2012
J. Arneborg,
N. Lynnerup,
J. Heinemeier,
J. Møhl,
N. Rud,AD
and1000–AD
Á.E. Sveinbjörnsdóttir
Greenland
Isotope Project:
Diet in Norse
Greenland
1450
Journal of the North Atlantic
2012
1
Special Volume 3:1–39
Norse Greenland Dietary Economy ca. AD 980–ca. AD 1450:
Introduction
Jette Arneborg1,2,*, Niels Lynnerup3, Jan Heinemeier4, Jeppe Møhl5, Niels Rud4, and Árný E. Sveinbjörnsdóttir6
Abstract - An initial study of the 13 C values for human bone collagen of 27 Norse Greenlanders in the late 1990s suggested a
change in the Norse diet from predominantly terrestrial to predominantly marine food. This shift may well indicate a change
in diet; the question left open by the limited initial isotope study was, however, whether the change in diet was a reÀection
of altered subsistence strategies or altered farming practices. Furthermore, the ¿rst study did not convincingly answer the
question of whether the dietary change occurred gradually over time or within the space of a few years—and, if the latter
case, when? Neither did it answer questions concerning dietary differences between the two Norse settlements, between
individual farms and between the sexes, or the nature of the marine food that was consumed. Distinguishing locally born
people from foreigners is yet another matter for investigation in order to leave out of account persons that grew up outside
of Greenland. This new study includes 437 samples: 183 from humans—118 Norse and 65 Inuit—and 254 from animals.
The samples are from 19 Norse sites (farms): 13 from the Eastern Settlement and 6 are from the Western Settlement. For
comparison, we have also included samples from both humans and animals from 22 Inuit sites. This paper sets the scene for
the new study and the following papers in this Special Volume. Former studies in Norse diet and Norse resource utilization
are recapitulated, and all the Norse sites represented in the study are presented, as are all the samples included in the study.
Chronology is a recurrent problem in Norse archaeology, and our focus, in particular, is on the attempt to date the samples
included in the study that have not been radiocarbon dated.
Introduction
You are what you eat—this saying covers mankind’s
relationship with daily food in more ways than one.
Diet and food systems reÀect human exploitation of,
and attitude towards, the surrounding environment
and are bound up with resource utilization and the
subsistence economy. The subject involves factors
such as production, farming and hunting practices,
distribution, and consumption and it reÀects social
relations linking humans together. Human food—
individual meals and food consumption over longer
periods—can, to a certain extent, be reconstructed on
the basis of archaeological evidence such as kitchen
lay-out, kitchen equipment and tableware, agricultural and hunting equipment, animal bones deposited on house Àoors, and refuse deposits outside.
Evidence from studies of pollen and macro-remains
of plants that have contributed to the diet provides
further information. The most direct evidence for the
reconstruction of past diets is, however, provided
by humans themselves. Through isotope analysis of
bone collagen, it is possible to gain an insight into
the food consumption of individual populations over
long periods of time.
Owing to the ethnic and cultural homogeneous
population and the relatively well-preserved bones
of both humans and animals, wild and domesticated,
the Norse settlements in South Greenland are par1
ticularly suited to isotopic diet studies. An initial
study of the į13 C values for human bone collagen of
27 individuals in the late 1990s suggested a change
in the Norse diet from predominantly terrestrial to
predominantly marine food. Between 20 and 30% of
the diet of the early 11th century settlers was marine
in origin, which corresponds more or less to what
was found in contemporary Scandinavian settlers
in the Scottish Isles (Barrett et al. 2000, 2001). In
the late settlement period in the ¿rst half of the 15th
century AD, however, up to about 80% of the food of
some Norse Greenlanders was of marine origin (Fig.
1; Arneborg et al. 1999, Lynnerup 1998).
This shift may indicate a change in diet, which is
in accordance with theories on the Norse subsistence
economy arrived at on the basis of the animal bone
record (McGovern 1985). The question left open
by the limited initial isotope study was, however,
whether the change in diet was a reÀection of altered
subsistence strategies or altered farming practices
(e.g., related to famine and the need to supplement
husbandry with seaweed and ¿sh refuse). Furthermore, neither the zooarchaeological evidence nor
the data from the ¿rst isotope studies answer convincingly the question of whether the dietary shift
occurred gradually over time or within the space
of a few years—and if the latter case, then when?
Furthermore, the initial limited study did not answer
Danish Middle Ages and Renaissance, Research and Exhibitions, The National Museum of Denmark Frederiksholms Kanal
12, DK-1220 Copenhagen. DK 2Institute of Geography, School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.
3
Laboratory of Biological Anthropology, Section of Forensic Pathology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. 4AMS 14C
Dating Centre, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 120, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark. 5Zoological Museum, Natural History Museums of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. 6Institute of Earth
Science, University of Iceland, Sturlugate 7, S-101 Reykjavík, Iceland. *Corresponding author - [email protected].
2
Journal of the North Atlantic
questions concerning dietary differences between
the two settlements, between individual farms, and
between the sexes, or the nature of the marine food
consumed. Distinguishing locally born people from
foreigners (immigrants?) is yet another matter for
study in order to leave out of account persons that
grew up outside of Greenland.
To a certain degree, the past diet (i.e., consumption in a long-term perspective) of the Norse
Greenland settlers has been discussed for years on
the basis of the zooarchaeological record (McGovern 1985). Through stable isotope analysis (į13 C
and į15 N) of all the suitable Norse human remains
in the collections of the Anthropological Laboratory at the Panum Institute in Copenhagen1, and
selected bone samples from all the animals represented at Norse farms2, we aim to obtain an even
closer picture of the dietary economy of the Norse
Greenlanders to study the living conditions of the
Norse settlers in a long time perspective.
At the individual level, we want to explore what
kind of food was consumed and whether the longterm dietary economy patterns contribute to the
discussion of the depopulation of the Norse Greenland settlement in the second half of the 15th century.
Special Volume 3
smaller and more northerly Western Settlement was
situated in the Nuuk hinterland around the Nuuk and
the Ameralik-Ameralla fjords.
To date, about 560 Norse sites have been recorded in the Eastern Settlement and around 75 in
the Western Settlement (Fig. 3; National Museum
of Greenland, Ancient Monuments Register). Even
though is it evident that not all the sites were independent economic units (see for instance Albrethsen
and Arneborg 2004), not all the farms could have
been occupied at the same time, given the assumed
size of the population. Lynnerup (1998:100ff.) has
estimated the total number of inhabitants over time
in the two Norse settlements as about 26,000, and
with about 2000 at the peak of settlement around
1250. With an average of about 10 individuals per
farm during the peak period, a total of about 200
farms must have been occupied.
The last written evidence from the Eastern
Settlement is the account of a wedding that took
The Norse Settlements of Southern Greenland
The Norse colonists arrived in Southwest Greenland at the end of the 10th century. The settlement
consisted of individual farms concentrated in two
main areas (Fig. 2). The Eastern Settlement—including the so-called Middle Settlement—extended
from the Cape Farewell region in the south to Tissaluup Ilua in Sermesoq municipality in the north. The
Figure 1. The results of the ¿rst isotope study on Norse
Greenland human remains.
Figure 2. The Norse settlements in Greenland were concentrated in two main areas. The Eastern settlement between
60° and 61°N, and the Western Settlement around 64°N.
2012
J. Arneborg, N. Lynnerup, J. Heinemeier, J. Møhl, N. Rud, and Á.E. Sveinbjörnsdóttir
3
Figure 3. The Norse settlement. Each marking represents a Norse site. Each site holds between one and 60 individual ruins.
Østerbygden = the Eastern Settlement. Mellembygden is a modern name for the concentration of ruins south of Tissallup Ilua
and is regarded part of the medieval Eastern Settlement. Vesterbygden = the Western Settlement. Map after Arneborg (2004).
4
Journal of the North Atlantic
place in Hvalsey fjord church in 1408, and AMSdates for garments found in graves at the Herjolfsnes
(Ikigaat) churchyard indicate that life in the Eastern
Settlement continued at least until the middle of the
15th century (Arneborg 1996).
Radiocarbon dates indicate that the Western
Settlement was settled a little later than the Eastern
Settlement and, on the basis of Ívar Bárðarson´s
description of Greenland, the abandonment of the
Western Settlement has traditionally been dated to
the middle of the 14th century. However, by 1982,
the conventional radiocarbon dating of human remains from the high-status farm Anavik challenged
the traditional dates. These ¿ndings indicated that
life in the Western Settlement continued until about
1400 (Table 15), and one3 AMS-date (AAR-1144;
Project ID 002 from Sandnes, see Table 12), included
in this study, and dates (see Table 14) from the Farm
Beneath the Sand (referred to from now on as GUS)
support a later date—around 1400—for the depopulation of the Western Settlement than was previously
believed.
The reasons for the depopulation of the Norse
settlements in Greenland are not yet fully understood, and many theories concerning the fate of the
Norse have been put forward over the years. Recent
research has concentrated, in particular, on the
interaction between humans and the environment,
exploitation of resources and economic strategies
and, specifically, the consequences of the climatic
changes that occurred during the Late Middle Ages,
and theories about maladaptation, overuse of the
natural resources, and, lately, the lack of resilience
have been put forward (Diamond 2005, Keller et al
2009, McGovern 2000). Also theories about failing
contacts with Northern Europe and a subsequent
shortage of vital imports have been suggested
as part of an explanation (e.g., Arneborg 2003,
2004:275ff.)
The Natural Setting
Greenland has an Arctic climate in that the average temperature for the warmest month is less than
+10 ºC. In a few places in southwestern Greenland,
the average temperature can exceed +10 ºC, which
marks the boundary for the northern temperate (boreal) region (Bay 2000:40). The climate along the
outer coast is markedly oceanic, but as one moves
inland from the coast towards the ice cap, the climate
becomes more continental with greater extremes of
temperature and lower precipitation. Temperatures
recorded in Igaliku, in the central Norse Eastern
Settlement, and in Kapisillit, situated centrally in the
Norse Western Settlement, reveal that the climate in
the former Western Settlement today is more continental than in the central parts of the former Eastern
Special Volume 3
Settlement. The difference between these two inland
areas is particularly striking in the winter, when it
is considerably colder in the Western Settlement.
Similarly, the growing season there is much shorter
and with less precipitation (Krogh 1982:168–169).
Analyses of ice cores from the Greenland ice cap
show that the Northern Hemisphere has experienced
several temperature changes through time (DahlJensen et al. 1998). The time of the Norse settlement
in Greenland was a period of relative warmth, which
was gradually succeeded by a colder regime. The
middle of the 14th century is reported as being the
coldest period in Greenland during the last thousand
years (Barlow 2001:101). į18 O isotopic climate
signals in the ice cores also indicate variations in
precipitation, with changes from a generally humid
regime during the landnam period (ca. 1004–1075)
to dry and very dry periods in the following centuries. The 14th century was dry and cold (Andersen et
al. 2006).
Biostratigraphic diatom, foraminifera, and dinoÀagellate cyst analyses of two sediment cores
from Igaliku fjord in the center of the Norse Eastern
Settlement provide palaeoenvironmental evidence
revealing the nature of the climate at the time of
settlement. It was relatively mild and moist, which
is in agreement with the climate signals in the ice
cores mentioned above, and with little sea ice. During the 11th century, cooling events occurred and
sea ice increased during cold seasons. From the 13th
century onwards, the colder climate persisted, summer temperatures fell, and the sea ice in the fjords
increased. Simultaneously, wind activity increased,
culminating in the mid-14th century (Jensen et al.
2004, Kuijpers et al 1999, Lassen et al. 2004, Roncaglia and Kuijper 2004).
The Economic Landscape
The individual Norse sites were scattered along
the fjords, along rivers, and by lakes where the surroundings were suitable for pastures and hay¿elds.
The settlement pattern and the layout of the farm
buildings both show the importance placed on animal
husbandry. In Norse times, these sites all had names
which are now forgotten. A few Norse place names
have survived in the written sources, and many attempts have been made to identify these sites (Jónsson 1930). In this publication, Norse place names
such as Brattahlid, Gardar, and Herjolfsnes, which
have become more or less conventions, will be used
on equal terms with the modern Greenlandic names.
Of the ca. 560 recorded sites/ruin groups, data
of mixed quality are available on ca. 488. About
20% of the recorded ruin groups consist of a single
structure and, of these, more than 50% lack dwelling houses. In general, single-ruin sites consist of
2012
J. Arneborg, N. Lynnerup, J. Heinemeier, J. Møhl, N. Rud, and Á.E. Sveinbjörnsdóttir
various kinds of enclosures, pens, shelters for the
free-range livestock, and storehouses belonging to
nearby farms. A few, especially in the Western Settlement, are centralized farms with living quarters
and economic functions, built close together in one
large block (Roussell 1941:159ff.).
A large number of sites (n = 169) consist of
between two and ¿ve ruins and, of these, 21% are
enclosures, animal shelters, and storehouses.
The majority of the Norse sites comprise between
six and 15 individual ruins, whereas a few farms in
the Eastern Settlement comprise between 16 and 45
ruins. These ruins are of dwelling houses, stables,
byres, barns, and various kinds of workshops. Turfand stone-built walls surrounded a few sites, and an
even smaller number also had arti¿cial irrigation
systems (Arneborg 2005). These ¿ndings all indicate
that animal husbandry was based on a combination
of “rough grazing” and more intensive management
with cultivation and storage of fodder and housing
of livestock during the winter. Whether the different
practices are based on chronology is unknown.
