Paleo-Eskimo kitchen midden preservation in permafrost under future climate conditions at Qajaa, West Greenland
Remains from Paleo-Eskimo cultures are well-documented, but complete preservation is rare. Two kitchen middens in Greenland are known to hold extremely well-preserved organic artefacts. Here, we assess the fate of the Qajaa site in Western Greenland under future climate conditions based on site char...
Published in: | Journal of Archaeological Science |
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Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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2011
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Online Access: | https://curis.ku.dk/portal/da/publications/paleoeskimo-kitchen-midden-preservation-in-permafrost-under-future-climate-conditions-at-qajaa-west-greenland(47bf6090-bb3a-4cdf-94c6-b9123bb25d43).html https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2011.01.011 |
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ftcopenhagenunip:oai:pure.atira.dk:publications/47bf6090-bb3a-4cdf-94c6-b9123bb25d43 2023-07-30T04:03:18+02:00 Paleo-Eskimo kitchen midden preservation in permafrost under future climate conditions at Qajaa, West Greenland Elberling, Bo Matthiesen, Henning Jørgensen, Christian Juncher Hansen, Birger Grønnow, Bjarne Meldgaard, Morten Andreasen, Claus Khan, Shfaqat Abbas 2011-06 https://curis.ku.dk/portal/da/publications/paleoeskimo-kitchen-midden-preservation-in-permafrost-under-future-climate-conditions-at-qajaa-west-greenland(47bf6090-bb3a-4cdf-94c6-b9123bb25d43).html https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2011.01.011 eng eng info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess Elberling , B , Matthiesen , H , Jørgensen , C J , Hansen , B , Grønnow , B , Meldgaard , M , Andreasen , C & Khan , S A 2011 , ' Paleo-Eskimo kitchen midden preservation in permafrost under future climate conditions at Qajaa, West Greenland ' , Journal of Archaeological Science , vol. 38 , no. 6 , pp. 1331-1339 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2011.01.011 article 2011 ftcopenhagenunip https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2011.01.011 2023-07-12T22:59:34Z Remains from Paleo-Eskimo cultures are well-documented, but complete preservation is rare. Two kitchen middens in Greenland are known to hold extremely well-preserved organic artefacts. Here, we assess the fate of the Qajaa site in Western Greenland under future climate conditions based on site characteristics measured in situ and from permafrost cores. Measurements of thermal properties, heat generation, oxygen consumption and CO2 production show that the kitchen midden can be characterized as peat but produces 4e7 times more heat than natural sediment. An analytical model from permafrost research has been applied to assess future thawing of the midden. Results show that the preservation conditions are controlled by freezing temperatures and a high water/ice content limiting the subsurface oxygen availability. Threats to the future preservation are related to thawing followed by drainage and increasing subsurface oxygen availability and heat generation. The model predicts that the unique 4000-year-old Saqqaq layer below more than 1 m of peat is adequately protected against thawing for the next 70 years. Remains from Paleo-Eskimo cultures are well-documented, but complete preservation is rare. Two kitchen middens in Greenland are known to hold extremely well-preserved organic artefacts. Here, we assess the fate of the Qajaa site in Western Greenland under future climate conditions based on site characteristics measured in situ and from permafrost cores. Measurements of thermal properties, heat generation, oxygen consumption and CO2 production show that the kitchen midden can be characterized as peat but produces 4–7 times more heat than natural sediment. An analytical model from permafrost research has been applied to assess future thawing of the midden. Results show that the preservation conditions are controlled by freezing temperatures and a high water/ice content limiting the subsurface oxygen availability. Threats to the future preservation are related to thawing followed by drainage and increasing ... Article in Journal/Newspaper eskimo* Greenland Ice Paleo-Eskimo permafrost Saqqaq University of Copenhagen: Research Greenland Journal of Archaeological Science 38 6 1331 1339 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Copenhagen: Research |
op_collection_id |
ftcopenhagenunip |
language |
English |
description |
