Landnám ("land take" in Old Norse) is a type of agriculture used in the 9th and 10th centuries by Norse farmers during their expansion into the Atlantic from their homes in Scandinavia. Essentially, when the Norse came to Iceland and Greenland, they instituted the form of farming they practiced at home: cattle grazing. Didn't work very well.
Iceland Vista taken from Borgarvirki in Vestur-Húnavatnssýsla; photo by Atli Harðarson
Scholars sometimes use landnám to mean "colonization": which is right on the mark, because the processes of landnám brought about not just an infusion of people colonies, but also plant colonies into a region. The Norse colonies in Greenland lasted three hundred years before failing: scholars believe they fell victim to climate change and their unwillingness to adapt the landnám system to new circumstances.
A recent article in Vegetation History and Archaeobotany by Norse scholars JE Schofield and KJ Edwards describes how archaeologists use the presence of pollen, charcoal and fungal spores to identify landnám in a landscape, and gives me a terrific reason to update my article on Viking agriculture.
Schofield J, and Edwards K. 2011. Grazing impacts and woodland management in Eriksfjord: Betula, coprophilous fungi and the Norse settlement of Greenland. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 20(3):181-197.
Comments
I love the photo. Makes me want to visit Iceland.
Regarding the inability of the Norse to adapt due to climate
changes and their stubornness to modify their agricultural
methods brings to mind another fact which I had come upon
There was some contact with the Inuit who knew how to
survive in artic conditions and they could have learned much
from this Eskimo people but they looked down on the Inuit
as inferior and repulsive.
Hello Khris
I have been receiving your mail for a few years now and I always derive some interesting information. Thanks for all the tit bits.I would like you to be aware of the history of Sea Levels
and how they have influenced the development of civilization.
Have you ever stopped to think why all ancient civilization appeared, first, in high mountains around the world? The simple reason is that sea levels were that much higher back then. Do you know that Nineveh was established on the estuary of the Tigris River. Did you know that when Cyrus of Persia captured Babylon, Babylon was at the estuary of the Euphrates river. Did you know that Ur of the Chaldees was abusy seaport on the estuary of the Euphrates River at the time that Abraham lived there. DId you know that Baghdad had a harbor on the Persian Gulf in ancient times but is now 350 Miles from the sea. By the same token Babylon is now 400 miles from the sea and 150 feet above sea level, Babylon is 400 miles from the sea and 200 feet aboce sea level and Nineveh is 500 miles from the sea and 700 feet above sea level. I think you should research this and write about it. I can fill you in with more details. See: “The Mysterious Receding Seas” Articles and Videos on Google and youtube. by Richard Guy.
THanks. This is a good summary of the article and provides interesting food for thought. Especially after attending a week-long meeting at Teotihuacan, Mexico, and heading for Tula tomorrow.