The terminology applied to farm structures in
Norse Greenland is a little muddled. This lack of
clarity is partly due to the fact that, in the literature, Danish researchers mostly use the term farm
to refer to the farm buildings and yard linked with
the buildings, whereas, according to Ingvild Øye
(2005a:360f.), the Norwegian and North Atlantic
concept of a farm refers to an entire resource territory, buildings included. In this respect, a farm could
be divided into several holdings or households with
temporary farms/shielings or annex farms (extended
households) close to speci¿c resources such as pastures and ¿shing waters, or they could contain tenant
farms with separate households.
In Greenland, the Brattahlid plain may be an example of a farm with more than one household, having had at least two dwelling houses, one at the North
Farm (Ø29a) and another at the River Farm (Ø29)
(Arneborg 2006:14ff.). In the mountains just above
the Brattahlid plain is yet another group of buildings (site Ø29b), which most probably represents a
shieling site (Arneborg 2006:41f.). Without written
evidence, one can, however, only suggest boundaries
and probable relationships between sites. In the following, the term farm will be used to refer to groups
of ruins (ruin sites) containing one or more buildings
regarded as living quarters (i.e., buildings of stone
and turf and with a midden in front)—though we are
well aware that the number of farms (economically
interrelated units) may become far too high, because
a farm in the North Atlantic sense may include several
households with several living quarters.
According to Norse concepts, the inhabited
and cultivated area of the farm was the bær, and the
nucleus of that area (the farmyard) was the tun. The
5
tun and the bær belonged to the in¿eld, innan garðr,
which in some cases was surrounded by a fence,
garðr. In Iceland the tun is identical with the home
¿eld, innan garðr (Øye 2005a:369, note 5). The
area outside the garðr was the out¿eld, utan garðr.
The in¿eld-out¿eld system originated from a mixed
farming tradition that included both agriculture and
animal husbandry (Øye 2001:402). In the following,
the terms in¿eld/home ¿eld and out¿eld will be used
in full knowledge of the fact that the borders between
the two often are dif¿cult to establish since most
farms in Greenland lack fences around the home ¿eld.
The system of utilizing the resources of mountainous and/or remote areas—the out¿eld or utan
garðr—was an integrated part of the Norse economic strategies known in Western Norway from
the 2nd century onwards (Arge 2005; Benediktsson
1982; Mahler 1991, 2007; Øye 2005a:402ff.; Skrede
2005). The vegetation of the shieling sites was of
crucial importance. People set out for the shieling either to cut grass and bring it back as hay to the barns
of the main farm/holding, or to take their livestock
to the shieling in early summer and stay there as a
long as the grazing was good (e.g., Øye 2005b:12).
In the ¿rst case, the shieling site only required a few
dwelling houses, and in the latter, enclosures and
buildings for dairy production were also necessary.
In Greenland, besides the mountain farm above the
Brattahlid farm in Qassiarsuk, a number of small
sites in the mountains of the Qorlortoq valley, just
north of Qassiarsuk, have been identi¿ed as shielings belonging to the farms/holdings in the lowlands
of the same valley, and both types of shieling activities have been proposed (Albrethsen 1991, Albrethsen and Keller 1986).
Enclosures in the out¿eld had several functions
(Madsen 2007). For instance, the livestock could
be collected here every night for milking, or sheep
could be gathered once a year for shearing. In modern times, Icelandic shepherds rounded up the sheep
in the evening. The animals then spent the night in
the enclosures, before being milked the following
morning and then driven back to the pastures (Bruun
1928:262).
The interior close to the ice is reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) land, and hunting drives recorded in
the Western Settlement upland may reÀect Norse
reindeer hunting (Christensen 1989:20ff.). Today,
reindeer are only present in the Norse Western
Settlement; they became extinct in the former Norse
Eastern Settlement during the 19th century (Meldgaard 1986:10–11).
A few solitary stone houses recorded on the outer
coast reÀect Norse sea hunting (Berglund 1973).
Most probably they were used for storage of both the
catch and the hunting equipment.
6
Journal of the North Atlantic
The Social Landscape
The Norse societies were traditionally strati¿ed,
with the ownership of land as the key issue (Hastrup
1985:107ff., Øye 2005a:365). The landowners may
have exploited the land themselves or they may have
rented out larger or smaller plots of lands to tenants
for speci¿c periods. In his Greenland description,
the Norwegian priest Ívar Bárðarson (Halldórsson
1978:133ff., Jónsson 1930) mentions that some
landowners held many farms, and tenants may have
run these.
Archaeologically, sites with churches and, in
some cases, also banqueting halls (cf. Berglund
1982) and warehouses (cf. Arneborg 2006) have
been identi¿ed as high-status farms. According to
the archaeological record, 16 Eastern Settlement
farms have associated churches. In the Western Settlement, two farms have been recorded as having
an associated church4. Five of the 16 Eastern Settlement farms seem only to have had their churches
during the ¿rst period of settlement, indicating a
progressive centralization of power in the society.
Simultaneously, the churches changed status from
having served family groups and their servants to
serving larger congregations.
In the middle of the 14th century, Ívar Bárðarson
mentions ten large landowners (all having farms
with churches) in the Eastern Settlement, with the
episcopal residence Gardar as the absolutely largest.
Two of the farms belonged—according to Ívar—to
the Norwegian king.
With their large churches, banqueting halls, and
warehouses, Gardar (Ø47, Igaliku), Hvalsey fjord
church (Ø83, Qaqortukulooq; not included in this
study), and Herjolfsnes (Ø111, Ikigaat) may have
comprised the social and economic centers of the
late settlement period, while Gardar (Ø47), with its
52 recorded structures, appears as the most outstanding of all the farms in Norse Greenland.
Resource Utilization and Economy: Written
Accounts, the Animal Bone Record, Pollen, and
Plant Macro-remains
In the few available written accounts, the subsistence economy of the Norse Greenlanders is
described as mixed, with animal husbandry and
pastoralism on the one hand and hunting and ¿shing on the other. When the German monk Adam of
Bremen described the islands of the north in about
A.D. 1070, he knew very little of Greenland. Adam
states that the Greenlanders were Christians and that
their living conditions were like those of the Icelanders. According to Adam, the Icelanders, and consequently the Greenlanders, had no cereals and lived
solely by raising cattle (Adam of Bremen 1978). A
little less than 200 years later, the Konungs skuggsiá
Special Volume 3
(The King’s Mirror) (KS 1926), from the middle of
the 13th century, records that the Greenlanders had
large farms with good pastures and plenty of cattle
and sheep. A few rich farmers even experimented
with growing grain, but most people did not know
of bread. Instead, they subsisted on butter, cheese,
and meat from their animal husbandry, and they also
ate all kinds of wild animals such as reindeer, whale,
seal, and bear.
In 1276, in a letter from Pope Johannes XXI to
the Archbishop of Nidaros, it is said that the Greenlanders subsisted on dairy produce and ¿sh (Reg.
Norv II:158), and Pope Alexander VI states in a
letter from 1492 that in Greenland, “… people live
on dried ¿sh and milk because of the lack of bread,
wine, and oil.”
According to the animal bone record (Bruun
1896:434–437; Degerbøl 1930, 1936, 1941; Enghoff 2003; McGovern 1985, 1992; McGovern et
al.1993, 1996; Møhl 1982), cattle, sheep, and goats
were the most important domesticates on the Norse
farms, and pigs were also present in small numbers
in the early period. Horse bones are also present
in the assemblages, though generally in very small
numbers. At GUS, the number of horse bones is
relatively large, and these represent entire skeletons.
Cut marks on some of the bones indicate that horses
were skinned (Enghoff 2003:75). As a food source,
horses were probably of negligible importance since
there were, in the Middle Ages, strong taboos and
even legislation against the consumption of horse
Àesh (Egardt 1981).
Cattle were kept on all the farms regardless of
size. Even the farmer at the small Western Settlement farm Niaquusat had a cow or two in his byre,
despite the site not being an obvious place for cattle
raising. At the medium-sized, late-phase GUS farm,
the byre had one or two stalls for cattle.
Cattle were most frequent in the Eastern Settlement, whereas sheep and goats dominated in the
Western Settlement. (McGovern 1985:85). At both
settlements, cattle were kept for dairy production
(Enghoff 2003:87; McGovern 1985:103; McGovern
et al. 1993:63, 1996:110), whereas sheep and goats
seem to have been used for milk, meat, and wool
(Enghoff 2003:87, McGovern 1985:103).
Sea hunting formed an important part of the Norse
Greenlander’s economy, and the coastal archipelago
was rich in various kinds of birds (including guillemot, auk, eider, and gulls), seals, and whales (Muus
et al. 1981). Non-migratory seals such as harbor seal
(Phoca vitulina), ringed seal (Phoca hispida), and
bearded seal (Erignathus barbatus) occur in the area.
The latter is, however, more frequent in the Western
Settlement area than in the Eastern Settlement area
(Muus et al. 1981). In spring and early summer, and
again in the autumn, migrating harp seals (Phoca
groenlandica) pass along the coast of Southwest
2012
J. Arneborg, N. Lynnerup, J. Heinemeier, J. Møhl, N. Rud, and Á.E. Sveinbjörnsdóttir
Greenland (Muus et al. 1981). With the thick drift ice,
the hooded seal (Cystophora cristata) is a frequent
guest in the Eastern Settlement region (Muus et al.
1981). Walrus (Odobenus rosmarus) has never been
common south of 66° N in Southwest Greenland. In
the 19th century, however, stragglers were reported
in the Norse areas (Born et al. 1994:6), and a small
population may even have been present in Nuuk
fjord when the Norse settlers arrived (Bruun 1907,
Degerbøl 1936:7). Cod is present all year round in the
deep waters along the outer coast and in the fjords,
and in spring, capelin enter the fjords to ¿nd breeding
grounds near the shore. During the late summer, arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) move up the streams near
the settlements to spawn in the lakes in the hinterland,
and can be caught at that time in extremely large numbers (Muus et al. 1981).
Bones of seal and reindeer dominate the wild
faunal assemblages, but walrus and polar bear are
also present. Seal bones dominate all the assemblages from both settlements. In the Eastern Settlement, most of the bones are of harp and hooded seal,
whereas harp and harbor seal are most frequent at
the Western Settlement (Enghoff 2003:35ff.). Seal
bones are present regardless of whether the farm is
situated close to the coast or far inland. Sealskins
may have been export articles; the fact that entire
animals were taken to even the most remote and
isolated inland farms emphasizes their economic
importance (McGovern 1985:101).
Reindeer played a greater role in the Western Settlement than in the Eastern Settlement (McGovern
1985:85). Reindeer hunting must have been primarily undertaken for meat, as only selected parts of
the animal were brought back to the farms (ibid).
The bone frequencies indicate that reindeer was on
the menu far more often at inland farms than at those
near the coast (Table 5; ibid).
Walrus and polar bear were primarily hunted
north of the settlements. Most of the walrus bone
fragments found in the Eastern Settlement are of
maxillae, indicating that only the valuable tusks were
brought back to the settlement (Enghoff 2003:39;
McGovern1985). In contrast, meat-bearing bones
from all main skeletal parts are present in the GUS
assemblage and in other assemblages from the Western Settlement (Enghoff 2003:39). This different distribution pattern may reÀect the presence of a walrus
colony in the Western Settlement area and suggests
that walrus meat may have formed part of the Norse
diet here, especially during the initial settlement period. Polar bear is mainly represented in the bone assemblages by phalanges and metapodials, indicating
that only the valuable bearskins were brought back
from hunting trips (McGovern 1985: 89).
Fish bones are very rare in the excavated assemblages, which has given rise to a debate as to whether
7
the Norse Greenlanders ¿shed at all. The apparent
lack of ¿sh bones may well reÀect the handling of refuse or methods of ¿sh preparation. For example, ¿sh
could have been cleaned at the ¿shing grounds. The
majority of the bone assemblages derive from midden deposits outside the farm buildings. It is possible
that dogs, foxes, or ravens may have eaten the ¿sh
bones lying on these refuse dumps. In contrast, all
¿nds from GUS derive from inside the building complex itself. Here, meticulous sieving of deposits from
the house Àoors resulted in the retrieval of relatively
large numbers of ¿sh bones, and there is no doubt
that the Norse did exploit the rich ¿sh resources for
dietary purposes. Sculpin (Myoxocephalus scorpius), arctic char(Salvelinus alpinus), capelin (Mallotus villosus), cod (Gadus morhua), three-spined
stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), and halibut
(Reinhardtius hippoglossoides) are all represented in
the bone assemblages from GUS (Enghoff 2003:47
ff.). The bones from GUS also show that ptarmigan
were frequently caught, as were arctic hare—both
most probably for their meat (Enghoff 2003:87f.).
Archaeobotanical Studies
Archaeobotanical studies have never played an
important role in the analysis of Norse resource utilization, and our knowledge of the Norse use of plants
and berries is virtually non-existent. Knud Krogh
(1982:103) reports on pollen of oats found in the turf
wall that surrounded the small 11th-century church at
Brattahlid, showing that the Norse Greenlanders, at
least in the ¿rst period of settlement, grew or tried to
grow cereals for either porridge or bread. At GUS in
the Western Settlement, a fragment of a quernstone
made of local material was found bordering an 11thcentury ¿replace. This ¿nd, quernstones from other
farms, and a single fragment of a baking plate—
unfortunately without provenance—con¿rm that the
Norse Greenlanders may have made bread, though
not the leavened bread made with yeast which is
mentioned in the King´s Mirror, but Àat bread called
leiv (Norwegian). Leiv was made from Àour kneaded
with water and baked in the hot ashes on Àat baking
plates (Øye n.d:17).
