Viking Settlement in Greenland

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Viking Settlement in Greenland

  • c. 980 AD to c. 1400s
  • Vikings were Norse peoples
  • Greenland is the second largest island in the world
  • 75% covered by ice
  • Greenland was sparsely inhabited by Inuit peoples << to confirm details
  • First settled by Vikings c. 980s AD
    • this was during the Medieval Warming period << to confirm details
      • the warming created more optimal conditions for farming and grazing, as well as new tree growth, which allowed for the use of wood for construction, tools, and fire
    • the warming created "verdant pockets along the south-western coast" (from [Age Greenland from Ancient History Encyclopedia])
  • prior to Viking settlement Greenland would have been difficult to approach by large boats due to icebergs and frozen harbors
  • prior to Medieval Warming period ice-free regions of Greenland would have been tundra

Viking Discovery of Greenland[edit | edit source]

Subsistence[edit | edit source]

  • built stone structures
  • brought livestock from Europe, including sheep, goats, and cattle
  • brought dogs and cats
  • hunted caribou and harp seals


Trade[edit | edit source]

  • Vikings on Greenland paid taxes to Norway
  • Valuable trade items included:
    • walrus tusks (very high demand until European-African trade opened up access to African elephant tusks
    • skins, hides, live polar bears
    • furs from North American mainland

North America Mainland Expeditions & Settlements[edit | edit source]

  • to obtain timber and fur
  • hostile contact with native tribes

Inuit-Viking Interactions[edit | edit source]

  • Vikings called the Inuit "Skræling"

Viking Age Decline[edit | edit source]

  • Little Ice Age
  • spread of Black Plague to Norway cut off trade with home country
    • impact of absence of trade meant lack of new supplies, especially iron tools and wood
      • archeological evidence shows in waning years of the settlement, iron tools and instruments were severely worn, which means they were not being replaced or fixed

Sources:

>> Collapse of Civilizations podcast >> see Jared Diamond

See Also