The Demise of the Norse

In this post I am going to look at the Norse civilisation in Greenland and how they came to their demise. I look at the literature to question whether or not this had anything to do with climate change. I think it is important to look at the collapse of civilisations in the past not only because i find it interesting, but also because it could give us some pointers on how we could deal with climate change in the future. 

In 986AD, Eric the Red and his followers began settling in Greenland in search of land and resources. At this time, the climate was fairly nice for the Norse, however at around 1300AD the temperature began to cool abruptly the Little Ice Age set in at 1400 AD.

This Graph uses evidence from two lake sediment cores to determine the temperature of Greenland through different civilisations (D'Andrea et al, 2011)

This Graph shows evidence of climate change occurring over the period when the Norse occupied Greenland, but was it the cause of their demise?  There is no arguing that the change in climate will have had a major affect on the lifestyles of the Norse:

A cooler climate = Soil degradation affecting -> Agriculture -> food sources-> Economies and trade -> PEOPLE

A cooler climate = Increased sea ice affecting -> Trade Routes -> Economies -> PEOPLE

But there is a big debate in the literature over whether climate change was the main factor in the Norse demise. It seems odd that the Little Ice Age also took its toll on Iceland, however the Vikings survived there. McGovern (1991) suggests that the Norse chose not to adapt to the changing climatic conditions and suck with their traditional routines, causing them to ultimately die. Dugmore et al (2007)  argue that changing market conditions in the European market, with the re-introduction of elephant ivory, heighten the sensitivity of the Norse to climate change causing their collapse. Rather, Diamond (2005) suggests that it could have been down to an increased hostility with the Inuit, leading to unrest.

There has been much Palaeoenvironmental research undertaken to understand the collapse of the the Norse (see Edwards et al, 2011; Perren et al, 2012; and D'Andrea et al, 2011). Scientists observe the changes which took place in the flora and fauna in relation to climate at that time. All show that Norse farming did not have a big imprint on environmental proxies, indicating little agricultural change and making conclusions difficult to draw. However, it should be noted that no single and continuous mutiproxy record has been obtained within the immediate region of a Norse site in Greenland (Perren et al, 2012). This should be completed in order to gain more thorough Palaeoenvironmental knowledge which should be able to provide more evidence for the demise of the Norse between 1480- 1500 AD.

Overall, i think this topic is so interesting is because i feel it shows how climate change has an impact on many different things. Changes in climate cause a chain reaction and result on consequences on populations which affect lifestyles significantly. I look forward to reading more research on the Norse culture in the future!

                                                               Eric the Red