Finds from the midden deposits at the Sandnes
farm in the Western Settlement indicate that the Norse
also exploited edible plants. For example, seeds of
crowberry (Empetrum) and mountain cranberry (Vaccinium) were found in small heaps highly reminiscent
of human feces. Seeds and other macro-remains of
knotgrass (Polygonum), corn spurrey (Spergula) and
Àax (Linum), which may also have played a role in the
human diet, were present in the midden deposits as
well (Fredskild and Humle 1991:77-80). In the midden at Niaquusat in the Western Settlement, pollen
of Àax and spurrey was found. Spurrey is not an
8
Journal of the North Atlantic
indigenous plant in Greenland, but is a common weed
of Northern European grain ¿elds, and the plant may
have come to Greenland along with imported corn
(Sørensen 1982:302). Flax is represented by both pollen and macro-remains and was most probably grown
locally. It may have served as either animal fodder
and/or for making linen.
Since the early contributions of Iversen (1934),
there has been a small but growing corpus of pollen-analytical data from the Western and Eastern
Settlements (e.g., Buckland et al. 2009; Edwards et
al. 2008; Fredskild 1973, 1978, 1988; Schofield
et al. 2008). This data tends to be from sampling
sites within and adjacent to settlement areas, and
cannot be discussed further here.
The Dataset
The data for the present study come from 19
Norse sites, and, for comparison, we have also included samples from both humans and animals from
22 Inuit sites. The Inuit samples will be dealt with in
separate part of this report.
The study includes 183 samples from human
bones; 118 Norse and 65 Inuit. 254 samples are
from animal bones. The following domesticates
are represented: cow (Bos taurus), goat (Capra
hircus), sheep (Ovis aries), pig (Sus scrofa), horse
(Equus caballus), and dog (Canis familaris). The
following game animals are represented: harp seal
(Phoca groenlandica), common/harbour seal (Phoca
vitulina), ringed seal (Phoca hispida), bearded seal
(Phoca barbata), hooded seal (Cystophora cristata),
walrus (Odobenus rosmarus), narwhal (Monodon
monoceros), whale (Balaena mysticetus and Monodon monoceros 5), reindeer (Rangifer tarandus),
musk ox (Ovibos moschatus), thick-billed murres
(Uria lomvia) and hare (Lepus articus).
Special Volume 3
The Norse Sites
Of the Norse sites, 13 are from the Eastern Settlement and 6 are from the Western Settlement. The sites
are ranked into three groups on the basis of elements,
layout, and number of buildings (Table 1):
1.
2.
3.
High-status farms with a church.
Medium-sized farms with six or more
buildings that are either dispersed or
built so close together that from the outside they look like one large building (the
centralized farm).
Small farms with ¿ve or less, but more
than one, buildings.
Nine of the sites are classi¿ed as high-status farms
(Ø1, Ø23, Brattahlid Ø29a, Gardar Ø47, Ø66, Ø149,
Herjolfsnes Ø111, Sandnes V51, and Anavik V7).
This is clearly an over-representation, compared to
the fact that only 3% of all Norse Greenland sites belong to this group. The predominance of high-status
sites are bound up with the many human samples
included in the study. Seven farms are considered as
medium-sized farms (GUS, Narsaq Ø17a, Qorlortoq
Ø34, Qorlortoq Ø35, Igaliku Ø48, Vatnahver¿ Ø71,
and Vatnahver¿ Ø167). Of these, one of the farms
from the Western Settlement is of the centralized type
(GUS). Three farms (Niaquusat V48, Nipaatsoq V54,
and Naajaat Kuaat V63) are centralized farms and
classi¿ed as small farms (Figs. 4A, B).
The samples have been selected on the basis of
three criteria:
1. The major dietary species are represented.
2. The Eastern and Western Settlements are
more or less equally represented.
3. The different farm layouts as described
above are represented.
Table 1. Social ranking of farms in the study on the basis of elements. Layout and number of buildings/ruins. The distinction between “parish”
churches and “family” churches is based on the dating of the church. Ø = Eastern Settlement, V = Western Settlement.
Ruin group ID
Farm layout
Number of ruins
“Parish” church
Ø1 - Nuunataaq
Ø17a - Narsaq
Ø23 - Sillisit
Ø29a - Brattahlid
Ø34
Ø35
Ø47 - Gardar
Ø48
Ø66
Ø71N
Ø111 - Herjolfsnes
Ø149
Ø167
V7 - Anavik
V48 - Niaquusat
V51 - Sandnes
V54 - Nipaatsoq
V63
GUS
Dispersed
Dispersed
Dispersed
Dispersed
Dispersed
Dispersed
Dispersed
Dispersed
Dispersed
Dispersed
Dispersed
Dispersed
Dispersed
Dispersed
Centralised
Dispersed
Centralised
Centralised
Centralised
21
13
18
20
17
12
45
11
27
12
10
21
15
8
2
7
1
2
1
Yes
Yes
Yes
Early “family” church
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Farm size
High status
Middle sized
High status
High status
Middle sized
Middle sized
High status
Middle sized
High status
Middle sized
High status
High status
Middle sized
High status
Small
High status
Small
Small (?)
Middle sized
2012
J. Arneborg, N. Lynnerup, J. Heinemeier, J. Møhl, N. Rud, and Á.E. Sveinbjörnsdóttir
Figure 4. The Eastern (A) and Western (B) Settlements, with the farms included in this study.
9
10
Journal of the North Atlantic
All usable human bones were sampled. With
regard to the dietary species, in order to achieve
optimal results, specimens were, wherever possible,
selected according to the following criteria:
1. Degree of preservation.
2. Bone-wall thickness. Only bones with a
good solid bone wall were selected.
3. In order to avoid multiple samples from
single individuals, either the right or the
left side of individual species was chosen.
Chronology
Most of the archaeological investigations included
in the study are from the period before strategraphical
excavations were exercised and before the introduction of radiocarbon dating; consequently, chronological control on the samples was from the outset limited
and mostly not available at all. To compensate for the
missing dating, we have radiocarbon dated a large
number of samples and when possible, on the basis of
the old reports and new experiences, tried to evaluate
the old excavations with the purpose of establishing a
chronology. The evaluated samples were divided into
three parts (AU) within the time span of Norse settlement in Greenland:
Special Volume 3
I. Early period (ca. A.D. 980–ca. A.D. 1160)
II. Middle period (ca. A.D. 1160–ca. A.D. 1300)
III. Late period (ca. A.D. 1300–ca. A.D. 1450)
The Samples from the Eastern Settlement
The “Landnam Farm”, Narsaq Ø17a. The Narsaq plain is one of the earliest settled areas of the
Eastern Settlement, and the ruins here (ruin group
Ø17 and Ø17a) may originally have constituted one
very large farm (Fig. 5).
At Ø17a, only the dwelling itself (ruin 4) has
been investigated archaeologically, ¿rst by C.L. Vebæk (1993) and later by Hans Kapel (2003, unpubl.
report).6 Faunal remains (n = 1738) from the dwelling indicate that the economy of the farm was based
on a combination of animal husbandry and seal
hunting. Sheep and goats dominated, but cattle were
also of some importance. Pigs were kept in small
numbers (McGovern, in Vebæk 1993). The dwelling had two building phases and, on the basis of
the architecture, C.L. Vebæk dated the house to the
landnam period, and later radiocarbon dates were in
keeping with Vebæk’s archaeological dating (Vebæk
1993:73), as were AMS-dates obtained during this
study (Table 2).
Figure 5. The ruins in Narsaq, ruin site Ø17a. The ruins represent what are left of a very large Norse farm. All our samples
are from ruin 4. Map after H. Kapel 2003.
2012
J. Arneborg, N. Lynnerup, J. Heinemeier, J. Møhl, N. Rud, and Á.E. Sveinbjörnsdóttir
11
7
Six samples from Ø17a contribute to the project,
all from domesticated animals. They all derive from
the earliest occupation phase of the dwelling, ruin
4 (AU I). The samples are all from C.L. Vebæk´s
excavations (Table 2).
tions. Nevertheless, some trends can be observed.
Among the domesticates, there is a predominance
of cattle bones, and the relatively large numbers
of seal remains indicate that seal hunting was also
an important part of the economy. Seal bones are,
overall, almost as numerous as remains of cattle
(McGovern 1985:111). The 2006–2007 excavations
con¿rm these earlier observations and accentuate the
importance of seal, which increased through time
(McGovern and Pálsdóttir 2007:36).
Brattahlid, Qassiarsuk, Ø29 & Ø29a. Another
landnam site is on the Qassiarsuk plain in Tunulliar¿k Fjord. A total of 60 ruins are recorded on the
plain and are identi¿ed as the high-status farm Brattahlid, where Erik the Red settled with his
family in the mid-AD 980s. The numerous
ruins include several dwellings, suggesting
that the site was a multiple farm with more
than one household (Fig. 6).
At Qassiarsuk, the northernmost farm
(ruin group Ø29a) is thought to have been
that of Erik the Red. The farm has an associated church. During the earlier period, the
church was the small so-called “Tjodhildes
Church” (Fig. 6, ruin 59). Later, a larger
church replaced the “Tjodhildes Church”
(Fig. 6, ruin 1).
Major excavations at Qassiarsuk were
carried out in 1932 under the direction
of Poul Nørlund and Mårten Stenberger
(1934), concentrating on the later church,
the graveyard, and two dwelling structures
in ruin group Ø29a. More recently, “Tjodhildes Church” was excavated between
1961–65 (for more about the ruins in Qassiarsuk, see Arneborg [2006]), and trial
trenches were dug in the midden at Ø29a
in 2005 and 2006 (Edvardsson 2007).
Conditions for the preservation of organic materials are relatively poor on these
well-drained moraine plains, and only a
few animal bones (n = 304) were collected Figure 6. Ruin sites Ø29a (to the north of the stream) and to the south
during the earlier archaeological investiga- ruin site Ø29, Brattahlid, Qassiarsuk. Map after Krogh (1982).
Table 2. Samples from Narsaq, Ø17a.
Project
ID
Museum ID
14
Provenance
Species
C Age
(BP)
Reservoir
corrected
14
C Age
(BP*)
Calibrated
intercept(s)
į13C (‰)
(1 sigma range) VPDB Lab ID
AU
# 080 KNK D5/1992.572
Ruin 4, by water channel, Sus scrofa 1240 ± 30 1040 ± 30
995
lower cultural layer.
Res.age: 0.45 (980–1020)
-17.19 AAR-6107 I
# 082 KNK D5/1991.573
Ruin 4, by water channel, Ovis aries
lower cultural layer
Ruin 4, by water channel, Ovis aries
-20.25 AAR-6108 I
# 083 KNK D5/1991.574
955 ± 30
1035–1145
(1025–1155)
I
lower cultural layer.
# 084 KNK D5/1991.575
Ruin 4, by water channel, Ovis aries 1140 ± 35
lower cultural layer
895–935
(885–975)
-20.16 AAR-6109 I
# 085 KNK D5/1991.576
Ruin 4, by water channel, Ovis/Capra
lower cultural layer.
I
# 086 KNK D5/1991.577
Ruin 4, by water channel, Ovis/Capra
lower cultural layer.
I
12
Journal of the North Atlantic
Except for one sample of cattle bone, all the samples from Qassiarsuk included in this project derive
from human skeletons excavated in the graveyard at
“Tjodhildes church” in the 1960s (Fig. 7, Table 3).
Special Volume 3
The small “Tjodhildes Church” building consists
of thick turf walls that are presumed to have surrounded an inner wooden construction. The building
had convex long sides typical of 11th-century Scan-
Figure 7. The graves in the church yard at Tjodhildes Church. Determination of sex: red = female, blue = male, green =
children, black = unknown sex. The samples included in the study are marked with project ID. Map after Krogh (1982).
2012
J. Arneborg, N. Lynnerup, J. Heinemeier, J. Møhl, N. Rud, and Á.E. Sveinbjörnsdóttir
13
A special feature of the graveyard is a mass grave
containing 13 adult men and two boys of 10 and 17
years of age, respectively. This grave was clearly
secondary; the bones of the skeletons did not lie in
situ, indicating that those interred had either been
moved to “Tjodhildes Church” from another (heathen?) grave or they may have died far away, their
bones being subsequently brought to Brattahlid for
burial (Balslev Jørgensen 2001:96ff.). Alexandersen
and Prætorius (2003:14) suggest that those buried
in the mass grave were related to each other. Two
samples in the project are from this grave.
The human samples from “Tjodhildes Church”
belong to AU I and II.
dinavian architecture. The majority of the dead are
placed with their arms extended along the sides of
their body, or hands placed across their pelvis; this
is said to indicate a 11th- or 12th-century burial (Kieffer-Olsen 1993:21ff., 73 ff.). Earlier AMS-dates
(Arneborg et al. 1999, Lynnerup 1998:table V), and
those carried out in association with this project support the assumption that the church belongs to the
early settlement period (Table 3).
With some exceptions, the south side of the
church was reserved for men and the majority of the
women were buried on the north side, together with
a few men (Balslev Jørgensen 2001:88). According
to Balslev Jørgensen (2001:89) and Alexandersen
and Prætorius (2003:13), there were clear differences with regard to both stature and the condition
of the teeth between people buried on the south and
north sides. These are interpreted as indicating social inequalities in diet and workload. In the present
study, four samples are from the south side of the
church, four from the north side, and another two
samples are from the east side of the church.
Qorlortoq, Ø34. The ruins at Ø34 constitute a
medium-sized farm with 16 ruins (Fig. 8). The ¿rst
archaeological investigation at this site took place
in the late 1990s, when sections of the midden were
excavated under the leadership of Georg Nyegaard.8
Radiocarbon dates point to settlement from landnam
to at least 1300. The samples (Table 4) in this study
Table 3. The samples from “Tjodhildes Church”, Brattahlid, Qassiarsuk, Ø29a. DNM = Danish National Museum, KAL = The Anthropological Laboratory, Panum Institute, Copenhagen University.