Remains from Paleo-Eskimo cultures are well-documented, but complete preservation is rare. Two kitchen middens in Greenland are known to hold extremely well-preserved organic artefacts. Here, we assess the fate of the Qajaa site in Western Greenland under future climate conditions based on site characteristics measured in situ and from permafrost cores. Measurements of thermal properties, heat generation, oxygen consumption and CO2 production show that the kitchen midden can be characterized as peat but produces 4e7 times more heat than natural sediment. An analytical model from permafrost research has been applied to assess future thawing of the midden. Results show that the preservation conditions are controlled by freezing temperatures and a high water/ice content limiting the subsurface oxygen availability. Threats to the future preservation are related to thawing followed by drainage and increasing subsurface oxygen availability and heat generation. The model predicts that the unique 4000-year-old Saqqaq layer below more than 1 m of peat is adequately protected against thawing for the next 70 years. Remains from Paleo-Eskimo cultures are well-documented, but complete preservation is rare. Two kitchen middens in Greenland are known to hold extremely well-preserved organic artefacts. Here, we assess the fate of the Qajaa site in Western Greenland under future climate conditions based on site characteristics measured in situ and from permafrost cores. Measurements of thermal properties, heat generation, oxygen consumption and CO2 production show that the kitchen midden can be characterized as peat but produces 4–7 times more heat than natural sediment. An analytical model from permafrost research has been applied to assess future thawing of the midden. Results show that the preservation conditions are controlled by freezing temperatures and a high water/ice content limiting the subsurface oxygen availability. Threats to the future preservation are related to thawing followed by drainage and increasing ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Elberling, Bo Matthiesen, Henning Jørgensen, Christian Juncher Hansen, Birger Grønnow, Bjarne Meldgaard, Morten Andreasen, Claus Khan, Shfaqat Abbas |
spellingShingle |
Elberling, Bo Matthiesen, Henning Jørgensen, Christian Juncher Hansen, Birger Grønnow, Bjarne Meldgaard, Morten Andreasen, Claus Khan, Shfaqat Abbas Paleo-Eskimo kitchen midden preservation in permafrost under future climate conditions at Qajaa, West Greenland |
author_facet |
Elberling, Bo Matthiesen, Henning Jørgensen, Christian Juncher Hansen, Birger Grønnow, Bjarne Meldgaard, Morten Andreasen, Claus Khan, Shfaqat Abbas |
author_sort |
Elberling, Bo |
title |
Paleo-Eskimo kitchen midden preservation in permafrost under future climate conditions at Qajaa, West Greenland |
title_short |
Paleo-Eskimo kitchen midden preservation in permafrost under future climate conditions at Qajaa, West Greenland |
title_full |
Paleo-Eskimo kitchen midden preservation in permafrost under future climate conditions at Qajaa, West Greenland |
title_fullStr |
Paleo-Eskimo kitchen midden preservation in permafrost under future climate conditions at Qajaa, West Greenland |
title_full_unstemmed |
Paleo-Eskimo kitchen midden preservation in permafrost under future climate conditions at Qajaa, West Greenland |
title_sort |
paleo-eskimo kitchen midden preservation in permafrost under future climate conditions at qajaa, west greenland |
publishDate |
2011 |
url |
https://curis.ku.dk/portal/da/publications/paleoeskimo-kitchen-midden-preservation-in-permafrost-under-future-climate-conditions-at-qajaa-west-greenland(47bf6090-bb3a-4cdf-94c6-b9123bb25d43).html https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2011.01.011 |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
eskimo* Greenland Ice Paleo-Eskimo permafrost Saqqaq |
genre_facet |
eskimo* Greenland Ice Paleo-Eskimo permafrost Saqqaq |
op_source |
Elberling , B , Matthiesen , H , Jørgensen , C J , Hansen , B , Grønnow , B , Meldgaard , M , Andreasen , C & Khan , S A 2011 , ' Paleo-Eskimo kitchen midden preservation in permafrost under future climate conditions at Qajaa, West Greenland ' , Journal of Archaeological Science , vol. 38 , no. 6 , pp. 1331-1339 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2011.01.011 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2011.01.011 |
container_title |
Journal of Archaeological Science |
container_volume |
38 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
1331 |
op_container_end_page |
1339 |
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1772814290637553664 |