Garðar is the name of a Viking age estate on Greenland, within in the so-called Eastern Settlement. The Norse colonization of Greenland began in 983 AD, and was led by Erik the Red, from Iceland. A settler named Einar who came with Erik settled in this location near a natural harbor, and Garðar was eventually the home of Erik's daughter Freydis. Garðar is within what is today the modern village of Igaliku, itself founded about 1800.
- Read more about the Eastern Settlement
Garðar was also said to be the location of the Eastern Settlement's general assembly (Thing). In AD 1124, an episcopal see was established at Garðar, and the first bishop, Arnald, arrived in 1126, moving in to Freydis' home.
Garðar's estate held kept between 75 and 100 head of cattle, in addition to unknown numbers of sheep and goats. This amount of livestock would have required some 15 hectares of fodder each year to keep the animals alive during the winters and summer droughts. Recently, archaeologists have discovered a complex water management regime, with dams and irrigation channels, to water the hay during summer droughts and protect it over the winter. Other Viking Age farm components identified at Garðar include the remains of a smithy, and a permanent well.
The last bishop at Garðar, Alfur, died in 1378; documentary evidence about the Garðar estate ends in 1409, although it is uncertain whether people continued to live there until the Eastern Settlement was abandoned entirely, ca 1450-1550.
Archaeology at Gardar
Archaeological investigations of Garðar were first conducted by Poul Norlund in the 1920s. Geo-archaeology research was led by a group from the University of Aberdeen in the early 21st century.
Sources
This glossary entry is a part of the About.com Guide to the Viking Age and part of the Dictionary of Archaeology.
Buckland, Paul C., Kevin J. Edwards, Eva Panagiotakopulu, and J. E. Schofield 2009 Palaeoecological and historical evidence for manuring and irrigation at Garðar (Igaliku), Norse Eastern Settlement, Greenland. The Holocene 19:105-116.
