The First European Colonization of the North Atlantic

Abstract

Many centuries before Columbus, the Norse peoples of Scandinavia colonized parts of Western Europe as well as the Northern Atlantic islands: the Shetlands, the Orkneys, the Faroes, Iceland, Greenland, and for at least a few years, Newfoundland. This was part of a larger process whose eastern half effected what today is Russia and was at least in part a response to wider Eurasian phenomenon. This chapter will concentrate on the North Atlantic portion of this story with an emphasis on how the archaeology of the settlement period (c. 800-1000 CE), the medieval period (c. 1000-1500 CE), and the postmedieval period (c. 1500-1800) has altered older narratives that sought to explain this early medieval colonial effort as well as created new narratives. A number of key sites in each of the North Atlantic will be discussed and put into a larger archaeological and historical context. In terms of the content of this volume, this chapter will present an earlier colonial phenomenon that was driven by many of the same variables that affected the post-Columbian Americas such as the commodification of natural resources and long-range trade, elite sponsored colonization, and the maintenance of power in the face of novel and unfamiliar conditions. In conclusion, the chapter will discuss the archaeology of the influence of the post-Columbian world on these medieval North Atlantic colonies.

A millennium of Icelandic archaeological fish data examined against marine climate records

“…(2) The size of the Atlantic cod being caught becomes increasingly consistent and standardized (Perdikaris, 1999; Amundsen et al, 2005; Krivogorskaya et al, 2005; Harrison et al, 2008). Both of these phenomena are the product of the integration of the Icelandic cod fisheries into larger market networks and the resulting commodification of dried-cod products, especially stockfish (Hambrecht, 2015; McGovern et al, 2006; Perdikaris, 1999; Perdikaris et al, 2007). This high medieval intensification is reflected in multiple archaeofauna and is a major topic for archaeological (Harrison et al, 2008; Harrison, 2013, 2014a) and interdisciplinary collaborations combining documentary and archaeological evidence under the Humanities for Environment Circumpolar Observatories initiative (Hartman et al, 2017; , last accessed 2.15.19).…”

Integrating cultural and biological perspectives on long-term human-walrus (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus) interactions across the North Atlantic

“…There may also have been limited exchange of ivory between the Norse, Dorset, and, more likely, Thule (Gulløv, 2008(Gulløv, , 2016Sutherland, 2000;Park, 2008). According to both historical and archaeological sources, Norse Greenlandic human settlements began to decline in the first half of the fifteenth century, coinciding with a range of factors including declining walrus ivory demand in mainland Europe, an increased supply of alternative sources of ivory, environmental degradation in Greenland, climatic changes, and reduced contact with Europe (Rijkelijkhuizen, 2009;Keller, 2010;Frei et al, 2015;Hambrecht, 2015).…”