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A multiple profile approach to the palynological reconstruction of Norse landscapes in Greenland's Eastern Settlement

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Paul M. Ledger ,
Kevin J. Edwards  and
J. Edward Schofield
Paul M. Ledger*
Affiliation:
Department of Geography and Environment, University of Aberdeen, Elphinstone Road, Aberdeen AB24 3UF, UK
Kevin J. Edwards
Affiliation:
Department of Geography and Environment, University of Aberdeen, Elphinstone Road, Aberdeen AB24 3UF, UK Archaeology, School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen, Elphinstone Road, Aberdeen AB24 3UF, UK
J. Edward Schofield
Affiliation:
Department of Geography and Environment, University of Aberdeen, Elphinstone Road, Aberdeen AB24 3UF, UK
*
* Corresponding author.E-mail address:paul.m.ledger@gmail.com(P.M. Ledger).
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Abstract

Palynological research is increasingly revealing the landscape impacts of Norse colonisation in southern Greenland. Typically, although not exclusively, these studies are from depositional environments with highly localised pollen source areas close to fjord-side centres of medieval power. In contrast, this paper presents data from Vatnahverfi, an inland district of the Eastern Settlement, and explores the emergence of a cultural landscape through three pollen sequences at variable distances from Norse farms. Two are from mires with small pollen source areas close to (<100 m) and distant from (≥1500 m) probable farming activities. The other provides a more regional signal of vegetation change, albeit one located close to a Norse settlement. Landnám is marked primarily through an increase in microscopic charcoal and the appearance of pollen from Rumex acetosella, although significant differences between profiles are noted. Close to Norse ruins, pollen productivity from grassland communities increases and woodland and scrub representation declines. Further from archaeological remains, palynologically inferred human activity is primarily characterised by decreased productivity, notably declining influx from woodland and scrub species, reflecting grazing herbivores or coppicing. Abandonment of Vatnahverfi is indicated from the late 14th to early 15th century AD.

Keywords

PaleoecologyNorse Eastern SettlementLandnámPollenGreenlandGrazingWoodland managementCultural landscapePollen influx
Type
Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 82 , Issue 1 , July 2014 , pp. 22 - 37
Copyright
University of Washington

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