Project
ID
Museum ID
KAL ID Provenance
# 011 DNM CLA-2 CLA-2
“TjodhildeChurch”
churchyard,
mass grave
# 012 DNM CLA-1 CLA-2 “Tjodhilde Church”
churchyard,
mass grave
# 016 DNM 74
1060x01 “Tjodhilde Church”
churchyard,
northwest
# 017 DNM 380
“Tjodhilde Church”
churchyard
# 018 DNM 110
1180x01 “Tjodhilde Church”
churchyard, south
# 019 DNM 90
1789x01 “TjodhildeChurch”
churchyard, south
# 025 DNM 36
1041x01 “Tjodhilde Church”
churchyard, east
# 026 DNM 41
1043x01 “Tjodhilde Church”
churchyard, east
# 027 DNM 73
1059x01 “Tjodhilde Church”
churchyard,
northwest
1054x01 “Tjodhilde Church”
churchyard, north
# 028 DNM 66
# 165 DNM 86
# 187 DNM 2
# 189 DNM 120
Species
Reservoir
Calibrated
corrected
intercept(s)
14
C Age (BP) 14C Age (BP*) (1 sigma range)
Human Norse 1155 ± 46 1000 ± 46
1020 (995–1043)
Marine
fraction: 0.341
Human Norse 1112 ± 51 930 ± 51
1065–1115
Marine
(1028–1171)
fraction: 0.412
Human Norse 980 ± 49 880 ± 49
1169 (1061–1222)
Marine
fraction: 0.224
Bos taurus
1040 ± 80
1011 (960–1040)
Human Norse 1229 ± 41 1100 ± 41
976 (894–996)
Marine
fraction: 0.294
Human Norse 1025 ± 50 870 ± 50
1192 (1122–1228)
Marine
fraction: 0.353
Human Norse 997 ± 51 890 ± 51
1165 (1046–1218)
Marine
fraction: 0.235
Human Norse 985 ± 45 870 ± 45
1175 (1061–1226)
Marine
fraction: 0.247
Human Norse 1092 ± 55 870 ± 55
1172 (1063–1227)
Marine
fraction: 0.494
Human Norse 1225 ± 51 1070 ± 51
985 (909–1017)
Marine
fraction: 0.353
Human Norse
1070x01 “Tjodhilde Church”
churchyard,south
1029x01 “Tjodhilde Church” Human Norse
churchyard,
northeast.
1794x01 “Tjodhilde Church” Human Norse
churchyard, south.
į13C (‰)
VPDB Lab ID
AU
-18,1 AAR-1267
I
-17.5 AAR-1268
I
-19.1 AAR-1272 I–II
-20.6 AAR-1273
I
-18.5 AAR-1275
I
-18.0 AAR-1276 I–II
-19.0 AAR-1568 I–II
-18.9 AAR-1569 I–II
-16.8 AAR-1570 I–II
-18,0 AAR-1571
I
I–II
I–II
I–II
14
Journal of the North Atlantic
are from the midden excavations, and none of them
have been dated.
Special Volume 3
Gardar at Igaliku, Ø47. The sheep-farming community Igaliku, with the ruins of the Norse bishop’s
see Gardar, and Igaliku Kujalleq, with the Norse
farm Ø66, are situated on Igaliku fjord, neighboring Tunulliar¿k. Gardar was by far the largest farm
in the Norse settlements. The farm was built on the
vast lush plain at the head of the fjord within easy
access of both Tunulliar¿k and Igaliku fjords. The
Greenland bishop lived here in the period from about
1200 to 1378, and the farm shows all the signs of
belonging to the small group of wealthy farms in
Greenland. Besides the church, the farm had a large
banqueting hall where the bishop and/or the farmer
could entertain their guests. With easy access to the
sea, there were several large stone-built warehouses
for commodities intended for the North European
market. The two byres had room for about 100 of
the prestigious cattle, yet another sign of wealth,
and an arti¿cial irrigation system helped to optimize
the yield of the large enclosed in¿eld (cf. Arneborg
2005, 2006).
A total of 45 scattered ruins have been recorded
on the site (Fig. 9), but the number of buildings
could originally have been considerably greater. The
site was re-occupied by permanently resident sheep
farmers in the second half of the 18th century, and
many ruins have been torn down and the building
materials re-used (For more information about the
ruins at Igaliku, see Arneborg [2006]).
The size of the byres, as well as the numbers of
cattle bones recovered from the midden deposits,
demonstrate that the economy of the farm relied
heavily on cattle breeding (McGovern 1985:112).
Pastures around Gardar are excellent. However,
here, as elsewhere, seal hunting was also of considerable importance (McGovern 1985:112).
The samples from Gardar include both human
bones and bones of domesticates and game animals
(Table 5), and all except one (Table 5, # 152) originate from Poul Nørlund’s excavations of the site in
1926 (Nørlund 1930). The human remains are from
burials within the northern chapel of the church, including one of the Greenlandic bishops (Gardar I, #
22) (see Arneborg et al. 1999, Lynnerup 1998, Nørlund 1930:64ff.), a 30–35-year-old male (Gardar X,
#20), and an 18/20–35-year-old female (Gardar XI,
#21). AMS-dates assign the deceased to the 13th
century (Lynnerup 1998:table V). The bishop can
Table 4. The samples from Qorloortoq valley, Ø34.
Project ID
Figure 8. Ruin sites in the Qorlortoq valley. After Krogh
(1982).
#Ø34-01
#Ø34-10
#Ø34-56
#Ø34-64
#Ø34-75
#Ø34-77
Museum ID
Provenance
#Ø34-01
#Ø34-10
#Ø34-56
#Ø34-64
#Ø34-75
#Ø34-77
Midden
Midden
Midden
Midden
Midden
Midden
Species
Odobenus rosmarus
Phoca groenlandica
Monodon monoceros
Rangifer tarandus
Phoca groenlandica
Phoca groenlandica
2012
J. Arneborg, N. Lynnerup, J. Heinemeier, J. Møhl, N. Rud, and Á.E. Sveinbjörnsdóttir
possibly be identified as Olaf, who—according to
written sources—was elected bishop in 1246 and
died in 1280/81 (Arneborg 1991).
Almost all of the animal samples in our study come
from bones that no longer have their original ¿nd
numbers, making it impossible to determine precisely
where they were found. A number of walrus skulls
(samples # 310–316) probably all come from the
15
churchyard east of the church (Degerbøl 1930:183)
(Table 5), but were deposited in a midden prior to the
establishment of the churchyard (J. Arneborg, unpubl.
data). The walrus skulls belong to AU I.
Igaliku Kujalleq Ø66. The Norse farm Ø66 lies
alongside a minor inlet on the southeastern side of
Igaliku fjord. Today, the innermost part of the fjord
Figure 9. Ruin site Ø47: the Episcopal residence Gardar, Igaliku. Map after Krogh (1982).
16
Journal of the North Atlantic
Special Volume 3
Table 5. The samples from Gardar, Igaliku, Ø47.
Project Museum
ID
ID
KAL ID
Provenance
# 020 DNM X 0915x01 Inside north chapel
of church,
below bishop
# 021 DNM XI 0916x01 Inside north chapel
of church,
below bishop
# 022 DNM I
# 149 DNM 70
# 152
# 153
# 161
# 260
# 270
# 281
# 282
# 283
# 284
# 285
# 286
# 287
# 288
# 289
# 290
# 291
# 292
# 293
# 294
# 295
# 296
# 297
# 298
# 299
# 300
# 301
# 302
# 303
# 304
# 306
# 308
DNM
DNM
DNM
DNM
DNM
DNM
DNM
DNM
DNM
DNM
DNM
DNM
DNM
DNM
DNM
DNM
DNM
DNM
DNM
DNM
DNM
DNM
DNM
DNM
DNM
DNM
DNM
DNM
DNM
DNM
DNM 76
# 309 DNM 70
# 310 DNM
# 311
DNM
# 312 DNM
# 313 DNM
# 314 DNM
# 315 DNM
# 316 DNM
1118x01 Inside north chapel
of church - bishop
Surroundings of
smithy, ruin 11, and
to the west of it
In the great heaps
east of the dwelling,
ruin 8
Surroundings of
smithy, ruin 11, and
to the west of it
Churchyard, east of
the cathedral
Churchyard, east of
the cathedral
Churchyard, east of
the cathedral
Churchyard, east of
the cathedral
Churchyard, east of
the cathedral.
Churchyard, east of
the cathedral.
Churchyard, east of
the cathedral.
Species
Reservoir
14
C Age corrected
(BP) 14C Age (BP*)
Male human Norse
1030 ± 65 810 ± 65
Marine
fraction:
0.499
Female human Norse 880 ± 90 700 ± 90
Marine
fraction:
0.254
Human Norse
880 ± 55 770 ± 55
Marine
fraction:
0.612
Equus caballus
Bos taurus
Bos taurus
Bos taurus
Cystophora cristata
Capra hircus
Ovis aries
Ovis aries
Ovis aries
Ovis aries
Ovis aries
Ovis aries
Ovis aries
Ovis aries
Capra hircus
Capra hircus
Capra hircus
Capra hircus
Phoca hispida
Phoca hispida
Cystophora cristata
Cystophora cristata
Cystophora cristata
Cystophora cristata
Cystophora cristata
Cystophora cristata
Cystophora cristata
Phoca barbata
Phoca barbata
Phoca barbata
Canis familaris
Sus scrofa
Calibrated
intercept
į13C
(1 sigma
(‰)
range)
VPDB
Lab ID
1233
-16.8 AAR-1437.1
(1170–1281)
AU
II
1295
-17.6 AAR-1438-1 II–III
(1256–1392)
1272
-18.8 AAR-1439-1
(1223–1290)
II
1040 ± 45 835 ± 45 1215
-17.11 AAR-6138
Res. age: (1165–1260)
0.46 x 450 yeard,
marine model 1998
1130 ± 35 875 ± 35 1165
-16.15 AAR-6139
(1075–1205)
II
1390 ± 30 940 ± 30
1050
-13.10 AAR-6140
(1030–1070)
I
Odobenus rosmarus
1430 ± 30 980 ± 30
I
Odobenus rosmarus
1420 ± 35 970 ± 35
1025
-12.73 AAR-6141
(1005–1045)
1030
-12.78 AAR-6142
(1010–1050)
Sus scrofa
Odobenus rosmarus
II
Odobenus rosmarus
I
Odobenus rosmarus
I
Odobenus rosmarus
I
Odobenus rosmarus
I
2012
J. Arneborg, N. Lynnerup, J. Heinemeier, J. Møhl, N. Rud, and Á.E. Sveinbjörnsdóttir
is dry at low tide, and sediment cores show that
previously fertile areas of land now lie submerged
(Mikkelsen et al. 2008). The farm is situated on a
large, heavily vegetated plain on a route leading to
the large inland area of Vatnahver¿, which extends
over 500 km2. More than 20 ruins have been recorded at Ø66; the farm has an associated church
and is regarded as one of the largest in the Eastern
Settlement (Fig. 10)
The Vatnahver¿ region was relatively densely
populated during the Norse period, and archaeologists have reported erosion and sand drift from several farms (e.g., Vebæk 1943:18ff., 55ff.). In 1894,
Daniel Bruun (1896:374ff) reported that many of
the ruins at Igaliku Kujalleq (Ø66) were covered by
sand, especially those lying to the east of the church.
The rooms of the dwelling house had ¿lled up with
sand before the walls collapsed, indicating that sand
drift was already a problem when the house was
abandoned. The church seemed to have been raised
on a sand dune, and burials on the south side of the
church were cut down into the sand (Fig. 10B).
Despite several excavations during the years
(Bruun 1896:368ff., Clemmensen 1911, Holm
17
1883:113ff.), the assemblage of animal remains
from Ø66 comprises fewer than 100 individual
bones, and consequently no analysis of the economy
of the farm has ever been carried out.
In 1926, Aage Roussell (1926 unpubl. report)
dug a small test pit in the churchyard and brought
the remains of four skeletons back to Denmark. The
two samples from Ø66 included in this project were
collected from the churchyard by Roussell in 1926
(Table 6).
The church has a rectangular ground plan and is
dated to after 1300 (Roussell 1941:123ff.). Earlier
churches at the site have not been recorded. The
burials from which the samples came were in drift
sand deposited along the south side of the church after the building was constructed; consequently they
should be later than 1300. Both samples have been
AMS-dated; one to the time around 1300, the other
one is dated broadly to the 14th century, most likely
the later part of the century, close to 1400.
Russip Kuua, Vatnahverfi Ø71. Farm Ø71 at
Russip Kuua and Ø167 ”Abel’s farm” are both
situated in Vatnahverfi. The ruins at farm Ø71 lie
Figure 10a. Ruin site Ø66. A: Igaliku Kujalleq. Map after N.A. Møller and C.K. Madsen (2005), and B (following page):
church and dwelling. Map after Bruun (1896).
18
Journal of the North Atlantic
Figure 10b. Ruin site Ø66: B. church and dwelling. Map after Bruun (1896).
Special Volume 3
2012
19
J. Arneborg, N. Lynnerup, J. Heinemeier, J. Møhl, N. Rud, and Á.E. Sveinbjörnsdóttir
In total, 19 ruins have been recorded at the site.
Of these, seven are situated on the south side of the
river and the remainder on the north side. Of the
many ruins, 11 were more or less excavated in 1949
by C.L. Vebæk (1992:23ff.). Seven ruins were investigated on the north side of the river and four on the
south side (Fig. 11).
The three samples from Ø71 in this project are
from cattle bones; they all originate from the ruin
12, situated on the north side of the river (Fig.
