Pastures lost? A dental microwear study of ovicaprine diet and management in Norse Greenland
The management of ovicaprines by the Medieval Norse farmers in Greenland is explored using dental microwear analysis. Adult and juvenile ovicaprines from Norse contexts in Greenland are shown to exhibit microwear patterns very different to those in modern Greenlandic sheep; while modern sheep demons...
Published in: | Journal of Archaeological Science |
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2006
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Online Access: | https://pure.uhi.ac.uk/en/publications/c06b4152-513f-4ee4-9a14-37a868f5e8c9 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2005.07.013 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440305001615 |
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ftuhipublicatio:oai:pure.atira.dk:publications/c06b4152-513f-4ee4-9a14-37a868f5e8c9 2024-09-09T19:42:12+00:00 Pastures lost? A dental microwear study of ovicaprine diet and management in Norse Greenland Mainland, Ingrid 2006-02-28 https://pure.uhi.ac.uk/en/publications/c06b4152-513f-4ee4-9a14-37a868f5e8c9 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2005.07.013 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440305001615 eng eng https://pure.uhi.ac.uk/en/publications/c06b4152-513f-4ee4-9a14-37a868f5e8c9 info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess Mainland , I 2006 , ' Pastures lost? A dental microwear study of ovicaprine diet and management in Norse Greenland ' , Journal of Archaeological Science , vol. 33 , no. 2 , pp. 238-252 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2005.07.013 Goat Greenland Microwear Overgrazing Palaeodiet Sheep article 2006 ftuhipublicatio https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2005.07.013 2024-07-22T23:37:24Z The management of ovicaprines by the Medieval Norse farmers in Greenland is explored using dental microwear analysis. Adult and juvenile ovicaprines from Norse contexts in Greenland are shown to exhibit microwear patterns very different to those in modern Greenlandic sheep; while modern sheep demonstrate microwear consistent with low levels of soil ingestion under extensive, low stocking-rate grazing regimes, Norse sheep/goat display striated microwear patterns indicative of high levels of soil ingestion and, potentially, overgrazing. This high abrasive grazing signature is present in the inland region of the Western Settlement from 1150 AD onwards, may be evident in the inland Eastern Settlement from an equally early date and is also detected during the later phases of occupation in the Western settlement (14th and 15th centuries AD). It is argued that these results provide further evidence that maladaptive grazing practices led to a decline in the viability of pastoral farming in Greenland, and, moreover, that overgrazing did not merely occur towards the end of the settlement as a consequence of the worsening climate of the 'Little Ice Age' but rather was present in both the Western and the Eastern Settlement from a relatively early date. Article in Journal/Newspaper Greenland greenlandic University of the Highlands and Islands: Research Database of UHI Greenland Journal of Archaeological Science 33 2 238 252 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of the Highlands and Islands: Research Database of UHI |
op_collection_id |
ftuhipublicatio |
language |
English |
topic |
Goat Greenland Microwear Overgrazing Palaeodiet Sheep |
spellingShingle |
Goat Greenland Microwear Overgrazing Palaeodiet Sheep Mainland, Ingrid Pastures lost? A dental microwear study of ovicaprine diet and management in Norse Greenland |
topic_facet |
Goat Greenland Microwear Overgrazing Palaeodiet Sheep |
description |
The management of ovicaprines by the Medieval Norse farmers in Greenland is explored using dental microwear analysis. Adult and juvenile ovicaprines from Norse contexts in Greenland are shown to exhibit microwear patterns very different to those in modern Greenlandic sheep; while modern sheep demonstrate microwear consistent with low levels of soil ingestion under extensive, low stocking-rate grazing regimes, Norse sheep/goat display striated microwear patterns indicative of high levels of soil ingestion and, potentially, overgrazing. This high abrasive grazing signature is present in the inland region of the Western Settlement from 1150 AD onwards, may be evident in the inland Eastern Settlement from an equally early date and is also detected during the later phases of occupation in the Western settlement (14th and 15th centuries AD). It is argued that these results provide further evidence that maladaptive grazing practices led to a decline in the viability of pastoral farming in Greenland, and, moreover, that overgrazing did not merely occur towards the end of the settlement as a consequence of the worsening climate of the 'Little Ice Age' but rather was present in both the Western and the Eastern Settlement from a relatively early date. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Mainland, Ingrid |
author_facet |
Mainland, Ingrid |
author_sort |
Mainland, Ingrid |
title |
Pastures lost? A dental microwear study of ovicaprine diet and management in Norse Greenland |
title_short |
Pastures lost? A dental microwear study of ovicaprine diet and management in Norse Greenland |
title_full |
Pastures lost? A dental microwear study of ovicaprine diet and management in Norse Greenland |
title_fullStr |
Pastures lost? A dental microwear study of ovicaprine diet and management in Norse Greenland |
title_full_unstemmed |
Pastures lost? A dental microwear study of ovicaprine diet and management in Norse Greenland |
title_sort |
pastures lost? a dental microwear study of ovicaprine diet and management in norse greenland |
publishDate |
2006 |
url |
https://pure.uhi.ac.uk/en/publications/c06b4152-513f-4ee4-9a14-37a868f5e8c9 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2005.07.013 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440305001615 |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
Greenland greenlandic |
genre_facet |
Greenland greenlandic |
op_source |
Mainland , I 2006 , ' Pastures lost? A dental microwear study of ovicaprine diet and management in Norse Greenland ' , Journal of Archaeological Science , vol. 33 , no. 2 , pp. 238-252 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2005.07.013 |
op_relation |
https://pure.uhi.ac.uk/en/publications/c06b4152-513f-4ee4-9a14-37a868f5e8c9 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2005.07.013 |
container_title |
Journal of Archaeological Science |
container_volume |
33 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
238 |
op_container_end_page |
252 |
_version_ |
1809911482964508672 |