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...
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Online Access: | https://orbit.dtu.dk/en/publications/9ebd0f15-3328-4e9e-af61-1599915c1932 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2011.01.011 |
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ftdtupubl:oai:pure.atira.dk:publications/9ebd0f15-3328-4e9e-af61-1599915c1932 2023-07-30T04:03:19+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 Ulf Grønnow, Bjarne Meldgaard, Morten Andreasen, Claus Khan, Shfaqat Abbas 2011 https://orbit.dtu.dk/en/publications/9ebd0f15-3328-4e9e-af61-1599915c1932 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 U , 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 Greenland Permafrost Paleo-Eskimo Preservation Qajaa Kitchen midden /dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/climate_action SDG 13 - Climate Action article 2011 ftdtupubl https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2011.01.011 2023-07-12T22:56:21Z 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 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. Article in Journal/Newspaper eskimo* Greenland Ice Paleo-Eskimo permafrost Saqqaq Technical University of Denmark: DTU Orbit Greenland Journal of Archaeological Science 38 6 1331 1339 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Technical University of Denmark: DTU Orbit |
op_collection_id |
ftdtupubl |
language |
English |
topic |
Greenland Permafrost Paleo-Eskimo Preservation Qajaa Kitchen midden /dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/climate_action SDG 13 - Climate Action |
spellingShingle |
Greenland Permafrost Paleo-Eskimo Preservation Qajaa Kitchen midden /dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/climate_action SDG 13 - Climate Action Elberling, Bo Matthiesen, Henning Jørgensen, Christian Juncher Hansen, Birger Ulf Grønnow, Bjarne Meldgaard, Morten Andreasen, Claus Khan, Shfaqat Abbas Paleo-Eskimo kitchen midden preservation in permafrost under future climate conditions at Qajaa, West Greenland |
topic_facet |
Greenland Permafrost Paleo-Eskimo Preservation Qajaa Kitchen midden /dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/climate_action SDG 13 - Climate Action |
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 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 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. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Elberling, Bo Matthiesen, Henning Jørgensen, Christian Juncher Hansen, Birger Ulf Grønnow, Bjarne Meldgaard, Morten Andreasen, Claus Khan, Shfaqat Abbas |
author_facet |
Elberling, Bo Matthiesen, Henning Jørgensen, Christian Juncher Hansen, Birger Ulf 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://orbit.dtu.dk/en/publications/9ebd0f15-3328-4e9e-af61-1599915c1932 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 U , 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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