11, Table 7). The house is of the long-house type
with a dwelling at one end and a byre/barn at the
other. The samples are from dwelling rooms II and
VI. The samples from room II are dated within the
period ca. 1000–1300. The sample from room VI is
dated to the 14th century.
in an open grassy area on both sides of a stream
connecting the two lakes of Saqqaata Tasia and
Skyggesø. Dwelling structures and byre/barn
complexes have been found on both sides of the
stream. Whether the two farms were occupied
simultaneously or not is unknown, although artefacts from the two houses seem to support the idea
of contemporaneity, and we may be dealing with a
multiple farm with more than one household. The
site has not suffered from erosion or sand drift.
However, dental microwear studies on mandibles
from Ø71 south farm show that the sheep and
goats ingested high levels of soil and grit. This
phenomenon is associated with sparse or patchy
vegetation cover and is perhaps indicative of pasture degradation (Mainland 2000).
Table 6. The samples from Igaliku Kujalleq, Ø66.
Project
ID
Museum ID
# 023
# 024
14
KAL ID
Provenance Species
Reservoir
Calibrated
C Age corrected
intercept
į13C (‰)
14
*
C Age (BP ) (1 sigma range) VPDB
(BP)
DNM Gardar XII3 0919x01 Churchyard Human Norse 880 ± 55 610 ± 55
Marine
fraction: 0.612
DNM Gardar XII4 0920x01 Churchyard Human Norse 890 ± 45 690 ± 45
Marine
fraction: 0.441
Lab ID
AU
1392
(1312–1417)
-15.8
AAR-1441-1 III
1297
(1279–1317)
-17.3
AAR-1442
II–III
Figure 11. Ruin site Ø71. Map after Vebæk (1992).
Table 7. The samples from Vatnahver¿, Ø71.
14
Project
ID
Museum ID
Provenance
Species
# 110
# 111
# 117
DNM D23/1991
DNM D23/1991
DNM D23/1991
Ruin 12, room 2
Ruin 12, room 6
Ruin 12, room 2
Bos taurus
Bos taurus
Bos taurus
C Age
(BP)
735 ± 35
700 ± 40
965 ± 35
Calibrated intercept į13C (‰)
(1 sigma range)
VPDB
1280 (1265–1290)
1290 (1280–1375)
1030 (1020–1155)
-20.14
-20.39
-19,54
Lab ID
AU
AAR-6143
AAR-6144
AAR-6145
II
II–III
I
20
Journal of the North Atlantic
The composition of the faunal material from
Ø71 and the neighboring farm Ø167 (see below)
is almost identical (McGovern 1992:93ff.). About
20% of all bones are from cattle, ca. 40% are sheep/
goat, whilst the remaining ca. 40% are from seal.
Figure 12. The central ruins at Ø167. Map after Vebæk (1992).
Special Volume 3
At Ø167, animal husbandry seems to have been of
slightly greater importance, and seal hunting correspondingly less important, than at Ø71. As at all
other Norse farms, the harp seal is the dominant seal
species.
2012
21
J. Arneborg, N. Lynnerup, J. Heinemeier, J. Møhl, N. Rud, and Á.E. Sveinbjörnsdóttir
“Abels gård”, Vatnahver¿ Ø167. Further on in
Vatnahver¿, 3–4 km from Russip Kuua (Ø71), farm
Ø167 lies in a small mountain valley. The mediumsized Ø167 farm was initially registered in 1948,
and archaeological excavations were conducted at
the site under the direction of C.L.Vebæk in 1949
(Vebæk 1992:45ff.). The ruin group comprises 15
ruins (Fig. 12), of which the following were studied: The dwelling (ruin 1), ruin 2 (also a habitation
structure, possibly part of ruin 1), what is described
as the traces of an earlier building between ruin 1
and ruin 2 and also ruin 7, which must be regarded
as a centralized farm complex. The chronological
relationship between ruins 1 and 2 and the central
farm complex, ruin 7, is unclear. As at Ø71, the site
has not suffered from erosion or sand drift.
Fragments of a human skull were found in the
passage of the centralized farm ruin 7. The circumstances of this strange deposition are unknown.
However, as only small parts of the skull were
found, it must lie in a secondary position. The skull
has been radiocarbon dated to around AD 1275
(Vebæk 1992:108).
A total of 23 samples (including bones of
domesticates as well as of seal) from Ø167 are
included in the project (Table 8). Apart from one
single stray find, and the one sample collected in
ruin 7 (the human skull), all samples come from
ruin 1, where they were either collected inside the
building in rooms I and II, III and IV, or V or from
the midden.
The ruins were not excavated stratigraphically,
and a glance at the excavation plan of ruin 1 (Fig. 13)
shows that the house, or at least the central part of
the building, has had more than one building phase.
Vebæk (1992:46ff.) points out that rooms 1a and
1b belong to an earlier phase. Rooms I and II at the
eastern end of the building were remarkably wellpreserved, with ¿replaces in niches in the wall. Artefacts found in the room indicate a date after 1200;
we do, however, have radiocarbon dates that indicate
activities in the 11th century (AAR-6132). Room III
is in the central part of the building, and several
building phases were recorded here. The artefacts
from the room cannot be dated. With regard to room
V, Vebæk does not mention more than one phase.
Artefacts from this room are from the period after
1200. AMS-dates con¿rm that the house has several
phases, that the oldest parts are from the landnam
period, and that it is not possible to establish a secure
local chronology (Table 8).
Table 8. The samples from Vatnahver¿, Ø167.
Project
ID
Museum ID
# 081
# 087
14
Provenance
Species
C Age
(BP)
Sus scrofa
Bos taurus
# 088
# 089
# 090
# 091
# 092
# 093
# 094
# 095
# 108
KNK D24/1991.290 Stray¿nd
KNK D24/1991.291 House 7, passage
between room III and IV
KNK D24/1991.292 Midden, house 1
KNK D24/1991.293 Midden, house 1
KNK D24/1991.294 Midden, house 1
KNK D24/1991.295 House 1, room III
KNK D24/1991.296 House 1, room III
KNK D24/1991.297 House 1, room III
KNK D24/1991.298 House 1, room III
KNK D24/1991.299 Midden, house 1
KNK D24/1991
House 1, room III
Cystophora cristata
Cystophora cristata
Cystophora cristata
Bos taurus
Bos taurus
Bos taurus
Bos taurus
Ovis aries
Bos taurus
940 ± 35
# 109
KNK D24/1991
House 1, room I and II
Bos taurus
970 ± 40
# 112
# 113
KNK D24/1991
KNK D24/1991
Midden, house 1
House 1, room V
Bos taurus
Bos taurus
855 ± 40
# 114
KNK D24/1991
Bos Taurus
675 ± 35
# 115
KNK D24/1991
# 116
# 118
# 119
KNK D24/1991
KNK D24/1991
KNK D24/1991
House 1, wall between
room III and IV
House 1, wall between
room III and IV
House 1, room III
Midden, house 1
House 1, room V
Bos taurus
Bos taurus
Bos taurus
780 ± 45
# 120
KNK D24/1991
House 1, room III
Bos taurus
1090 ± 30
# 121
# 122
# 123
Ø167
KNK D24/1991
KNK D24/1991
KNK D24/1991
Midden, house 1
House 1, room I and II
House 1, room I and II
Cystophora cristata
Phoca groenlandica
Cystophora cristata
Human skull
Calibrated
intercept(s)
(1 sigma range)
1040–1150
(1025–1160)
1030
(1020–1155)
į13C (‰)
VPDB
Lab ID
AU
-20.02 AAR-6133
I
-20.45 AAR-6132
I
1195–1210
(1160–1235)
1295
(1285–1380)
-20.71 AAR-6136
II
1265
(1220–1280)
980
(900–995)
-20.01 AAR-6135
II
-20.40 AAR-6134
I
-19.1
II
-20.71 AAR-6137 III
Bos taurus
710 ± 50
1275
(1280–1305)
K-5889
22
Journal of the North Atlantic
Figure 13. The dwelling, ruin no. 1 at ruin site Ø167. Map after Vebæk (1992).
Figure 14. The ruin site Ø149, Narsarsuaq. Map after Vebæk (1992).
Special Volume 3
2012
23
J. Arneborg, N. Lynnerup, J. Heinemeier, J. Møhl, N. Rud, and Á.E. Sveinbjörnsdóttir
Narsarsuaq Ø149. The Norse farm Ø149 at
Narsarsuaq in Uunartoq Fjord was ¿rst identi¿ed
by Poul Nørlund and later accepted by C.L.Vebæk
as the Benedictine convent referred to by Bárðarson
(Halldórsson 1978:135, Jónsson 1930:23). The ruins
of the high-status farm lay spread across a large
plain, from where a total of 21 features, including
home-¿eld dikes, have been recorded (Fig. 14).
Ø 149 is situated on a peninsula between Lichtenau Fjord and Uunartoq Fjord in the less densely
inhabited southern region of the Norse Eastern Settlement (Fig. 4A). The site lies close to the hot springs
on the island of Uunartoq. These springs may have
been one of the attractions and perhaps even formed
part of the economic basis of the farm. Iceland is well
known for its many hot springs, which were considered to be curative (Sveinbjarnardóttir 2005).
The ¿rst archaeological excavations took place
in 1945-46 and again in 1948 under the direction of
C.L. Vebæk (1991). The following ruins were investigated (Fig. 14): church and churchyard (ruin 1),
sections of the dwelling (ruin 2), the stable/barn
complex (ruin 9) and a small stable (ruin 7). Neither
the buildings, which resemble all other Norse farms,
Table 9. The samples from Narsarsuaq, Uunartoq, Ø149.
14
Project Museum
ID
ID
KAL ID
# 007 DNM I:7
1000x01 Churchyard, grave¿eld I
Provenance
# 008 DNM I:10 1001x01 Churchyard, grave¿eld I
# 009 DNM II:1
1002x01 Churchyard, grave¿eld II
# 010 DNM I:6
0999x01 Churchyard, stray¿nd
# 212 DNM I:2
# 213 DNM I:3
0995x01 Churchyard, grave¿eld I
0996x01 Churchyard, grave¿eld I
# 214 DNM I:4
0997x01 Churchyard, grave¿eld I
# 215 DNM I:5
0998x01 Churchyard, grave¿eld I
# 216 DNM I:6
0999x01 Churchyard, grave¿eld I
# 217
# 218
# 219
# 220
# 221
# 222
# 223
# 224
# 225
# 226
# 227
# 228
# 229
# 230
# 231
# 232
# 233
# 234
# 235
# 236
# 237
1000x01
1001x01
1002x01
1003x01
1009x01
1004x01
1005x01
1006x01
1007x01
1008x01
1010x01
1011x01
1012x01
1014x01
1018x01
1013x01
1022x01
1021x01
1017x01
1023x01
1141x01
DNM I:7
DNM I:10
DNM II:1
DNM II:3
DNM II:9
DNM II:4
DNM
DNM II:6
DNM
DNM II:8
DNM II:10
DNM II:11
DNM
DNM
DNM
DNM
DNM
DNM
DNM
DNM
DNM
Churchyard, grave¿eld I
Churchyard, grave¿eld I
Churchyard, grave¿eld II
Churchyard, grave¿eld II
Churchyard, grave¿eld II
Churchyard, grave¿eld II
Churchyard
Churchyard, grave¿eld II
Churchyard
Churchyard, grave¿eld II
Churchyard, grave¿eld II
Churchyard, grave¿eld II
Churchyard, fence NE
Churchyard, fence NE
Churchyard, heap 1
Churchyard, fence NE
Churchyard, heap 2
Churchyard, heap 2
Churchyard, stray¿nd
Churchyard, stray¿nd
Churchyard, stray¿nd
Species
Reservoir
Calibrated
C Age corrected
intercept(s) į13C (‰)
(BP) 14C Age (BP*)(1 sigma range) VPDB
Lab ID
Human Norse 845 ± 50 580 ± 50
Marine
fraction:
0.600
Human Norse 937 ± 53 610 ± 53
Marine
fraction:
0.729
Human Norse 886 ± 48 640 ± 48
Marine
fraction:
0.553
Human Norse 852 ± 44 590 ± 44
Marine
`
fraction:
0.588
Human Norse
Human Norse 910 ± 35 605 ± 35
Res. age:
0.68
Human Norse 1005 ± 35 700 ± 35
Res. age:
0.67
Human Norse 940 ± 35 665 ± 35
Res. age:
0.61
Human Norse 1050 ± 40 710 ± 40
Res. age:
0.75
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
AU
1401
(1329–1428)
-15.9
AAR-1263 III
1389
(1312–1414)
-14.8
AAR-1264 III
1322
(1301–1399)
-16.3
AAR-1265 III
1399
(1325–1418)
-16.0
AAR-1266 III
1340–1390
(1320–1405)
-15.24 AAR-6146 III
1290
(1280–1305)
-15.27 AAR-6147 III
1305
(1290–1325)
-15.83 AAR-6148 III
1290
(1270–1305)
-14.61 AAR-6149 III
III
III
III
24
Journal of the North Atlantic
nor the artefacts recovered, provide any indications
that the farm at Narsarsuaq had any special function,
and none indicate that it served as a convent.
The faunal material is limited (n = 610). Seal
bones dominate, accounting for 61% of the total
bone assemblage. Domesticated animals make up
33% of the bones, with almost equal numbers of
cattle and sheep/goat remains (Vebæk 1991:71ff.).
Thirty samples from Ø149 are included in the
project (Table 9). All are from human burials within
the churchyard, including ¿nds from two “grave
¿elds” I and II. The church is of the long house type
dated to after 1300. Older phases of the church have
not been recorded. According to Vebæk, grave ¿eld I
was excavated in two layers, whereas only the upper
layer of grave ¿eld II was excavated. Skeletons from
grave ¿eld I are dated to the 14th century. The youngest is from about 1400. The skeletons from grave
¿eld II are most probably from the same period.
