Vikings vs Climate Change

In one of history’s rare cases of hunter/gatherers out lasting Farmer’s Greenland’s Viking Era also had an unfortunate beginning:

Erik the Red had been exiled for 5 years as punishment for murder over a land dispute from Iceland – He sailed further away and tried to make himself king of a new colony Greenland.  

The Vikings who settled there, tried to be like Europeans – they farmed and had livestock. 

they didn’t fish most of all. The people living there when the Vikings showed up for a while, continue to live there into the modern era. 

This is related to the Denmark claim on the arctic. 

Leif the Lucky, one of Erik’s sons, blew off course and ended up in Canada. Where higher north, the vikings that settled there, bred into the local population. 

While southern settlements were abandoned as being too precarious in the endless wilderness with unknown numbers of skraelings.

Besides, Europe was closer and had finished goods and being a Viking was a seasonal job until the harvest. 

Climate Change was environmental – Cultural Change – assimilation or adaption, see also extinction

 

Why did Greenland’s Vikings disappear?

Science Magazine‎ – 3 days ago

Archaeologists have a new answer to the mystery of Greenland’s Norse, who thrived for …

 

The Fate of Greenland’s Vikings – Archaeology Magazine Archive

archive.archaeology.org/online/features/greenland/

Some people call it the Farm under the Sand, others Greenland’s Pompeii. Dating to the mid-fourteenth century, it was once the site of a Viking colony founded …

Archaeologists Uncover Clues to Why Vikings Abandoned Greenland …

http://www.spiegel.de › English Site › Zeitgeist › Archaeology

Jan 10, 2013 – Abandoned Colony in Greenland Archaeologists Find Clues to Viking Mystery. For years, researchers have puzzled over why Viking descendents abandoned Greenland in the late 15th century. … The marriage of the Icelander and the girl from Greenland was one of the last raucous festivals …

 

Vikings’ mysterious abandonment of Greenland was not due to climate …

https://www.washingtonpost.com/…/climate-change-may-not-have-driven-the-vikings…

Dec 4, 2015 – A simple narrative of warm climates allowing for the colonization of Greenland, and cold climates driving the Norse away, may not hold up, new …

Greenland Vikings outlived climate change for centuries | ScienceNordic

sciencenordic.com/greenland–vikings-outlived-climate-change-centuries

Apr 5, 2015 – In the middle of the 13th century the Vikings who had settled in Greenland encountered no less than ten years of harsh and cold winters and …

Vikings During the Medieval Warm Period – Influence of Dramatic …

www2.sunysuffolk.edu/mandias/lia/vikings_during_mwp.html

During the years 800-1200, Iceland and Greenland were settled by the Vikings. These people, also known as the Norse, included Norwegians, Swedes, Danes, …

 

 

The Norse in the North Atlantic – Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage

http://www.heritage.nf.ca/articles/exploration/norse-north-atlantic.php

The Norse who settled in Newfoundland probably wore clothing similar to this outfit which was excavated in Herjolfsnes, southwestern Greenland. From Geoffrey …

Vikings and Native Americans – Pictures, More From National …

ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2012/11/vikings-and-indians/pringle-text

Years earlier, while helping to excavate a Viking farmhouse in Greenland, she had … Weeks later an expert on Viking textiles informed her that the Canadian …

The Vikings: A Memorable Visit to America | History | Smithsonian

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-vikings-a-memorable-visit-to-america-98090935/

Roughly 1,000 years ago, the story goes, a Viking trader and adventurer named Thorfinn Karlsefni set off from the west coast of Greenland with three ships and a …