Climate changes, cultural patterns and settlements

Over a short time span, large but long-term climate changes are not immediately seen to influence biological ecosystems and cultures. On the other hand, pronounced short-term climate changes can significantly influence both biological and social systems – especially in Arctic regions, where conditions for life are marginal. Since the first immigration, people in Greenland have lived in coastal and fjord areas – and through history they have been affected by both small and large changes in the marine climate and environment.

Natural science and humanities research is combined in the project in order to relate information about changes in Greenland’s cultural history to data concerning climate and environmental changes. The studies will focus on the various waves of Inuit  immigration, which have moved along the Greenland coast in the course of the latest 4,500 years, in an attempt to determine whether the different cultures arose and disappeared synchronously with changes in climatic and environmental conditions, or if other factors were involved.

The Norse period, when descendants of European Vikings lived in Greenland from about 1000 to 1500 AD, will also be the subject of a combined natural science-archaeological study. The Norse settled during the warm period in Greenland as farmers in Southwest Greenland and in the Godthåb Fjord region. The settlement in the Godthåb Fjord region was abandoned after 300 years, while the settlement in South Greenland was depopulated by the end of the 1500s. Preliminary studies indicate that the extinction of the Norse settlements can to some extent be connected with climate changes. As part of further investigation into the cause of the disappearance of the Norse, the marine geological studies are supplemented by land-based archaeological observations. These investigations will provide information on the Norse’ social strategies in relation to the changes in climate and environment. In the Disko Bay area, the combined geological and archaeological studies will more closely examine the relationship between the Inuit settlement patterns, the marked changes in sea level and the advances and retreats of the glaciers. In south Greenland, historical documents will be used to investigate the migration of people from the east coast to the west coast of Greenland about 100 years ago and eventually relate this pattern to changes in the social structure and external factors such as climate change.

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