Farms of Hunters: Medieval Norse Settlement, Land- and Sea-Use in Low Arctic Greenland

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Norse that settled in Greenland between c. AD 985-1450 depended greatly on the harvesting of local to regional Arctic marine resources for both subsistence and oversees trade. However, the mechanics and organization around this important marine economy have only left a limited imprint in the archaeological record, which is dominated by evidence of terrestrial farm- and shieling activities. The Winter is Coming Project (WiCP) considers long-term Norse settlement, organization, and land- and sea use in environmentally marginal parts of the Greenland settlements. Initial findings suggest that the Norse living in such areas managed by adjusting their farming and land use setup, and by relying on advantageous access to Arctic marine resources, i.e. becoming "marine farms." The study highlights the benefits of applying a social-ecological systems perspective across varying spatiotemporal scales, from single feature to regional settlement patterns. Only by asking "where, when, and for whom?" can we begin to explain complex, long-term human-ecodynamics, resilience, and sustainability in the past.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 24820