Some Zooarchaeology Connections: Seals, Ice, Climate Change, Adaptation,& Hazard in Norse Greenland Multiple Archaeofauna ( ) Large Sample Sizes Improved Comparability –Excavation –Identification –Data management & Reporting

Norse N Atlantic Colonization c CE Westwards into the Arctic, Crossing Climate Gradients Ice Riding Seal Populations

Norse Sealing in Greenland: Arctic species and migratory riches New Species Encountered: Migratory Harp and Hooded seals, non- migratory Ringed and Bearded Seal. Norse Greenlanders rapidly exploit seasonal Harp and Hooded seal migration (nets, clubs, boat drives: coordinated labor). No harpoons in Norse sites. Non-migratory (breathing hole) seals taken w/harpoons by Inuit are rarely hunted by Norse. Missing technology = missed opportunity??? OR: different cultural orientation & different (communal) adaptation?

Successful Norse Sealing in Greenland By the 14 th c. small farms show the highest % of seal bones but ALL Norse Greenlandic Archaeofauna are very seal-rich Small Farm Mid-Range Chieftain Farm

Even on Chieftain Farms in the richest parts of the Eastern Settlement, the proportion of marine (mainly seal) bones to all terrestrial mammal bones goes up: especially after ca

Inland Icelandic Pagan Burials

Faroese Whaling Traditional (at least to11 th c) Communal boat drive Cultural Core Experience Provides food (esp. during WW2) Connection to Heritage Reaffirmation of Community Solidarity Not eco-tourist friendly

Greenland Field Projects (CUNY, KNK, SILA, National Museum DK)

Norse Migratory Sealing Requires “Commuting” from inner fjord pastures that support farms to the outer fjord sealing areas in early spring. Small “six oared boats” mentioned in surviving documents are probably rare, valuable, and vulnerable. Travel costs, weather hazard, point- source-failure vulnerability?

Connecting Deep sea cores, 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 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) 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,

Summer Ice, Growing Season, and Seal Populations Summer drift ice disrupts local travel in Norse Eastern Settlement area. Drift ice also cools sea level pastures, reducing growing season of the most productive plant communities. Summer drift ice adversely affects harbor seal colonies.

Harbor Seals & Sea Ice Ogilvie, A., Smiarowski K, et al Journal of the North Atlantic 2009 Harbor seals (brown) are commonly taken in Norse E Settlement before c , but become rare after In the W Settlement (not affected by summer drift ice), there is no harbor seal crash post-1300

985 AD F E 14th Century AD 12th Century AD Fig. 1: Central Greenland derived palaeotemperatures (GISP ) E: Departures from mean (right hand scale) F: Cumulative departures from mean (left hand scale) Upper Curve shows changes in year-to-year predictability. Jagged areas (boxes) show periods of high inter-annual variability. Stress points for human planning? Dugmore, Andy, Christian Keller & Thomas H. McGovern, 2007 Reflections on climate change, trade, and the contrasting fates of human settlements in the North Atlantic islands, Arctic Anthropology 44(1):