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L'Anse aux Meadows butternut and butternut tree burl. Photograph © Peter Harholdt, courtesy Arctic Studies Center, National Museum of Natural History. From Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga, ed. By W.W. Fitzhugh and E. Ward.
Source publication
The historicity of the Vinland sagas has been widely discussed for more than a century and examined from a vast number of perspectives: as literature, history, geography, oral traditions, anthropological records, and validation of archaeological phenomena, as well as personal perceptions as travel guides to Norse landings in North America. The view...
Context in source publication
Context 1
... ( Wallace 1991Wallace , 2003bWallace , 2003cWallace , 2005), the function of L'Anse aux Meadows was that of a specialized winter camp, a base camp for further exploration and a gateway to resources. Our guides to the location of those resources are three butternuts or white walnuts, a North American species, as well as a burl of butternut wood (Fig. 4). Butternut trees (Fig. 5) have never grown in Newfoundland. 12 The northern limit for butternuts is New Brunswick, 1000 km south of L'Anse aux Meadows (Hosie ...
Citations
... Archaeological research revealed that a Norse settlement, probably used as a the "gateway to Vínland" (Wallace 1991) was established at L'Anse aux Meadows in northern Newfoundland (e.g. Ingstad 1971;Lewis-Simpson 2003;Wallace 2003bWallace , 2005Wallace , 2009. Originally interpreted as a short-lived, seasonal outpost, recent investigation indicates the site may have been occupied significantly longer (Ledger et al., 2019), which could have had considerable implications for the Greenlandic settlements. ...
... Andersen and Malmros 1993;Pinta 2018), but perhaps also as an imported/traded commodity. While some suggest only a limited group of Greenland's elite was in charge of the exploitation of resources from the óbyggðir (Ljungqvist 2005;Wallace 2009), others note that smallholders were also part of these expeditions (McGovern 1985). Considering the presence of ceramic sherds at Ø171 is a sign of relative wealth, the involvement of its inhabitant in the westward voyages is a conceivable scenario. ...
A growing number of studies strive to examine wooden archaeological remains recovered from Norse sites in the North Atlantic, contributing to a better understanding of patterns in both wood exploitation and woodland management. Despite the limited diversity and abundance of trees in the North Atlantic islands, the Medieval Norse kept using wood in most everyday activities including the construction and repair of buildings and boats, the production of artifacts and tools, and as a source of fuel. The proximity of the Greenland settlements with the northeastern American coast, puts them at the forefront in the exploration and exploitation of remote resource regions. While some species may have arrived both as driftwood or imported material, there is currently no method to conclusively identify archaeological wood remains as driftwood. Here, we use biogeochemical analysis of stable hydrogen (δ²H), stable oxygen (δ¹⁸O), and radiogenic strontium (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr) isotopes in soil, water, and modern plant samples from various sites in Greenland and Canada to characterize expected local isotopic baselines. While ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr isotope ratios do not provide a clear distinction between the regions of interest, δ²H and δ¹⁸O ratios appear to help discriminate not only between regions but also specific sites. In addition, we completed a pilot study of archaeological wood samples obtained in Greenland to test the effectiveness of the ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr biogeochemical baseline. Results demonstrate that at least in some cases, diagenetic processes were not sufficient to mask a non-local ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr signature.
... The Atlantic areas of the British Isles were not immune to Scandinavian settlement, but as in Scandinavia, their biota had been subject to cultural depredations and transformations over thousands of years (Edwards 1996;Edwards et al. 2016) and thus they do not provide true comparanda for our purposes. Likewise, the already occupied Atlantic coast of North America only saw Norse occupation for a few years and the effects on vegetation may be barely detectable (Davis et al. 1988;Wallace 2008). ...
This chapter presents the available evidence for the impact of people on vegetation around the time of the ‘Scandinavian’ settlement of the North Atlantic islands. A common phenomenon around the time of landnám is the expansion in the pollen of Poaceae and/or Cyperaceae. These ubiquitous taxa have frequent fluctuations and declines throughout the Holocene spectra and cannot, alone, be designated as providing anthropogenic ‘footprints’. The Norse settlement of Iceland offered fresh opportunities for plants to migrate westwards with the wave of Norse colonists, resulting in the addition of a number of new species to the Icelandic flora. Reconstructions of the pre-settlement vegetation of Iceland contrast markedly with the currently open and exposed character of the landscape. A notable change to the flora of Greenland around the time of Norse settlement is the appearance and increase in Rumex acetosella.
