Lessons of the Norse Greenlanders
HOW THE PAST INFORMS THE PRESENT
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. 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.
HOW ARE SOCIETIES IN THE CIRCUMPOLAR NORTH AFFECTED BY CLIMATE CHANGE?
Sea-level rise and increased storminess associated with climate change are having profound effects on local communities in the Circumpolar North, though these effects are different in different places. The threats to cultural heritage along the coastal regions are imminent, as 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 we have a chance to document them.
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.
HOW CAN UNDERSTANDING THE PAST HELP US ADDRESS FUTURE CLIMATE CHANGE?
The past is full of examples of human societies that underwent painful transitions — even collapse — when faced with dramatic climate and other environmental changes. 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. Knowledge of the past is indispensable, he notes, “if we are going to be effective in building scenarios that can take us through what will be interesting times to genuine sustainability in the future.”
CONJUNCTURES
Archaeologist Thomas McGovern discusses the significance of conjunctures in the eventual collapse of the Norse Greenlandic society, which was founded with a significant population at the tail end of the Viking Age, supporting more than one settlement and eventually seeing the establishment of a Bishopric, only to be gone mysteriously from Greenland just 500 years later.
For more on this subject see: Cultural adaptation, compounding vulnerabilities and conjunctures in Norse Greenland
TRADITIONAL ECOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE
Thomas McGovern discusses the significance of local and traditional ecological knowledge (L/TEK) and one or more ways in which it may have factored into the story of Norse Greenlandic society. The Norse settled in Greenland with a significant population at the tail end of the Viking Age.
ADAPTATION AND PATH DEPENDENCY
Thomas McGovern discusses the significance of adaptation and path dependency in the curious story of Norse Greenlandic 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.
CREDIT: Hartman, Steven, Peter Norrman, Anders Birgersson and Thomas McGovern. Originally published in bifrostonline.org, 12 February 2017 (CC BY-SA 2.0) WII gratefully acknowledges bifrostonline.org, 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.