6533b871fe1ef96bd12d15ee

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Vers l'Amérique : l'implantation médiévale scandinave de la côte sud-ouest du Groenland

subject

description

During the Viking Age (ca AD 800-1100) Scandinavian explorers settled the islands of the western North Atlantic, making the northernmost agricultural area of the medieval period. Expansion to south-west coast of Greenland at the end of the tenth century brought Norse settlers closer to the limits of their European-style agricultural systems. In response to the harsh low arctic climate, the Greenland Norse have adapted their farming strategies and changed their subsistence pattern, giving a more important place to hunting and fishing. This evolution had probably been accelerated by climatic changes of the Little Ice Age. A good knowledge of the Greenland Norse economy by means of historical and archaeological literature is necessary for the interpretation of sedimentary archives, witness of human land use, its impact upon the environment and its evolution from settlement to abandonment. The first results indicate the impact of Norse agriculture upon the local vegetation.