The history and impacts of farming activities in south Greenland: an insight from lake deposits.
International audience Agriculture in southern Greenland has a two-phase history: with the Norse, who first settled and farmed the region between 985ad and circa 1450ad, and with the recent reintroduction of sheep farming (1920ad to the present). The agricultural sector in Greenland is expected to g...
Published in: | Polar Record |
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Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
Other Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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HAL CCSD
2013
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Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://hal.science/hal-00856274 https://hal.science/hal-00856274/document https://hal.science/hal-00856274/file/2013%20B%20Bichet,%20.Petit.%20Groenland%20Polar%20Record.pdf https://doi.org/10.1017/S0032247412000587 |
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ftunivnantes:oai:HAL:hal-00856274v1 |
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Open Polar |
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Université de Nantes: HAL-UNIV-NANTES |
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language |
English |
topic |
[SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes [SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory [SDU.STU.GC]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Geochemistry [SDU.STU.ST]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Stratigraphy |
spellingShingle |
[SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes [SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory [SDU.STU.GC]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Geochemistry [SDU.STU.ST]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Stratigraphy Bichet, Vincent Gauthier, Emilie Massa, Charly Perren, Bianca B. Richard, Hervé Petit, Christophe Mathieu, Olivier The history and impacts of farming activities in south Greenland: an insight from lake deposits. |
topic_facet |
[SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes [SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory [SDU.STU.GC]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Geochemistry [SDU.STU.ST]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Stratigraphy |
description |
International audience Agriculture in southern Greenland has a two-phase history: with the Norse, who first settled and farmed the region between 985ad and circa 1450ad, and with the recent reintroduction of sheep farming (1920ad to the present). The agricultural sector in Greenland is expected to grow over the next century as anticipated climate warming extends the length of the growing season and increases productivity. This article presents a synthesis of results from a well-dated 1500-year lake sediment record from Lake Igaliku, south Greenland (61°00′N, 45°26′W, 15m asl) that demonstrates the relative impacts of modern and Norse agricultural activities. Pollen, non-pollen palynomorphs (NPPs), sediment mass accumulation rates, diatoms and stable isotopes of nitrogen provide a comprehensive history of both phases of agriculture and their associated impacts on the landscape and adjacent lake. The initial colonisation of southern Greenland is marked by a loss of tree birch pollen, a rise in weed taxa, and an increase in coprophilous fungi and sediment accumulation rate consistent with land-use changes. The biological and chemical proxies within the lake, however, show only slight changes in diatom taxa, and a rise in δ15N. After the Norse demise and during the Little Ice Age, most of the markers return to pre-settlement conditions. However, the continuation of non-indigenous plant taxa suggests that the landscape did not completely return to a pre-disturbance state. After 1988, the character of the lake changed markedly: mesotrophic diatoms and N isotopes all reveal major shifts consistent with a trophic shift, together with a sharp rise in sediment accumulation rate. The post-1988 lake environment, affected by modern farming development, is unprecedented within the context of the last 1500 years. These results demonstrate the potential of lake sediment studies paired with archaeological investigations to reveal the relationship between climate, environment and human societies. |
author2 |
Laboratoire Chrono-environnement (UMR 6249) (LCE) Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Franche-Comté (UFC) Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté COMUE (UBFC)-Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté COMUE (UBFC) Archéologies et Sciences de l'Antiquité (ArScAn) Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (UP1)-Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis (UP8)-Université Paris Nanterre (UPN)-Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC)-Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives (Inrap)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Archéologies environnementales Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (UP1)-Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis (UP8)-Université Paris Nanterre (UPN)-Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC)-Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives (Inrap)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (UP1)-Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis (UP8)-Université Paris Nanterre (UPN)-Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC)-Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives (Inrap)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Biogéosciences UMR 6282 (BGS) Université de Bourgogne (UB)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Bichet, Vincent Gauthier, Emilie Massa, Charly Perren, Bianca B. Richard, Hervé Petit, Christophe Mathieu, Olivier |
author_facet |
Bichet, Vincent Gauthier, Emilie Massa, Charly Perren, Bianca B. Richard, Hervé Petit, Christophe Mathieu, Olivier |
author_sort |
Bichet, Vincent |
title |
The history and impacts of farming activities in south Greenland: an insight from lake deposits. |
title_short |
The history and impacts of farming activities in south Greenland: an insight from lake deposits. |
title_full |
The history and impacts of farming activities in south Greenland: an insight from lake deposits. |
title_fullStr |
The history and impacts of farming activities in south Greenland: an insight from lake deposits. |