Special Volume 3
Herjolfsnes at Ikigaat, Ø111. The farm at Herjolfsnes (Ø111), with its church and well-built banqueting hall, differs from the other high-status farms
with regard to location. The farm lies southernmost
in the Eastern Settlement on a peninsula that extends
directly out into the Atlantic Ocean ca. 50 km from
Cape Farewell (Fig. 4A). The vegetation is sparse,
although lush grass grows in sheltered spots in the
mountains. The ruins lie on a small promontory,
which is only sheltered from the Atlantic storms by
some small islands and rocky skerries; this is not a
typical location for a Norse farm. The number of recorded structures at the site is 12 (Fig. 15). However,
due to both landslides and erosion, some ruins may
have been either buried or lost to the sea. Ruins may
also have been removed when a small trading post
was established here in 1834 (Nørlund 1924:15).
In the written sources, Herjolfsnes is bound up
with trade and the sea, and this may very well have
Figure 15. The ruin site Ø111, Herjolfsnes, Ikigaat. Map by N.-C. Clemmensen and H.C. Kapel (2008).
2012
25
J. Arneborg, N. Lynnerup, J. Heinemeier, J. Møhl, N. Rud, and Á.E. Sveinbjörnsdóttir
church, the ruin group comprises a dwelling, a supposed stable/barn complex, a smithy, and outhouses.
The main excavations of the site took place in 1921
under the direction of Poul Nørlund (1924).
The Herjolfsnes church is of the Romanesque
type (Fig. 16), and radiocarbon dates for both cloth
been the basis for the social position of the farm.
Herjolfsnes may have been the ¿rst place travellers
came to after having crossed the North Atlantic and
the last when they set sail (cf. Arneborg 2006).
Twelve ruins have been recorded at Herjolfsnes
(Fig. 15; Arneborg 2006:74ff.). Other than the
Figure 16. The Church and churchyard at Ø111. After P. Nørlund (1921).
Table 10. The samples from Herjolfsnes, Ikigaat, Ø111.
14
C Age
(BP)
Project Museum
ID
ID
KAL ID
Provenance
Species
# 013 DNM 18
0906x01
Churchyard
Human Norse
# 014 DNM 1
1105x01
Churchyard
Human Norse
# 015 DNM 4
1106x01
Churchyard
Human Norse
# 201
# 202
# 203
# 204
# 205
0903x01
0905x01
0907x01
1108x01
1110x01
Churchyard.
Churchyard.
Churchyard.
Churchyard.
Churchyard
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse 1000 ± 35
# 206 DNM 11
1111x01
Churchyard
Human Norse
960 ± 35
# 207 DNM 12
1120x01
Churchyard
Human Norse
930 ± 30
# 208
# 209
# 210
# 211
1121x01
1146x01
1676x01
1677x01
Churchyard
Churchyard.
Churchyard
Churchyard.
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
980 ± 35
DNM
DNM
DNM
DNM
DNM 9
DNM 13
DNM
DNM 19
DNM
Reservoir
corrected
14
C Age (BP*)
Calibrated
intercept
į13C (‰)
(1 sigma range) VPDB
Lab ID
899 ± 84 550 ± 84
1418 (1329–1456) -14.4
Res. age: 0.776
750 ± 56 500 ± 56
1437 (1413–1467) -16.2
Res. age: 0.565
767 ± 45 520 ± 45
1430 (1407–1447) -16.3
Res. age: 16.3
995 ± 25
AU
AAR-1269 III
AAR-1270 III
AAR-1271 III
III
III
III
III
1285 (1260–1295) -15.94 AAR-6127 II
730 ± 35
Res. age: 0.60
640 ± 35
1320 (1300–1385) -14.98 AAR-6128 III
Res. age: 0.71
635 ± 30
1320 (1305–1390) -15.41 AAR-6129 III
Res. age: 0.66
690 ± 35
1295 (1285–1305) -15.54 AAR-6130 II
III
700 ± 25
1295 (1285–1305) -15.42 AAR-6131 II
III
Comments:
#013 Found together with hood DNM D10605 AD1390–1490 (AAR-1289).
#014 Found together with dress DNM D10581 AD1380–1530 (AAR-1288).
#015 Found together with hood DNM D10606 AD1300–1370 (AAR-1290).
#205 Found together with hood DNM D10597.
#206 Found together with dress DNM D10583.
#210 Found together with fragmented dress DNM D10577.
26
Journal of the North Atlantic
Special Volume 3
Figure 17. Ruin site at V48, Niaquusat. The Inuit structure in front of the Norse farm is from the 17th–18th centuries. The
Norse midden was excavated 1976–1977. Map after J. Meldgaard (1977).
2012
27
J. Arneborg, N. Lynnerup, J. Heinemeier, J. Møhl, N. Rud, and Á.E. Sveinbjörnsdóttir
found in the graves and skeletons show that the
church was still in use during the ¿rst half of the 15th
century (Arneborg 1996, Lynnerup 1998). The dates
all fall within the period from the late 13th to the
early 15th century, and the project’s undated samples
may well derive from the same period, time period
III) (Table 10).
There are no assemblages of faunal remains from
Ikigaat and, accordingly, only the human skeletons
from the 1921 excavations are included in the project (Table 10, Fig. 16).
The samples from Western Settlement sites
Samples from six localities in the Western Settlement have been included in this study. Of these, ¿ve
are located within the Ameralik-Ameralla fjords in
the southern part of the Western Settlement, whilst
the sixth, Ujarassuit, lies in the inner reaches of
Nuuk fjord (Fig. 4B).
Niaquusat V48. The midden at the small farm at
Niaquusat, situated at the mouth of Ameralla fjord,
was investigated 1976–1977. The farm lies on the
sunny side of the fjord in an oasis of lush vegetation
comprising herbs, angelica, and willow. Relatively
steep crags surround the site on three sides, and the
farm area itself was limited. The site has been known
since the beginning of the 19th century and even then
it was described as being so poorly suited to farming
that the Norse inhabitants must have lived off ¿shing (GHM III:837). A total of three ruins have been
recorded here. Situated centrally on the plateau is a
small, presumably centralized farm complex, and
in the mountains are two enclosures. None of these
remains has been archaeologically investigated. In
front of the central house, closer to the fjord, lies a
17th–18th century Thule culture long-house (Gulløv
1983:162).
The 1976–1977 excavations at Niaquusat concentrated on the Norse midden in order to study the
economy of the farm. Two main trenches were dug
running downhill from the central farm building
(Fig. 17). Trench A was excavated in 1976 under
the direction of Jeppe Møhl, and trench CD was excavated in 1977 under direction of Tom McGovern.
Both trenches contained deposits extending from
the initial settlement around AD 1000 to the abandonment of the Western Settlement in the second
Table 11. The samples from Niaquusat, V48. The pre-Norse dates may be from paleo-Eskimo activities on the site.
Project
ID
Museum ID
Provenance
Species
Calibrated
Reservoir intercept(s)
14
C Age
corrected
(1 sigma į13C (‰)
(BP) 14C Age (BP*)
range)
VPDB Lab ID
# 029 KNK 985x3000 Midden, A9 layer 1,
Canis familaris
19, and 20
# 030 KNK 985x3001 Midden, A15 layer
Canis familaris
1050 ± 35 625 ± 35
40–50, 32, and 33
# 031 KNK 985x3002 Midden, A9 layer
Lepus arcticus
130–140, 23, and 24
# 032 KNK 985x3003 Midden, A9 layer
Bos taurus
930 ± 35
100–bottom, 22–down
# 033 KNK 985x3004 Midden, A9 layer
Capra hircus
20–30, 19, and 20
# 034 KNK 985x3005 Midden, A9 layer
Rangifer tarandus
19 and 20
# 035 KNK 985x3006 Midden, CD9, D13–14 Rangifer tarandus
layer 17/20, 16/17, or 15
# 036 KNK 985x3007 Midden, CD9, D13
Balaena mysticetus?
layer 14, 55, 50, and 35
# 037 KNK 985x3008 Midden, D9 layer
Bos taurus
950 ± 40
110–120, 5, 7, and 9
# 038 KNK 985x3009 Midden, C9 layer 70–80, Bos taurus
19/24
# 039 KNK 985x30?? Midden, D14 layer
Capra hircus
50-60, 53/29
# 040 KNK 985x3011 Midden, D13 layer
Capra hircus
60–70, 55, 57, and 39
# 045 KNK 985x3012 Midden, A10 layer
Rangifer tarandus
90–100, 22, and 23
# 046 KNK 985x3013 Midden, A9 layer
Rangifer tarandus 1165 ± 45
120–130, 23
# 047 KNK 985x3014 Midden, A10 layer
Rangifer tarandus
120–130, 23
# 048 KNK 985x3015 Midden, A10 layer
Rangifer tarandus
130–140, 23
# 053 KNK 985x3016 Midden, A9 layer
Bos taurus
850 ± 50
110–120, 22, and 23
AU
III
1330
-12.99 AAR-6098
(1310–1395)
III
1045–1155
-21.49 AAR-6099
(1030–1160)
I
III
II–III
1000–1190
-20.5
CAMS62000
I
II
890
(780–960)
-19.62 AAR-6103 Inuit?
xxxx
-20.47
CAMS62001
28
Journal of the North Atlantic
th
half of the 14 century (Arneborg 1991, McGovern 1985:115–116, Møhl 1982). The chronology
of trench CD has been established on the basis of
radiocarbon dates (Arneborg 1991). The present
study includes 44 samples from Niaquusat from
landnam around 1000 to depopulation around 1350
(Table 11).
More than 80% of all faunal remains (n = 17,791)
excavated from the midden are of seal, with an
increase over the period from initial settlement to
Special Volume 3
abandonment. The presence of the Thule culture
long-house at the site further supports the view that
Niaquusat was an excellent location for seal hunting.
Among the domesticates are pigs, cattle, sheep, and
goats, with a majority of the latter two (McGovern
1985:116).
Sandnes, Kilaarsar¿k, V51, the Sandnes farm,
lying at the head of Ameralla fjord, has an associated church. The site is regarded as the largest and
Table 11, continued.
Project
ID
Museum ID
Provenance
# 056 KNK 985x3018 Midden, A9 layer
140–150, 24, and 25
# 059 KNK 985x3017 Midden, A10 layer
130–140, 23, and 24
# 072 KNK 985x3020 Midden, A10 layer
90–100, 22, and 28
# 073 KNK 985x3019 Midden, A10 layer
120–130, 23
# 074 KNK 985x3020 Midden, A9 layer
110–120, 22, and 28
# 075 KNK 985x3021 Midden, A9 layer
140–150, 22, and 23
# 076 KNK 985x3023 Midden, A9 layer
110–120, 22, and 23
# 077 KNK 985x3024 Midden, A10 layer
90–100, 22, and 28
# 078 KNK 985x3025 Midden, A9 layer
110–120, 22, and 23
# 079 KNK 985
Midden, A10 layer
150–160, 25
# 139 KNK 985
Midden, A16 layer
10–20, recent surface
# 140 KNK 985
Midden, A16 layer
40–50, 33
# 141 KNK 985
Midden, A15 layer
110–120, 34, and 35
# 142 KNK 985
Midden, A15 layer
50–60, 33
# 143 KNK 985
Midden, A15 layer
100–110, 34, and 35
# 144 KNK 985
Midden, A15 layer
30–40, 32
# 145 KNK 985
Midden, A16 layer
50–60, 33
# 146 KNK 985
Midden, A16 layer
130–140, 36
# 148 KNK 985
Midden, A15 layer
40–50, 32, and 33
# 150 KNK 985
Midden, D10 layer
120–130 26, and 27
# 155 KNK 985
Midden, C14 layer
90–100, 62, 64, and 60
# 157 KNK 985
Midden, A15 layer
50–60, 33
# 159 KNK 985
Midden, A16 layer
30–40, 32
# 162 KNK 985
Midden, B3 layer 80–90
# 354 KNK 985
Midden, A9 layer
110–120, 22, and 23
# 355 KNK 985
Midden, C14 layer
90–100, 62, 64, and 60
# 356 KNK 985
Midden, A16 layer
30–40, 32
Species
Bos taurus
Calibrated
Reservoir intercept(s)
14
C Age
corrected
(1 sigma į13C (‰)
14
*
(BP)
C Age (BP )
range)
VPDB Lab ID
945 ± 30
1040–1150
-20.84 AAR-6104
(1025–1160)
AU
I
Bos taurus
Phoca groenlandica
Phoca vitulina
Phoca groenlandica
Phoca groenlandica 1580 ± 35 1130 ± 35
Res.age: 1
Phoca groenlandica
880
(820–905)
-14.19 AAR-6105 Inuit?
915
(875–990)
-12.59 AAR-6106 Inuit?
