Managing Wooden Resources in Norse Greenland: Using Tree-Rings to Explore Wood Use and Acquisition Strategies in a “Treeless” Environment

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

During medieval times, Norse Greenlanders relied heavily on wood for making household items, as a construction material, and as a fuel source. Although the quantity and quality of timber available in local woodlands were limited, Norse craftspeople also had access to driftwood and imported materials. Most studies in the North Atlantic use taxonomic analysis to trace the origin of archaeological wood remains. Using dendrology alongside this can provide us with additional information about wood diameter and growth conditions. This preliminary study uses stave-built vessel components in the first morphometric analysis of archaeological wood remains from Norse Greenland. Combining taxonomic identification with analysis of growth-ring width and curvature indicates that Norse woodworkers favored medium to large pieces of coniferous wood in making coopered vessels, most probably reflecting timber availability on local driftwood beaches. Wood of smaller diameters, typical of native Greenlandic taxa, was used to a lesser extent. Growth-ring widths suggest that most of the timber comes from areas where growth conditions are restricted, such as the boreal forests from which much Arctic driftwood originates. Despite limited wood sources, the study indicates that Norse Greenlanders successfully gathered raw materials locally for a wide range of activities.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 35987.0