Viking Settlement in Greenland

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]

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

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