1. Economic of Extinction in Greenland –
Zooarchaeology of Vatnahverfi Region in Norse
Eastern Settlement
Konrad Śmiarowski
PhD Program
The Graduate Center CUNY
365 Fifth Avenue,
New York, NY 10016-4309
zaglobax@yahoo.com

2. Norse Settlements
•Greenland was settled from Iceland
ca. 985 AD
•Two areas of permanent farms in the
SW.
•Eastern Settlement has ca. 400 ruin
groups.
•Western Settlement has ca. 80 ruin
groups.
Norðursetur
•The Norðursetur (Northern Hunting
Grounds) were in the Disko Bay area,
800 km N of the settlements.
•Western Settlement becomes extinct
Western ca 1350 (switch from “Norse” settled
Settlement cultural landscape to “Inuit” mobile
landscape)
•Eastern Settlement lasts at least
Eastern
another 100 years
Settlement

3. The Vatnahverfi Project-
- IPY NABO Excavations
2005-06 sites
E 29 Brattahlid
E 74
E74 Qorlortorsuaq
2007 sites
E78 Eqaluit
E172 Tatsip Ataa
E64 Innoqassaq
E60
2008 sites
E64 Innoqassaq
E68 Timerliit
2009-2010 site
E172 Tatsip Ataa
2011 sites
E3, E4, E171, E168
Map by Mikkelsen, Kuijpers, Lasse and Vedel

4. Midden Excavation at E172 Tatsip Ataa -
2007, 2009, 2010
• 3 Seasons of midden excavation – over 50m2
in main area + 2 small trenches
• Long period of occupation 1000AD to 14th C.
• Large archaeofauna under analysis at CUNY
• Dry and wet sieving in 4mm mesh for optimal
artifact and bone recovery – 100% Bone and
artifact collection
• Palaeobotany and Entomology sampled
• Detailed Survey work, including GPR and
geomagnetics
• Column sample taken in a peat bog next to the
dwelling
• The only known site with organic preservation at
the time of the excavations – Global warming
severely affected waterlogged, frozen deposits in
ALL of SW Greenland

5. Wild and Domestic
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
% NISP
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Domestic Mammals Cetacea Seals Birds Fish Mollusca Caribou Other Mammals

6. Seal Biology in Greenland
Hooded
Harp
• Migratory Harp
(P.groenlndica) and Hooded
(C. crystata) seals ride the
spring and summer sea ice.
Number in millions.
• Arctic non-migratory seals
present all winter (breathing
hole). Ringed (P.hispida-
Nerpa) and Bearded (E.
barbatus) seals.
• Harbor/Common seals (P.
vitulina) are driven off by
heavy summer sea ice, if
occurs
Map: Aqqalu Rosing-Asvid

7. Harbor/Common Seals
•Form small concentrations at hauling out spots on sandy
beaches
•Vulnerable to human hunters when have pups on shore
•Over-hunting, and local population extinctions or dispersal are
possible
•Can not reproduce in ice filled waters

9. Modern Drift Ice & Sealing Conditions
Former Eastern and Western Settlement areas
Modern Seal Catch
100%
90%
80%
70%
% of seals taken
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Qaqortoq 1954-75 Narsaq 1954-75 Kapisillt 1954-75
Ringed Common Bearded Hooded Harp

10. Brattahlið (E Settlement) % Identified Seal Bones
Brattahlid N Farm Identified Seals
100%
80%
% NISP Identified seal
60%
40%
20%
0%
ca 1200-1250 ca 1250-1300 post-1300
V IV III
Harp seal Harbor seal Hooded seal

11. Why Low Common Seal Numbers in the
Later Phases ?
• Depletion of common seal stocks in the
area due to over-hunting by Norse hunters?
(they survive for 300 years)
• Climatic change from earlier, warmer
conditions with little or no summer drift ice
to a climate similar to modern conditions
during the later 13th century AD ?