Phoca hispida
Whale
Odobenus rosmarus 1535 ± 50 1085 ± 50
Res.age: 1
Phoca vitulina
Phoca vitulina
Phoca vitulina
III
1280 ± 35
830 ± 35 1190
-12.31 AAR-6110
Res.age: 1 (1160–1225)
II
Phoca vitulina
III
Phoca vitulina
II
Phoca vitulina
III
Phoca vitulina
III
Phoca vitulina
I
Phoca barbata
III
Sus scrofa
Bos taurus
I
700 ± 40
1340–1400
-21.21
CAMS62002
II
Bos taurus
III
Bos taurus
III
Bos taurus
Bos taurus
Bos taurus
II
Bos taurus
III
2012
J. Arneborg, N. Lynnerup, J. Heinemeier, J. Møhl, N. Rud, and Á.E. Sveinbjörnsdóttir
wealthiest in the southern part of the Western Settlement, and is the center of the region. The farm is
situated close to the shore at the head of Ameralla
fjord on the south-facing moraine slopes of the valley connecting Ameralla fjord with Kapisillit fjord
in the extensive Nuuk fjord system. The open valley
offered plenty of pasture and ¿elds for hay-making,
and the river in the valley supplied water for the
farm. Today, the site can hardly be reached by boat,
especially at low tide when the sandy bottom lies
dry. The very fact that currently the church is sanded
up and Àooded at high tide shows that the landscape
has changed dramatically since the Norse settlers
arrived, and much land has been lost to the sea.
Only seven ruins have been recorded on the Kilaarsar¿k plain (Fig. 18; Bruun 1918:95ff., Roussell
1936), and archaeological investigations have been
carried out on several occasions. Poul Nørlund (1930
unpubl. report) and Aage Roussell (1932 unpubl. report, 1936) excavated the site in 1930 and again in
1932, and part of the midden between the dwelling
(ruin 4) and the churchyard was excavated under the
direction of Tom McGovern in 1984 (T. McGovern,
1984 unpubl, report; McGovern et al. 1996).
29
On the basis of the artefacts discovered, the
Sandnes farm was most likely occupied from the
landnam around 1000 up until the time of the depopulation of the Western Settlement. This timing
also applies to the church, which is of Romanesque
type. Older churches on the site or older phases of
the church have not been recorded.
The zooarchaeological record indicates that
the Sandnes economy was based primarily on
hunting, especially of seal, although caribou is
also well represented. Cattle and sheep/goats are
represented in almost equal numbers. There do not
seem to be any changes through time, except that
goat numbers seem to increase relative to sheep
(McGovern et al. 1996).
Seventy-four samples from Kilaarsar¿k, including both human and animal bones, are included
in the project. The human remains derive from
Nørlund’s and Roussell’s archaeological investigations in 1930. All of the animal bones come from
McGovern’s midden excavations in 1984. A chronology of the midden deposits has been established
on the basis of radiocarbon dates (McGovern et al.
1996), and the supplementary dates obtained in this
Figure 18. Ruin site V51, Sandnes, Kilaarsar¿k. 1) church, 3) 11th-century houses, 4) dwelling, 5) byre/barn, 6) byre/stable/
barn, 7) workshop, 8) fence. A) paleo-Eskimo site, B) midden excavation 1984, C) excavation 1984, D) fence, E) irrigation channel (?), and F) fence. Map after Roussell (1932) and Krogh (1984). National Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen,
Denmark and The Greenland National Museum and Archives, Nuuk, Greenland.
30
Journal of the North Atlantic
Special Volume 3
Table 12. The samples from Sandnes, Kilaarsar¿k, V51.
14
Project
ID
Museum ID
KAL ID
# 001 DNM XI
0929x01 Churchyard
Human Norse
# 002 DNM X
0928x01 Churchyard
Human Norse
# 003 DNM XXX
0960x01 Churchyard
Human Norse
# 004 DNM XXIX
0960x01 Churchyard
Human Norse
# 005 DNM XXXI
0959x01 Churchyard
Human Norse
# 006 DNM XXXV
0964x01 Churchyard
Human Norse
# 156 KNK 4
# 158 KNK 4
# 160 KNK 4
# 178
# 179
# 180
# 181
# 182
# 183
# 184
# 185
# 191
# 192
# 190
# 193
# 194
# 195
# 196
# 197
DNM I
DNM II
DNM IV
DNM VI
DNM VI
DNM VIII
DNM XII
DNM XIV
DNM XVI
DNM XVI
DNM
DNM XVIIa
DNM IXVIIb
DNM XVIIc
DNM XVIId
DNM XVII
0922x01
0923x01
0924x01
0926x01
0926x01
0927x01
0930x01
0931x01
0933x01
0933x01
0932x01
0934x01
0935x01
0936x01
0937x01
0938x01
Provenance
Midden, I, 58,
70-80 cm
Midden, III,
510
Midden, I, R7,
60–65 cm.
Churchyard
Churchyard
Churchyard
Churchyard
Churchyard
Churchyard
Churchyard
Churchyard
Churchyard
Churchyard
Churchyard
Churchyard
Churchyard
Churchyard
Churchyard
Churchyard
Species
1030 ± 45 700 ± 45
Res. age: 0.729
865 ± 40 560 ± 40
Res. age: 0.682
940 ± 45 690 ± 45
Res. age: 0.565
970 ± 40 610 ± 45
Res.age: 0.812
940 ± 40 690 ± 40
Res. age: 0.565
970 ± 40 670 ± 40
Res. age: 0.659
1297
(1295–1317)
1408
(1390–1428)
1301
(1282–1322)
1390
(1323–1412)
1301
(1284–1320)
1307
(1290–1328)
Lab ID
AU
-14.8
AAR-1143 II–III
-15.2
AAR-1144
-16.2
AAR-1145 II–III
-14.1
AAR-1146
-16.2
AAR-1147 II–III
-15.4
AAR-1148 II–III
III
III
II
Bos taurus
Bos taurus
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
0944x01 Churchyard
0945x01 Churchyard
0947x01 Churchyard
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
# 241
# 242
# 243
# 244
# 245
# 246
# 247
# 248
# 249
# 250
# 251
# 252
# 253
0963x01
0969x01
0968x01
0966x01
0925x01
1679x01
1612x01
1126x01
1123x01
1131x01
0968x01
1128x01
0969x01
Churchyard
Churchyard
Churchyard
Churchyard
Churchyard
Churchyard
Churchyard
Churchyard
Churchyard
Churchyard
Churchyard
Churchyard
Churchyard
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
# 254 DNM XXXIII
# 255 DNM XXXIII
# 256 DNM XXXIV
0958x01 Churchyard
0958x01 Churchyard
0963x01 Churchyard
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
# 257 DNM XXXIV
# 258 DNM XXVII
0963x01 Churchyard
0957x01 Churchyard
Human Norse
Human Norse
# 259 DNM XXVII
# 390 KNK 4
0957x01 Churchyard
Human Norse
Midden, I, Q9, Bos taurus
19
Midden, I, Q8, Ovis/Capra
19
# 391 KNK 4
Reservoir
Calibrated
corrected
intercept(s) į13C (‰)
14
C Age (BP*) (1 sigma range) VPDB
Bos taurus
# 238 DNM
# 239 DNM
# 240 DNM XXII
DNM XXXIV
DNM XL
DNM XXXIX
DNM XXXVI
DNM V
DNM III
DNM XXXII
DNM XXXVIII
DNM XX
DNM XXI
DNM XXXIX
DNM XIII
DNM XL
C Age
(BP)
II–III
1177 ± 45 951 ± 45
Res. age: 0.50
1038
-16.73 AAR-5257
(1021–1151)
I
1183 ± 29 941 ± 29
Res. age: 0.54
1045
-16.42 AAR-5258
(1030–1116)
I
II
II
II
923 ± 26 688 ± 26
Res. age: 0.52
1296
-16.57 AAR-5259
(1287–1305)
910 ± 25 677 ± 25
Res. age: 0.52
1299
-16.60 AAR-5260 II–III
(1291–1309)
II
1294
-15.46 AAR-5261
II
(1285–1303)
II
II
989 ± 24 696 ± 24
Res. age: 0.65
II
II
2012
31
J. Arneborg, N. Lynnerup, J. Heinemeier, J. Møhl, N. Rud, and Á.E. Sveinbjörnsdóttir
project are in keeping with these earlier dates. The
archaeological dates for the skeletons are based on
the AMS-dates from this project (Table 12).
Nipaatsoq V54. Naajaat Kuaat is the gateway to
the large inland delta that leads melt water from the
glacier Kangaasarsuup Sermia and water from the
lakes Isortuarsuk og Kangerluarsunnguup Tasersua9,
out into the fjord. Here, on a plateau rising above
Najaat Kuaat, is the middle-sized Nipaatsoq farm,
and an hour’s walk further towards the glacier lies
GUS (see below). The landscape around Nipaatsoq
is open, with low vegetation consisting of grasses,
lichen, and shrub. Along the streams, and in moist
areas, the vegetation includes willow and birch.
The farm at Nipaatsoq is of the centralized type
(Fig. 19). The ¿rst archaeological investigations
took place in 1952 under the direction of Jørgen
Meldgård, and in 1976–1977 Meldgård and Andreasen carried out more excavations (C. Andreasen,
1977 unpubl. report).
The economy of the Nipaatsoq farm was based
on a combination of sheep and goat husbandry and
hunting (seal and caribou in particular). In the assemblage, 39% of the total number of bones (n =
Naajaat Kuaat V63. Moving from Kilaarsar¿k
up through Naajaat Kuaat, which today is almost entirely sanded up, farm V63 is situated on the eastern
shore of the fjord. The farm is situated on a small
luxuriant plateau close to a small stream. Today,
grasses, herbs, and willow dominate the vegetation.
There is not much space for buildings; indeed there
are only the remains of a poorly preserved building,
presumably representing a small, centralized farm.
On the hillside behind the house ruin are the wellpreserved remains of a stone storehouse (skemma).
No investigations have been carried out, apart from
a minor test pit in the midden in 1977 (J. Meldgaard,
National Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark, pers. comm.), and the one sample included
here (#154) is from the 1977-test pit, however, without any chronological information.
Table 12, continued.
Project
ID
Museum ID
# 392 KNK 4
# 393
# 394
# 395
# 396
KNK 4x1301.a
KNK 4x1301.b
KNK 4x1273
KNK 4x1165
# 397 KNK 4x1156
# 398 KNK 4x1175
# 399
# 400
# 401
# 402
KNK 4x1291
KNK 4x1167
KNK 4x1159
KNK 4
# 403 KNK 4
# 404 KNK 4x54
# 405 KNK 4
# 406 KNK 4
# 407 KNK 4
# 408 KNK 4
# 409 KNK 4x1217
# 410 KNK 4x1040
# 411 KNK 4x1311
# 412 KNK 4
# 413 KNK 4
# 414 KNK 4x1043
# 415 DNM
# 416 DNM
14
KAL ID
Provenance
Species
Midden, I, T10,
19
Midden, I, 46
Midden, I, 46
Midden, I, 34
Midden, I, 59
Ovis/Capra
Midden, I, 59
Midden, III, 50
cm to subsoil
Midden I, 60
Midden I, 60
Midden I, 64
Midden, I, T8,
48
Midden, I, S8,
48
Midden, I, 4
Midden, I, 47,
¿re place
Midden, I, T10,
12
Midden I, 66
Midden, I, Q9,
66
Midden, I, 65
Midden, I, 50
Midden, I, 50
Midden, I, Q10,
30
Midden, I, T10,
11
Midden I, 58
Unit 3, bottom
layer
Living house 4,
upper layer
Ovis/Capra
Ovis/Capra
Bos taurus
Bos taurus
C Age
(BP)
Reservoir
Calibrated
corrected
intercept(s) į13C (‰)
14
C Age (BP*) (1 sigma range) VPDB
Lab ID
AU
II
1000
(980–1020)
I
I
II–III
-20.52 AAR-5748
I
Ovis aries
Rangifer tarandus
I
Bos taurus
Ovis/Capra
Rangifer tarandus
Bos taurus
I
I
I
II
Ovis/Capra
II
Bos taurus
1000–1015
(985–1020)
-20.61 AAR-5749
Ovis/Capra
II
Rangifer tarandus
Ovis/Capra
Bos taurus
Bos taurus
I
II-III
1035
-20.67 AAR-5750
(1020–1155)
1045–1155
-20.60 AAR-5751
(1035–1160)
I
I
I
Ovis/Capra
Rangifer tarandus
Rangifer tarandus
I
I
II–III
Rangifer tarandus
II-III
Capra hircus
Bos taurus
Rangifer tarandus
995
-20.25 AAR-5752
(975–1020)
1275
-19.08 AAR-5753
(1225–1285)
II
I
II
32
Journal of the North Atlantic
2451) comes from seal, while caribou account for
20% (McGovern 1985:119).
Seven samples from Nipaatsoq are included in
the project, all from the 1976–1977 excavations.
Based on the dating of the building, the samples
from the interior of the farm should belong to the
late Norse period.10 An early date for one of our
samples from room 4 does, however, indicate mixed
layers (Table 13).
The Farm beneath the Sand (GUS). The middle
sized farm GUS was discovered in 1990 (Andreasen
Special Volume 3
and Arneborg 1992). Unlike other known Norse ruins, no structures were visible on the surface, as they
were covered by layers of sand and gravel up to 1.5
m in thickness. The layers were probably the result
of increased run-off, and consequent increased sediment deposition, from the glacier Kangaasarsuup
Sermia, which expanded with The Little Ice Age.
Changes in the course of the stream immediately
prior to the discovery of the site meant that it was
being eroded and thus became visible again. Today,
the area is totally dominated by a barren, sandy
delta with very little vegetation. When the farm was
Figure 19. Ruin site V54, Nipaatsoq. The centralized farmhouse was excavated 1952 and again in 1976–1977. Map after
Andreasen (1982).
Table 13. The samples from Nipaatsoq, V54. Sample #42 may be from post-Norse Inuit activities on the site.
Project
ID
Museum ID
# 041 KNK 991x2000
# 042 KNK 991x2001
# 043 KNK 991x2002
# 044 KNK 991x2003
III
# 147 KNK 991
į13C (‰)
VPDB
LAB ID
AU
1300–1375 (1290–1385)
-19.70
AAR-6100
III
Rangifer tarandus
1475 (1445–1605)
-17.93
AAR-6101
Inuit?
