Fall+of+Viking+Colony+at+Greenland+Essay

Viking Colony at Greenland (notes) __ //** - Strong communal society - Chieftain or clan society - No central government. - Chieftain has his own domain of influence - To maintain power; chieftain has to gain followers who will: - Chieftain can be counted on to: - Structure is competitive and often unstable (may have played a role in the abandonment of Greenland) - “pagans”: worshipping Germanic religion - ^ fertility god Frey, sky god Thor, war god Odin, and etc - 1000 Christianity introduced - Most rules based on religion 
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 * Socio-Political Structure **
 * support him in an armed conflict if necessary
 * promote him as a leader and spread his fame
 * pay him taxes in the form of a share of their crops, game, and other resources
 * protect the rights and welfare of supporters
 *    take supporter’s side in legal and other disputes
 *    share his supplies in time of famine (or other disasters)

**Agriculture & the Economy**  - Colony included 250 farms (average of 20 people per farm) - Farms established over un-glaciated areas of south - Livestock included sheep, goats and cows - ^ mainly used for milking, rather meat - Diet included meat from wild animals (especially caribou and seals) - Harvested cabbage, beets, rhubarb and lettuce - Norwegian merchant vessels stopped arriving in ports - ^ Viking colony cut off major source of iron and tools (needed to run farms) - Farmlands (fully exploited) had lost fertility - Cutting of dwarf willows and alders for fuel, deprived soil of anchor of roots causing erosion - ^ Pollen analysis shows dramatic loss in these species - Deforestation and overgrazing of sheep and goats continued to erode topsoil - Livestock consumed any regenerating scrub - Pollen of willows and birch tress decreased - Pollen of grass, sedges, weeds, and pasture plants increased (brought in by Vikings to for animal feed) - Became short of lumber (deduced through from absence of large wooden panels and furniture at most Norse Ruins) - Livestock dying out due to harsh climates - Settlers defiantly attempted to maintain farming culture during harsh climate changes - ^ unlike Inuit who quickly adapted - trading with Norway - ^ exchanged live falcons, polar bear skins, narwhal tusks, walrus ivory, hides for timber, iron, tools, raisins, nuts, wine and other essentials
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Events & Leaders ** **Erik the Red** - Exiled from Iceland for murder - first to settle Greenland in 985 - Son of Erik the Red - 1000, first of European origin to set foot on North American mainland - Introduced Christianity to Viking Colony **Ivar Bardsson** - Priest -1261 Greenlandic Parliament acknowledges Norwegian King's supremacy & right to claim taxes - Europe and colony grew farther apart - Inuit arrived slightly later in Greenland - ^ competing with for animal resources - Last news from Greenland: wedding at church in Hvalsey on September of 1408 - Researchers discovered bones of family hunting dog with butcher marks upon them, sign of desperate (hunger) times among settlers - English and German pirates made several brutal attacks on Iceland in fifteenth century (possibly struck Greenland as well) - Various Norse items have been found at Inuit camps in Greenland - ^ suggestive Greenlanders may also have been seized by Inuit during raids  Climate & Geographical Factors ** - 800 A.D. – 1300 A.D. climate relatively mild - frozen land mostly covered with glaciers - winters are long, dark, and fierce - due to harsh weathers, settlers averagely lived from 30-35 years - around 1300 climate began to grow colder and colder (known as “The Little Ice Age”) - ^ effects first felt by the Western Settlement - 1420, The Little Ice Age in full swing ** Transportation & Weaponry **  - Clubs and nets to kill wild animals for meat - ** Bows used in opening of battle and over sea ** - fought with spears, shieds, seax (large knife) - Failed to adopt hunting gear (toggle harpoon, fishhooks) and stuck with their farms - Failed to adopt appropriate apparel employed by Inuit - sailing very popular for Vikings - small ships used for short local travel - long boat (powered by sail and oars) used to frighten enemies - Norwegian merchant vessels stopped arriving in the colony's ports, this meant Vikings were cut off major source of iron and tools, which needed to maintain boats
 * Leif Eriksson**

**Plague & Disease** <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 宋体; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-font-kerning: 1.0pt;"> - Analysis of Norse skeletal remains shows a decrease in stature to below 5ft tall - Increase in inner ear disease. - Impact of Black Plague on Norway and Iceland doomed the trade that could have provided Greenlanders with supplies to survive - Teeth showed heavy wear - Joints of many adults were thickened by rheumatism - Black Plague possibly infected Greenlanders <span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 宋体; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-font-kerning: 1.0pt;">**Other Info** <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 宋体; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-font-kerning: 1.0pt;"> - Vikings inhibited Greenland for about 500 years - Population of about 5,000 - settlers remained culturally and religiously linked to relative in Europe - two settlement s in Greenland, the Western and the Eastern - analysis of fly shows a change from debris eating species to carrion eating species - ^ evidence of some settlers dying in there beds - 1480 – 1500 Viking Colony at Greenland disappears