Disequilibrium, adaptation, and the Norse settlement of Greenland

• Published in: Human Ecology
• Main Authors: Jackson, Rowan, Arneborg, Jette, Dugmore, Andrew, Madsen, Christian, McGovern, Tom, Smiarowski, Konrad, Streeter, Richard
• Other Authors: University of St Andrews. Bell-Edwards Geographic Data Institute, University of St Andrews. School of Geography & Sustainable Development
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2018
• Subjects: Greenland; Norse; Niche construction; Culture; Climate; Disequilibrium; GF Human ecology. Anthropogeography; 3rd-DAS; SDG 13 - Climate Action; SDG 14 - Life Below Water; SDG 15 - Life on Land; GF; Arctic; Climate change
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10023/16036; https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-018-0020-0

This research was supported by the University of Edinburgh ExEDE Doctoral Training Studentship and NSF grant numbers 1202692 and 1140106. There is increasing evidence to suggest that arctic cultures and ecosystems have followed non-linear responses to climate change. Norse Scandinavian farmers introduced agriculture to sub-arctic Greenland in the late tenth century, creating synanthropic landscapes and utilising seasonally abundant marine and terrestrial resources. Using a niche-construction framework and data from recent survey work, studies of diet, and regional-scale climate proxies we examine the potential mismatch between this imported agricultural niche and the constraints of the environment from the tenth to the fifteenth centuries. We argue that landscape modification conformed the Norse to a Scandinavian style of agriculture throughout settlement, structuring and limiting the efficacy of seasonal hunting strategies. Recent climate data provide evidence of sustained cooling from the mid thirteenth century and climate variation from the early fifteenth century. Archaeological evidence suggests that the Norse made incremental adjustments to the changing sub-arctic environment, but were limited by cultural adaptations made in past environments. Publisher PDF Peer reviewed