Palynology supports ‘ Old Norse’ introductions to the flora of Greenland

• Published in: Journal of Biogeography
• Main Authors: Schofield, J. Edward, Edwards, Kevin J., Erlendsson, Egill, Ledger, Paul M.
• Other Authors: Svenning, Jens‐Christian
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2012
• Subjects: Greenland; Iceland
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jbi.12067; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fjbi.12067; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/jbi.12067

Abstract Aim This paper integrates pollen‐analytical data from sites across southern G reenland to revisit the debate regarding which plants may have been introduced during the N orse colonization or landnám c . ad 985. Location Palynological data are drawn from 14 sites (lakes and mires) located within the former E astern S ettlement of N orse G reenland ( c . 60.9° N, 45.5° W). Methods Maps are presented displaying palynological data for three taxa ( R umex acetosella , P olygonum aviculare and A chillea millefolium ), which earlier scholars have argued are ‘Old Norse’ anthropochores. The maps display pollen frequencies at regular ( c . 100‐year) intervals across a period ( ad 800–1500) encompassing N orse settlement. Results Maps for c . ad 800 and 900 (prior to N orse arrival) display the taxa as locally absent, with the appearance and expansion of their pollen at multiple sites from c . ad 1000 ( landnám ) providing support for the assumption that each taxon arrived with the first settlers. A general and widespread decline in pollen frequencies for these ‘Old Norse’ elements on the c. ad 1500 map (following N orse abandonment) demonstrates a close connection between these plants and a cultural landscape that was shaped and maintained predominantly via animal husbandry. Main conclusions Patterns emerging from this exercise may initiate wider debates related to the pattern and character of the N orse colonization of G reenland. It is suggested that differences in the function or role of farm sites could have led to the creation of greater areas of favourable habitat for ‘ O ld N orse’ flora in some locations relative to others, and that uneven patterns of colonization and the spread of ‘ O ld N orse’ plants might be explained if their introduction – presumably from Iceland – first occurred at only a few locations.