12. Connecting Deep Sea Cores, GISP
Temperature Reconstruction,
Zooarchaeology & Climate Thresholds
in SW Greenland
Sea cores detect major
change in summer sea ice
distribution in SE and SW
Greenland.
Increasing summer drift ice
after 1250-1300 AD.
Jennings A. E and Nancy J Weiner
Environmental change in eastern Greenland during the last 1300
years; evidence from foraminifera and lithofacies in Nansen
Fjord, 68 degrees N. The Holocene, 8(3) 434-441
Jensen et al. 2004; Diatom evidence of hydrographic changes and
ice conditions in Igaliku Fjord, South Greenland, during the past
1500 years. The Holocene 14,2, 152-164

13. Seal Bone Distribution in W and E Settlements
Sealing Changes
100%
90% Eastern Settlement Western Settlement
80%
70% Later
60%
50%
40%
Early
30%
20%
10%
0%
Ringed Common Bearded Hooded Harp
Data from Śmiarowski, McGovern and Enghoff

14. • Summer drift ice affects harbor (common) seal
colonies
• Drift ice also cools sea level pastures, reducing
growing season of the most productive plant
communities and pastures
• Causes intensification of migratory seal
hunting after 1250-1300 AD

15. Decrease in Farm Productivity
(Preliminary data)
E 172 Domestic Mammals
E 172 Major Taxa 1000‐1100 vs. 1200‐1300
1000‐1100 vs. 1200‐1300 100
80
90
70 E172 Ph1
80
E172 Ph1
E172 Ph 3
60
70
E172 Ph 3
50 60
% NISP
40 50
30 40
20 30
10 20
0 10
0
Cattle Horse Dog Pig Caprine

16. Intensification of seal hunting
Marine to Terrestrial Mammal Bone Ratio
4,00
3,50
3,00
2,50
2,00
“Seasonal
1,50 sheep
station”
1,00
Inland Vth.
Central Vatnahverfi
E. Settlement SW
0,50 E. Settlement
0,00
pre 1200 ca 1200-1250 ca 1250-1300 post-1300 1000-1100 1200-1300 980-1035 later 1040-1300 1300-1400
medieval
VI-IX V IV III 1 3 lower 1/2 3
E29 N E29 N E29 N E29 N E172 E172 E17a E17a E74 E74

17. 100%
50%
0%
Ø111#14
Ø111#15
Ø1a
Ø111#13
V51#2
Ø149#7
V7K-4120
Ø149#10
V7#174
Ø66#23
Diet in Norse Greenland AD 1000 – 1450
V51#4
Ø149#8
Ø149#213
Period III: ca. 1300 ‐
V51#254
V51#247
Eastern Settlement vs Western Settlement
V51#184
Ø149#9
Ø111#207
Greenland Isotope Project
Ø111#206
Ø23a
Ø23b
Ø1b
V51#6
Data from the Nationalmuseet research team, Jette Arneborg et al.
Ø149#215
V51#5
V51#3
Vesterbygden
V51#255
V51#249
Ø23a
Sample ID
V7K-4117
V51#256
Østerbygden
Ø66#24
V51#1
V51#253
Ø111#210
Ø111#208
Ø47#21
V51#258
Ø149#216
Ø149#214
Period II: ca.
Ø111#205
1160 ‐ 1300
V51#250
Ø47#20
V7#175
Ø35a
Tj#19
Tj#26
Tj#27
Tj#16
Tj#25
Ø48b
Period I: ca.
Tj#12
980 ‐ 1160
V51#240
V51#197
Ø48a
Ø35b
Ø35c
Tj#11
Ø35a
Tj#28
Tj#18
-13
-13,5
-14
-14,5
-15
-15,5
-16
-16,5
-17
-17,5
-18
-18,5
-19
-19,5
-20
-20,5
-21
C13 contents

18. • Harbor seal colonies managed successfully in both Norse settlements
• Resilient Norse successfully intensify migratory seal hunting as a response
to century long unpredictable, unfavorable temperature change post 1250-
1300 AD
• 15th Century Conjunctures that contributed to Norse Demise
High magnitude cold temperature hazards overlap with high magnitude
unpredictable storminess (affecting agricultural activity & trade with Europe)
Political and economic changes in Europe result in decreased contact and
Ivory demand and export
Cultural contact with Thule Inuit – hostile? Resource competition?

19. International Collaboration in Greenland
2005-12 – Many Thanks!
• Thomas McGovern - NABO North Atlantic Biocultural
Organisation
• Sophia Perdikaris - HERC Human Ecodynamics
Research Center
• NORSEC - CUNY Northern Science & Education
Center
• NUNATTA KATERSUGAASIVIA
ALLAGAATEQARFIALU - (Greenland National
Museum and Archives, NKA)
• Jette Arneborg and Christian Madsen - The Middle
Ages & Renaissance Dept. at The Danish National
Museum