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High resolution paleoenvironmental and chronological investigations of Norselandnámat Tasiusaq, Eastern Settlement, Greenland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Kevin J. Edwards ,
J. Edward Schofield  and
Dmitri Mauquoy
Kevin J. Edwards*
Affiliation:
Departments of Geography and Environment and Archaeology, University of Aberdeen, Elphinstone Road, Aberdeen AB24 3UF, Scotland, UK
J. Edward Schofield
Affiliation:
Department of Geography and Environment and Northern Studies Centre, University of Aberdeen, Elphinstone Road, Aberdeen AB24 3UF, Scotland, UK
Dmitri Mauquoy
Affiliation:
Department of Geography and Environment and Northern Studies Centre, University of Aberdeen, Elphinstone Road, Aberdeen AB24 3UF, Scotland, UK
*
*Corresponding author. Fax: +44 1224 272331.E-mail address:kevin.edwards@abdn.ac.uk (K.J. Edwards).
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Abstract

High-resolution paleoenvironmental data from a peat profile with a small pollen source area are used to reconstruct the impacts oflandnámon vegetation and soils at a Norse farm complex (∅2 at Tasiusaq) comprising two farms in the Eastern Settlement of Greenland. Analyses include the AMS14C dating of plant macrofossil samples and the use of Bayesian radiocarbon calibration to construct improved age–depth models for Norse cultural horizons. The onset of a regionallandnámmay be indicated by the clearance ofBetula pubescenswoodland immediately prior to local settlement. The latter is dated to AD 950–1020 (2σ) and is characterised by possible burning ofBetula glandulosascrub to provide grassland pasture for domestic stock. Clearance and grazing resulted in accelerated levels of soil erosion at a westerly farm. This was followed by an easterly migration of settlement and agriculture. Site constraints prevent an assessment of the demise of the easterly farm, but pressures of overgrazing and land degradation may have been the major factors responsible for the abandonment of the earlier farm.

Keywords

GreenlandNorseEastern SettlementlandnámPalynologyRadiocarbon datingBayesian statisticsSoil erosion
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 69 , Issue 1 , January 2008 , pp. 1 - 15
Copyright
Elsevier Inc.

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