konrad smiarowski (cuny) & christian k madsen (copenhagen) economics of extinction in norse...
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Konrad ŚmiarowskiPhD ProgramThe Graduate Center CUNY365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10016-4309 [email protected]
Economic of Extinction in Greenland –Zooarchaeology of Vatnahverfi Region in Norse
Eastern Settlement
Norse Settlements
Western Settlement
Norðursetur
Eastern Settlement
•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.
•The Norðursetur (Northern Hunting Grounds) were in the Disko Bay area, 800 km N of the settlements.
•Western Settlement becomes extinct ca 1350 (switch from “Norse” settled cultural landscape to “Inuit” mobile landscape)
•Eastern Settlement lasts at least another 100 years
E 74
2008 sitesE64 InnoqassaqE68 Timerliit
Map by Mikkelsen, Kuijpers, Lasse and Vedel
2009-2010 siteE172 Tatsip Ataa
2005-06 sitesE 29 BrattahlidE74 Qorlortorsuaq
2007 sitesE78 EqaluitE172 Tatsip AtaaE64 InnoqassaqE60
The Vatnahverfi Project-- IPY NABO Excavations
2011 sitesE3, E4, E171, E168
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 atthe time of the excavations – Global warming severely affected waterlogged, frozen deposits in ALL of SW Greenland
0%
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% NISP
Domestic Mammals Cetacea Seals Birds Fish Mollusca Caribou Other Mammals
Wild and Domestic
Seal Biology in Greenland
• 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
Harp
Hooded
Map: Aqqalu Rosing-Asvid
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
Modern Drift Ice & Sealing Conditions
Modern Seal Catch
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Qaqortoq 1954-75 Narsaq 1954-75 Kapisillt 1954-75
% o
f sea
ls ta
ken
Ringed Common Bearded Hooded Harp
Former Eastern and Western Settlement areas
Brattahlið (E Settlement) % Identified Seal Bones
Brattahlid N Farm Identified Seals
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ca 1200-1250 ca 1250-1300 post-1300
V IV III
% N
ISP
Iden
tifie
d se
al
Harp seal Harbor seal Hooded seal
• 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 ?
Why Low Common Seal Numbers in the Later Phases ?
Connecting Deep Sea Cores, GISP Temperature Reconstruction,
Zooarchaeology & Climate Thresholdsin 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 WeinerEnvironmental change in eastern Greenland during the last 1300years; evidence from foraminifera and lithofacies in NansenFjord, 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 past1500 years. The Holocene 14,2, 152-164
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Sealing Changes
Ringed Common Bearded Hooded Harp
Seal Bone Distribution in W and E Settlements
Western Settlement
Early
Later
Data from Śmiarowski, McGovern and Enghoff
Eastern Settlement
• 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
(Preliminary data)
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E 172 Major Taxa1000‐1100 vs. 1200‐1300
E172 Ph1
E172 Ph 3
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Cattle Horse Dog Pig Caprine
E 172 Domestic Mammals 1000‐1100 vs. 1200‐1300
E172 Ph1
E172 Ph 3
Decrease in Farm Productivity
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pre 1200 ca 1200-1250 ca 1250-1300 post-1300 1000-1100 1200-1300 980-1035 latermedieval
1040-1300 1300-1400
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
Marine to Terrestrial Mammal Bone Ratio
“Seasonal sheep station”
Central E. Settlement
VatnahverfiSW E. Settlement
Inland Vth.
Intensification of seal hunting
Eastern Settlement vs Western Settlement
-21
-20,5
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-17,5
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-13 Tj#18
Tj#28
Ø35a
Tj#11
Ø35c
Ø35b
Ø48a
V51#197
V51#240
Tj#12
Ø48b
Tj#25
Tj#16
Tj#27
Tj#26
Tj#19
Ø35a
V7#175
Ø47#20
V51#250
Ø111#205
Ø149#214
Ø149#216
V51#258
Ø47#21
Ø111#208
Ø111#210
V51#253
V51#1
Ø66#24
V51#256
V7K-4117
Ø23a
V51#249
V51#255
V51#3
V51#5
Ø149#215
V51#6
Ø1b
Ø23b
Ø23a
Ø111#206
Ø111#207
Ø149#9
V51#184
V51#247
V51#254
Ø149#213
Ø149#8
V51#4
Ø66#23
V7#174
Ø149#10
V7K-4120
Ø149#7
V51#2
Ø111#13
Ø1a
Ø111#15
Ø111#14
C13
con
tent
s
Sample ID
Østerbygden Vesterbygden
Period I: ca. 980 ‐ 1160
Period II: ca. 1160 ‐ 1300
Period III: ca. 1300 ‐
Data from the Nationalmuseet research team, Jette Arneborg et al.
Greenland Isotope ProjectDiet in Norse Greenland AD 1000 – 1450
50%
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0%
• 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?
International Collaboration in Greenland 2005-12 – Many Thanks!
• Thomas McGovern - NABO North Atlantic BioculturalOrganisation
• Sophia Perdikaris - HERC Human EcodynamicsResearch 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