Disequilibrium, adaptation and the Norse settlement of Greenland

This research was supported by the University of Edinburgh ExEDE Doctoral Training Studentship and NSF grant numbers 1202692 and 1140106.There is increasing evidence to suggest that arctic cultures and ecosystems have followed non-linear responses to climate change. Norse Scandinavian farmers introduced agriculture to sub-arctic Greenland in the late tenth century, creating synanthropic landscapes and utilising seasonally abundant marine and terrestrial resources. Using a niche-construction framework and data from recent survey work, studies of diet, and regional-scale climate proxies we examine the potential mismatch between this imported agricultural niche and the constraints of the environment from the tenth to the fifteenth centuries. We argue that landscape modification conformed the Norse to a Scandinavian style of agriculture throughout settlement, structuring and limiting the efficacy of seasonal hunting strategies. Recent climate data provide evidence of sustained cooling from the mid thirteenth century and climate variation from the early fifteenth century. Archaeological evidence suggests that the Norse made incremental adjustments to the changing sub-arctic environment, but were limited by cultural adaptations made in past environments.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Shieling Areas: Historical Grazing Pressures and Landscape Responses in Northern Iceland

Historical domestic livestock grazing in sensitivelandscapes has commonly been regarded as a major cause ofland degradation in Iceland. Shieling areas, where milkinglivestock were taken to pasture for the summer, representedone element of grazing management and in this paper weconsider the extent to which historical shieling-based grazingpressure contributed to land degradation. Based on a grazingmodel to assess pressures and tephrochronology -based soilaccumulation rates allied to micromorphology as a proxy forland degradation, our findings suggest that the shieling system contributed to the maintenance of upland vegetationcover and related productivity levels without causing landdegradation from settlement through to ca. AD 1300. As landdegradation accelerated from ca. AD 1477 it is likely thatshieling management continued to operate effectively contributingto the overall resilience of livestock farming