... Shortly after settling southwestern Greenland's fjords, expeditions led to the discovery and naming of lands in the eastern part of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, as far south as Newfoundland. The Saga of the Greenlanders and Erik the Red's Saga give us the name of three different locations in North America -Helluland, Markland, and Vinlandwhich have been satisfactorily identified, north to south, as Baffin Island, the Labrador coast and Newfoundland, respectfully (Seaver 1996;Wallace 2010). Currently, there is one certain Norse site in North America, L'Anse aux Meadows, a 'gateway to Vinland' (Wallace 1991) on the northern tip of Newfoundland (Ingstad and Ingstad 2001;Wallace 1991Wallace , 2005. ...
Trees and timber are of great importance in many cultures across the globe, whether used as a construction material, as a fuel source, or for making tools and items of everyday life. This was also true in medieval Norse communities, resulting in the presence of considerable amounts of wooden artifacts and raw materials in sites across the North Atlantic. Because of a limited or even sometimes nonexistent timber supply, the Norse needed to rely on external wood sources, drifted or imported wood, for their everyday needs. Following the recent work of researchers in Iceland and the Faroe Islands, this paper presents results obtained from 710 artifacts distributed across seven sites in the Eastern and Western Settlements of medieval Greenland. Taxa identification is used first not only to discuss the strategies of wood exploitation by the Norse but also to give insights into the provenance of wooden materials. These, then, contribute to our understanding of timber management, human-environmental relations and mobility across the North Atlantic.
... The Norse site at L'Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland, is probably the remains of Leifr Eiriksson (Leif Erikson)'s exploration camp of ca. AD 1000 (Wallace 2009). Although Vinland was largely forgotten, a geographic memory of the Norse route to the west may have echoed into early modern times: Newfoundland's northern tip, which faces the Strait, is the only part of the North American coast that we can securely associate with Zuan Chabotto (John Cabot)'s exploratory voyage of 1497 (Pope 2000). ...
Early Euro-Inuit contacts in Atlantic Canada raise a complex issue in the ethnohistory of resource exploitation. In the 16th century, Breton, Norman, and Basque crews developed a seasonal salt-cod fishery on the coasts of northern Newfoundland and southern Labrador, in about the same period that the Inuit moved southwards along the Labrador coast. The Basques also exploited the Strait of Belle Isle, between Newfoundland and Labrador, for shore-based whaling. Sometime before 1620, Europeans then appear to have withdrawn from Labrador until about 1680, when Canadian merchants based in Quebec began to exploit the Strait for salmon and seals, while French migratory crews edged northwards again from Newfoundland. European withdrawal from Labrador largely coincided with a long-running guerrilla war, waged by the Inuit against Breton and Basque fishermen exploiting Newfoundland's Great Northern Peninsula. The chronological coincidence suggests that the movement of Inuit into southern Labrador by the end of the 16th century may well have motivated Europeans to avoid this coast through much of the 17th century. French attitudes to the Labrador Inuit can be contextualized by comparison with contemporary understandings of Euro-Inuit relations elsewhere. Inuit attitudes to Europeans are harder to assess but recognition of their struggle for access to resources is a step towards an appreciation of historical Inuit agency.
... In this context, exploration and the establishment of outposts in the hinterland of Vatnahverfi was unlikely to have been an immediate priority (cf. Wallace, 2009). Accepting such a scenario, the slightly delayed appearance of shielings would reflect a natural progression in response to population pressure. ...
Transhumance agriculture formed a key component of subsistence strategies in the Norse economies of the North Atlantic, with evidence of shielings or
sæters found in Norway, Scotland, the Faroe Islands and Iceland. It is frequently assumed to have played a role in Norse Greenland, yet little enquiry has
been made into such activity. This paper seeks to address this deficit, presenting the first palaeoenvironmental study of a suspected Greenlandic shieling
site in the uplands of the former Norse Eastern Settlement. Pollen analysis, 14C and associated proxies are used to date and assess the environmental and
landscape impact of shieling activity. Evidence for vegetation disturbance associated with Norse settlement is indicated from c. ad 985, but the shieling itself
is interpreted as having been established somewhat later (cal. ad 1050–1150). Initially the site appears to have been used exclusively for grazing of livestock
and there is tentative evidence for the use of burning to stimulate the spread of pastures. Pollen influx figures suggest the intensification, or initiation, of
hay production c. cal. 1225–1325 reflecting either the spread of settlement from the lowland valleys, or evolution of the site into a full farm in response
to population pressure. A reduction of human impact cal. ad 1300–1390 suggests a reversion to shieling activity, indicating similarities to transhumance in
northern Iceland. Abandonment of the site dates to cal. ad 1325–1415 and is in agreement with previous evidence from Norse Greenland.
