Insights

Lessons of the Norse Greenlanders (4) — how the past informs the present

Thomas McGovern, archaeologist

In this final in a series of four linked Bifrost Insights, archaeologist Thomas McGovern discusses the well known but imperfectly understood case of the Norse Greenlanders and the role that climate change and other factors played in the curious fate of their society. The Norse settled in Greenland with a significant population at the tail end of the Viking Age. Their society developed to support more than one settlement and eventually saw the establishment of a Bishopric. But just 500 years after its founding the society ended mysteriously. It is a story with unexpected turns and multiple dimensions that are unpacked in a series of four Insight installments. Thomas McGovern reflects on what object lessons can be drawn from the case of the Norse Greenlanders and how an understanding of their successes and failures can help to inform the challenges we face in the 21st century with a dramatically changing climate.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921818116303356

Bifrost gratefully acknowledges the leadership of the sustainability education project Svartarkot Culture Nature and the research networks NIES and NABO for all their valuable support and work behind the scenes that helped make the interview excerpted in this video possible. Grateful acknowledgment is also made to the Kiðagil Guesthouse, where the interview was filmed.

What challenges do we face from climate change and how can we meet them?

To truly meet the challenges of climate change we must “build connections between people, among nations, with policymakers, with stakeholders, that give us some framework for a sustained response to what will be a sustained problem.”

Lessons of the Norse Greenlanders (4) — how the past informs the present

Part 4 of 4 linked installments on the Norse Greenlanders and how climate change impacted their society, which died out 500 years after original settlement in the Viking Age. Focus of this segment: How the fate of this medieval society is relevant to present-day challenges.

Lessons of the Norse Greenlanders (3) — adaptation and path dependency

Part 3 of 4 linked installments on the case of the Norse Greenlanders and the role that climate change played in the fate of their society, which died out 500 years after original settlement in the Viking Age. Focus of this segment: adaptation and path dependency.

Lessons of the Norse Greenlanders (2) — traditional ecological knowledge

Part 2 of 4 linked installments on the case of the Norse Greenlanders and the role that climate change played in the fate of their society, which died out 500 years after original settlement in the Viking Age. Focus of this segment: local and traditional ecological knowledge.

Lessons of the Norse Greenlanders (1) — conjunctures

Part 1 of 4 linked installments on the case of the Norse Greenlanders and the role that climate change and other factors played in the curious fate of their society, which died out 500 years after original settlement in the Viking Age. Focus of this segment: conjunctures.

How can understanding the past help us address future climate change?

Reflecting on the value of history as we prepare to meet present and future challenges, archaeologist Thomas McGovern notes that the past can be both an inspiration and a warning, as we now face change on an unprecedented scale in our own lifetimes.

How are societies in the Circumpolar North affected by climate change?

Due to climate change, threats to cultural heritage along coastal regions are imminent. Whole communities in some cases are being claimed by the sea and significant archaeological sites we never knew existed before are being wiped away before they can even be documented.

How is climate change impacting the archaeological record?

Rising sea levels, storminess, and coastal erosion, among other effects of climate change, pose significant threats to heritage and the environmental archive, resulting in potential losses of knowledge that archaeologist Thomas McGovern compares to the burning of the Great Library of Alexandria.

Credit: Hartman, Steven, Peter Norrman, Anders Birgersson and Thomas McGovern. Lessons of the Norse Greenlanders (4) — how the past informs the present. Originally published in bifrostonline.org, 12 February 2017 (CC BY-SA 2.0)

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