Ovis aries
Capra hircus
1060–1155 (1030–1185)
-19.28
AAR-6102
I
1290 (1280–1375)
1300–1375 (1295–1385)
-20.48
-19.61
AAR-6111
AAR-6112
II–III
III
Provenance
Species
Calibrated intercept(s)
(1 sigma range)
Room 6, koord. 6
490,1/212,60.
Niv. 17
Room 4, 50–55 cm
below surface
Room 4
Room 4
Ovis aries
Midden, koord. 493/187 Phoca barbata
# 151 KNK 991 (Rosa)
# 163 KNK 991
Midden
Bos taurus
Bos taurus
2012
J. Arneborg, N. Lynnerup, J. Heinemeier, J. Møhl, N. Rud, and Á.E. Sveinbjörnsdóttir
inhabited, however, the environment was rather different. The sandy area was probably lush pasture and
perhaps there was also a lake (Schweger 1998). Today, there is no water source near the farm, in itself
a clear indication that the landscape has undergone
considerable changes since Norse times, because
a farm could not have been established in an area
without easy access to fresh water.
Archaeological investigations at GUS were carried out between 1991–1996. Based on an analysis
of the faunal remains (identi¿ed animal bones n =
8250), the economy of the farm relied on a combination of sheep/goat husbandry and hunting/¿shing.
Cattle were kept primarily for secondary production
(milk), whereas sheep and goats were kept mainly
for their meat (Enghoff 2003:87). During the whole
period of settlement, the wild fauna shows a slight
predominance compared to domesticated animals.
However, through time, the exploitation of seals
increased compared with caribou, and the same applies to sheep/goat compared with cattle (Enghoff
2003:89).
At GUS, it was possible, for the ¿rst time in the
history of Norse archaeology, to uncover a Norse
farm extending from the initial settlement around
1000 to the last house on the site. During its later
14th-century phases, the farm was of the centralized
type with a stable/byre with room for one or two
head of cattle (Fig. 20)
A total of 51 samples from GUS (including both
domesticates and game animals) are included in the
present study (Table 14). Four samples (#104–#107)
are from the ¿rst building on the site, built around
1000. The rest are from the time after ca. 1250.
Apart from samples #60, #67, #267, and #276, which
were AMS-dated in connection with the present
study, dates are based on earlier AMS-dates and
33
the stratigraphic analyses of the building complex11
(Table 14).
Ujarassuit (Anavik) V7. The ¿nal farm in the
Western Settlement that has contributed samples to
the project is the high-status farm Anavik at Ujarassuit. The farm is situated on a raised beach terrace
at the head of Nuuk fjord (Fig. 4B). The region contains but few Norse sites. Apart from Anavik, three
other farms have been recorded in the Ujarassuit
Fjord. The church and the farmhouses lie spread
over the large Àat plateau where conditions for haymaking would have been excellent (Fig. 21). Today,
the vegetation consists of grasses, herbs, and dense
willow scrub. Seven house ruins have been recorded
at the site, including one of the most well-preserved
stone houses in the Western Settlement.
The main investigations of the site took place in
1932 (Roussell 1941:32ff), when the church (ruin
1), stable/barn complex (ruin 3), dwelling (ruin 2),
and sections of the midden in front of the house were
investigated (Aa. Roussell, 1932 unpubl. report12).
According to Roussell´s report, animal bones were
found in the midden deposits in front of the dwelling, but these do not appear to have been taken back
to Copenhagen. In 1982, new excavations were carried out at the site (Kapel 1982, unpubl. report).13
Among other things, a small trench was opened up
in the churchyard in order to obtain human bones for
į13 C analysis. The arm positions of the dead date the
excavated burials to the 13th–14th century and radiocarbon dated human remains from the 1982 excavations are from the 14th century (Table 15). The į13 C
analysis demonstrated that the dietary basis of the
individuals investigated was predominantly marine.
Ujarassuit has provided 15 samples for the project, originating from nine individual skeletons, all
Figure 20. The Farm beneath the Sand (GUS) all phases 1991–1996. Greenland National Musuem and Archives, Nuuk,
Greenland.
34
Journal of the North Atlantic
excavated by Roussell in 1932. Unfortunately, the
skeletons no longer have their original ¿nd numbers,
and it is therefore not possible to correlate them with
the excavation plans. Also, with the exception of the
Special Volume 3
two AMS-dated skeletons, nothing can be said about
the chronology of the samples (Table 16).
Table 14. The samples from The Farm beneath the Sand (GUS).
Project
ID
Museum ID
14
Provenance
# 049 KNK 1950x1521.1 Room 1, in front
of ¿replace
# 050 KNK 1950x1487 Room 1
# 051 KNK 1950x1521 Room 1, in front
of ¿replace
# 051.1 KNK 1950x1521 Room 1, in front
of ¿replace
# 052 KNK 1950x1487 Room 1
# 054.1 KNK 1950x1487.3 Room 1
# 054.2 KNK 1950x1487.3 Room 1
# 055 KNK 1950x1531 Room 1
# 057 KNK 1950x1432.1 Room 1
# 058 KNK 1950x1432 Room 1
# 060 KNK 1950x0678 Room 3
# 061 KNK 1950x0577 Stray¿nd
# 062 KNK 1950x0359 Room 10, wall
or roof
# 063 KNK 1950x0577 Stray¿nd
# 064 KNK 1950x0445 Room 3
# 065 KNK 1950x0386 Room 3
# 066 KNK 1950x0352 Stray¿nd
# 067 KNK 1950x0575 Room 1, roof ?
# 068 KNK 1950x1531 Room 1
# 069 KNK 1950x1521 Room 1, in front
of ¿replace
# 070 KNK 1950x1487 Room 1
# 071 KNK 1950x1521 Room 1, in front
of ¿replace
# 104 KNK 1950x2849 First long house
# 105 KNK 1950x3451 First long house
# 106 KNK 1950x3437 First long house
# 107 KNK 1950x3072 First long house
# 261 KNK 1950x2713 Stray¿nd
# 262 KNK 1950x2712 Stray¿nd
# 263 KNK 1950x3347 Room 28, Àoor
# 264 KNK 1950x2712 Stray¿nd
# 265 KNK 1950x2713 Stray¿nd
# 266 KNK 1950x2712 Stray¿nd
# 267 KNK 1950x0575 Room 1, roof ?
# 268 KNK 1950x2713 Stray¿nd
# 269 KNK 1950x2713 Stray¿nd
# 271 KNK 1950x2713 Stray¿nd
# 272 KNK 1950x0712 Units R & V
# 273 KNK 1950x2943 Room 22
# 274 KNK 1950x2943 Room 22
# 275 KNK 1950x2442 Room 7:1 Àoor
# 276 KNK 1950x3259 Stray¿nd
# 277 KNK 1950x2744 Stray¿nd
# 278 KNK 1950x2713 Stray¿nd
# 279 KNK 1950x2713 Stray¿nd
# 280 KNK 1950x2767 No information not found in
GUS database
# 307 KNK 1950x0007 No information
# 317 KNK 1950x0410 Room 1, wall or
roof
# 318 KNK 1950x0561 Room 1
# 319 KNK 1950x0631 Room 3, Àoor
# 431 KNK 1950x2943 Room 22
# 432 KNK 1950x2943 Room 22
Species
C Age
(BP)
Reservoir
Calibrated
corrected
intercept(s)
14
C Age (BP*) (1 sigma range)
į13C (‰)
VPDB LAB ID
AU
Rangifer tarandus
III
Rangifer tarandus
Rangifer tarandus
III
III
Rangifer tarandus
III
Rangifer tarandus
Bos taurus
Bos taurus
Rangifer tarandus
Equus caballus
Bos taurus
Bos taurus
Bos taurus
Ovis aries
III
III
III
III
III
III
AAR-5400 III
619 ± 26
Capra hircus
Ovis aries
Ovis aries
Capra hircus
Equus caballus
536 ± 30
Phoca groenlandica
Phoca groenlandica
1317–1388 (1301–1396) -19.9
III
II–III
II–III
1410 (1334–1425)
-21.2
Phoca groenlandica
Phoca groenlandica
Bos taurus
Ovis aries
Rangifer tarandus
Rangifer tarandus
Phoca vitulina
Phoca vitulina
Phoca groenlandica
Phoca hispida
Bos taurus
Equus caballus
Equus caballus
566 ± 36
Capra hircus
Capra hircus
Capra hircus
Capra hircus
Capra hircus
785 ±30
Capra hircus
Ovis aries
Ovis aries
825 ± 33
Ovis aries
Ovis aries
Ovis aries
Ovis aries
Equus caballus
Vetacea sp.
Vetacea sp.
Vetacea sp.
Capra hircus
Capra hircus
AAR-5401 III
III
III
III
III
I
I
I
I
II
1335–1401 (1326–1413) -20.0
1260 (1220–280)
1220 (1191–1259)
AAR-5405 III
-19.58 AAR-4461 II
II
II
-16.3 AAR-5406 II
III
III
II–III
II
II
2012
35
J. Arneborg, N. Lynnerup, J. Heinemeier, J. Møhl, N. Rud, and Á.E. Sveinbjörnsdóttir
Figure 21. Ruin site V7, Anavik, Ujarassuit. 1) church, 2) dwelling, 3) byre/barn, 4) stable, 5) workshop/storage 6) ware
house, 7) stable, 8) home-¿eld fence, and 9) home-¿eld fence. Map after Roussell (1932). Danish National Museum.
Table 15. Radiocarbon dates on skeletons found in the churchyard in Ujarassuit in 1982. Dated by H. Tauber, Copenhagen 1982. Recalibrated 2003 by J. Heinemeier. The dating of KNK6x1121 is inexplicable.
14
Lab ID
Museum ID
Species
Provenance
C Age
(BP)
K-4117
K-4119
K-4120
KNK 6x1090
KNK 6x1121
KNK 6x1091
Human bone
Human bone
Human bone
Churchyard
Churchyard
Churchyard
910 ± 50
560 ± 45
890 ± 50
Reservoir
corrected
14
C Age (BP*)
677 ± 50
332 ± 45
572 ± 50
Calibrated intercept(s)
(1 sigma range)
1299 (1283–1323)
1535–1618 (1499–1642)
1404 (1329–1427)
į13C (‰)
VPDB
AU
-16.6
-16.7
-15.0
II–III
?
III
Table 16. The samples from Anavik, Ujarassuit, V7.
14
Project
ID
Museum ID KAL ID
Provenance
Species
# 166
# 167
# 168
# 169
# 170
# 171
# 172
# 173
# 174
0990x01
0990x01
0990x01
0991x01
0991x01
0991x01
0993x01
0994x01
0992x01
Churchyard
Churchyard
Churchyard
Churchyard
Churchyard
Churchyard
Churchyard
Churchyard
Churchyard
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
# 175 DNM X F
1644x01
Churchyard
Human Norse
# 176
# 177
# 198
# 199
# 200
1645x01
0991x01
1578x01
1578x01
1639x01
Churchyard
Churchyard
Churchyard
Churchyard
Churchyard
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
Human Norse
DNM A
DNM A
DNM A
DNM B
DNM B
DNM B
DNM C
DNM D
DNM U4 E
DNM G
DNM B
DNM H
DNM H
DNM I
C Age
(BP)
Reservoir
corrected
14
C Age (BP*)
Calibrated
intercept
į13C (‰)
(1 sigma range) VPDB
Lab ID
825 ± 33 592 ± 33
Marine fraction: 0.52
959 ± 38 818 ± 38
Marine fraction: 0.29
1394
-16.6
(1323–1407)
1219
-18.5
(1186–1261)
AU
AAR-5403 III
AAR-5404 II
36
Journal of the North Atlantic
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39
Notes
1
When the project commenced in 1998, all the human remains held at the Panum Institute were Danish property,
and thanks are due to the then Museum Director NielsKnud Liebgott of the National Museum in Copenhagen
for permission to use the material from the collections.
Ownership of all Greenlandic human remains was transferred to Greenland in 1999 in connection with an extensive repatriation project (1984–2001) in which museum
artefacts were transferred from the Danish to the Greenland National Museum. All Greenlandic human remains
are still kept at the Panum Institute in Copenhagen.
2
All faunal remains mentioned are kept at the Zoological
Museum in Copenhagen. We thank the Greenland National Museum and Archives, The National Museum of Denmark, and The Zoological Museum for permission to use
the faunal remains from these collections for this study
3
Another late-15th-century date, sample #42, from Nipaatsoq is not included here because it may derive from later
Inuit presence in the area.
4
A possible third church in the Western Settlement (at
V23a) is not mentioned here, as information about the
site is very limited.
5
A total of ¿ve samples from large whales, probably
Greenland whales.
6
Unpublished reports and documentation are kept in Narsaq Museum and in the Greenland National Museum and
Archives.
7
Our sampling was completed before the 2006–2007 excavations.
8
Analyses of the animal bones by Georg Nyegaard are at
the ¿nal stages (2011). The documentation from the excavation is in Qaqortoq Museum.
9
Today the lake Kangerluarsunnguup Tasersua provides
water for the hydroelectric plant at Buksefjorden, and the
stream has dried up.
10
The archaeological assessments are based on Claus
Andreasen´s unpublished reports in The Greenland National Museum and Archives.
11
The analysis of the farm building was carried out by
Guðmundur Ólafsson, the National Museum of Iceland
and Svend Erik Albrethsen, The National Cultural Heritage Agency, Copenhagen.
12
Reports are kept in the National Museum of Denmark.
13
Excavations were headed by Hans Kapel and Jette
Arneborg. Unpublished reports in the National Museum
of Denmark and in the Greenland National Museum and
Archives.