title_full_unstemmed |
The history and impacts of farming activities in south Greenland: an insight from lake deposits. |
title_sort |
history and impacts of farming activities in south greenland: an insight from lake deposits. |
publisher |
HAL CCSD |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
https://hal.science/hal-00856274 https://hal.science/hal-00856274/document https://hal.science/hal-00856274/file/2013%20B%20Bichet,%20.Petit.%20Groenland%20Polar%20Record.pdf https://doi.org/10.1017/S0032247412000587 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-45.421,-45.421,60.988,60.988) |
geographic |
Greenland Igaliku |
geographic_facet |
Greenland Igaliku |
genre |
Greenland Igaliku Polar Record |
genre_facet |
Greenland Igaliku Polar Record |
op_source |
ISSN: 0032-2474 EISSN: 1475-3057 Polar Record https://hal.science/hal-00856274 Polar Record, 2013, 49 (3), pp.210-220. ⟨10.1017/S0032247412000587⟩ |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1017/S0032247412000587 hal-00856274 https://hal.science/hal-00856274 https://hal.science/hal-00856274/document https://hal.science/hal-00856274/file/2013%20B%20Bichet,%20.Petit.%20Groenland%20Polar%20Record.pdf doi:10.1017/S0032247412000587 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0032247412000587 |
container_title |
Polar Record |
container_volume |
49 |
container_issue |
03 |
container_start_page |
210 |
op_container_end_page |
220 |
_version_ |
1766015772645130240 |
spelling |
ftunivnantes:oai:HAL:hal-00856274v1 2023-05-15T16:26:47+02:00 The history and impacts of farming activities in south Greenland: an insight from lake deposits. Bichet, Vincent Gauthier, Emilie Massa, Charly Perren, Bianca B. Richard, Hervé Petit, Christophe Mathieu, Olivier Laboratoire Chrono-environnement (UMR 6249) (LCE) Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Franche-Comté (UFC) Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté COMUE (UBFC)-Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté COMUE (UBFC) Archéologies et Sciences de l'Antiquité (ArScAn) Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (UP1)-Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis (UP8)-Université Paris Nanterre (UPN)-Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC)-Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives (Inrap)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Archéologies environnementales Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (UP1)-Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis (UP8)-Université Paris Nanterre (UPN)-Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC)-Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives (Inrap)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (UP1)-Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis (UP8)-Université Paris Nanterre (UPN)-Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC)-Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives (Inrap)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Biogéosciences UMR 6282 (BGS) Université de Bourgogne (UB)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) 2013-07 https://hal.science/hal-00856274 https://hal.science/hal-00856274/document https://hal.science/hal-00856274/file/2013%20B%20Bichet,%20.Petit.%20Groenland%20Polar%20Record.pdf https://doi.org/10.1017/S0032247412000587 en eng HAL CCSD Cambridge University Press (CUP) info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1017/S0032247412000587 hal-00856274 https://hal.science/hal-00856274 https://hal.science/hal-00856274/document https://hal.science/hal-00856274/file/2013%20B%20Bichet,%20.Petit.%20Groenland%20Polar%20Record.pdf doi:10.1017/S0032247412000587 info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess ISSN: 0032-2474 EISSN: 1475-3057 Polar Record https://hal.science/hal-00856274 Polar Record, 2013, 49 (3), pp.210-220. ⟨10.1017/S0032247412000587⟩ [SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes [SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory [SDU.STU.GC]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Geochemistry [SDU.STU.ST]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Stratigraphy info:eu-repo/semantics/article Journal articles 2013 ftunivnantes https://doi.org/10.1017/S0032247412000587 2023-02-08T06:54:02Z International audience Agriculture in southern Greenland has a two-phase history: with the Norse, who first settled and farmed the region between 985ad and circa 1450ad, and with the recent reintroduction of sheep farming (1920ad to the present). The agricultural sector in Greenland is expected to grow over the next century as anticipated climate warming extends the length of the growing season and increases productivity. This article presents a synthesis of results from a well-dated 1500-year lake sediment record from Lake Igaliku, south Greenland (61°00′N, 45°26′W, 15m asl) that demonstrates the relative impacts of modern and Norse agricultural activities. Pollen, non-pollen palynomorphs (NPPs), sediment mass accumulation rates, diatoms and stable isotopes of nitrogen provide a comprehensive history of both phases of agriculture and their associated impacts on the landscape and adjacent lake. The initial colonisation of southern Greenland is marked by a loss of tree birch pollen, a rise in weed taxa, and an increase in coprophilous fungi and sediment accumulation rate consistent with land-use changes. The biological and chemical proxies within the lake, however, show only slight changes in diatom taxa, and a rise in δ15N. After the Norse demise and during the Little Ice Age, most of the markers return to pre-settlement conditions. However, the continuation of non-indigenous plant taxa suggests that the landscape did not completely return to a pre-disturbance state. After 1988, the character of the lake changed markedly: mesotrophic diatoms and N isotopes all reveal major shifts consistent with a trophic shift, together with a sharp rise in sediment accumulation rate. The post-1988 lake environment, affected by modern farming development, is unprecedented within the context of the last 1500 years. These results demonstrate the potential of lake sediment studies paired with archaeological investigations to reveal the relationship between climate, environment and human societies. Article in Journal/Newspaper Greenland Igaliku Polar Record Université de Nantes: HAL-UNIV-NANTES Greenland Igaliku ENVELOPE(-45.421,-45.421,60.988,60.988) Polar Record 49 03 210 220 |