impact. Anthropochorous species (spread by people) from the farm faunas are lacking in the assemblages, and the natural faunas provide evidence of moderate exploitation of the landscape as a result of activities related to livestock. The gaps in the stratigraphic sequence of the site are interpreted to be the result of peat‐cutting for structural turfs or fuel, and the implications of this activity are discussed. Insect assemblages from T asiusaq, and studies from N orse sites in G reenland, do not provide clear evidence for any distinct climatic event during the medieval period. In contrast to what happened on other islands of the N orth A tlantic, insects introduced to G reenland by the N orse did not find suitable natural habitats and did not survive after the demise of the farms. However, the landscape did not return entirely to its pre‐ L andnám biota after the human colonizers disappeared from it. Our findings provide new evidence for the consequences of the N orse and their agricultural practices on the G reenlandic environment and additional information on the fate of insect introductions in the area during the late H olocene.