Norse landnám (initial settlement) in Greenland is dated to AD 985 and witnessed the introduction of pastoral farming to a landscape where people using settled agricultural systems had hitherto been absent. The Norse colony was centred on two locations: the Western (c. 64°N) and Eastern Settlements (c. 61°N), which historical, palaeoecological and archaeological data suggest were abandoned by the mid-14th and 15th centuries respectively. Vatnahverfi is an inland district of the Eastern Settlement that has been described as a rich, bountiful landscape and an excellent location for farming. This thesis presents an enquiry into the nature and impact of Norse land use in this inland region, and examines how it compares to patterns from more typical coastal farms. High-resolution pollen analysis, associated proxies and radiocarbon dating have produced eight detailed vegetation reconstructions of the pre-settlement landscape, vegetation and land-use changes consequent upon settlement, and the period following abandonment.
Prior to landnám, the inland valleys of Vatnahverfi supported Betula-Salix scrub and areas of Betula pubescens woodland. This vegetation cover thinned towards the coasts where open grasslands were more common. The presence of woodland in the interior indicates the availability of a key resource and late 10th to early 11th century dates for landnám point to the region having been a desirable settlement location. Data from pollen influx and coprophilous fungal spores associated with grazing animals, suggest a rich and productive cultural landscape. Poaceae pollen influx values, for instance, are often double those of farms elsewhere in the Eastern Settlement, implying higher hay yields that may have supported larger numbers of domesticates. Radiocarbon age-depth modelling of pollen sequences indicates that abandonment of farms in the region may have begun from the mid-13th century AD. This process likely culminated in the late 14th century when all the farms studied had fallen into disuse.
In around 1000AD the Norse (Viking) explorer Leif Eiriksson sailed into the Gulf of St. Lawrence and found a land rich in resources, including wild grapes. He named the land Vinland (Land of Vine). The stories of the Norse (Viking) explorations to North America are preserved in two ancient Icelandic Sagas, “The Saga of the Greenlanders” and “The Saga of Eirik the Red”. The Sagas include descriptions of places, wildlife and indigenous peoples in the Vinland region. This thesis investigates the potential location of the places in the Sagas and argues that the Vinland of Leif Eiriksson was practically the same area as Mi´kma´ki, the ancestral land of the Mi´kmaq people. The thesis further proposes a new Vinland-Mi'kma'ki Trail that would connect the various Vinland Saga sites with historical and mythological Mi´kmaq sites in Atlantic Canada. The idea with the Vinland-Mi´kma´ki Trail is to strengthen the existing tourism products in Atlantic Canada including the Viking Trail in Newfoundland and the Cabot Trail in Nova Scotia. This thesis argues that the Vinland-Mi´kma´ki Trail will provide visitors to Atlantic Canada with an exceptional and inspiring experience, taking them on a journey of exploration and imagination, combining Native American and Viking history and heritage with French Acadian, Celtic, and modern-day Canadian cuisine and culture.
Cambridge Core - Archaeology: General Interest - The Archaeology of Food - by Katheryn C. Twiss
The Norse Greenlanders were dependent on wood for making houses, boats, utensils, tools and as fuel. Due to Greenland's northerly latitude and short, cool summers, the local woody taxa include relatively few species, most of which are low-growing shrubs. Consequently, it has been argued that import of timber was necessary to meet the wood requirements of the Norse Greenlanders. The taxa of archaeological wood assemblages from five Norse sites in Greenland, the episcopal manor Garðar/Igaliku (Ø47), Tatsip Ataa Killeq (Ø172), Tasilikulooq (Ø171), Narsaq (Ø17a) and Gården under Sandet (GUS) were analysed to determine whether the wood was native, import or driftwood. This paper demonstrates that farmers in Greenland used mainly driftwood and native wood, while high-status sites like Igaliku had access to sporadic timber imports from mainland Europe and North America. Furthermore, the proportions of driftwood taxa from the Norse settlements are more or less the same as of Inuit and pre-Inuit cultures in Greenland and the Smith Sound. These results suggest that the Norse Greenlanders were not reliant on imported wood but were in fact mostly self-sufficient in regard to their timber resources.
