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The Norse landnám on the North Atlantic islands: an environmental impact assessment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 February 2005

Andrew J. Dugmore
Affiliation:
Institute of Geography, School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Drummond Street, Edinburgh EH8 9XP
Mike J. Church
Affiliation:
Institute of Geography, School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Drummond Street, Edinburgh EH8 9XP
Paul C. Buckland
Affiliation:
School of Conservation Sciences, Bournemouth University, Talbot Campus, Fern Barrow, Poole BH12 5BB
Kevin J. Edwards
Affiliation:
Department of Geography & Environment and Northern Studies Centre, University of Aberdeen, Elphinstone Road, Aberdeen AB24 3UF
Ian Lawson
Affiliation:
Department of Geography & Environment and Northern Studies Centre, University of Aberdeen, Elphinstone Road, Aberdeen AB24 3UF
Thomas H. McGovern
Affiliation:
Bioarchaeological Laboratory, Department of Anthropology, Hunter College, City University of New York, 695 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10021, USA
Eva Panagiotakopulu
Affiliation:
Archaeology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH1 1LT
Ian A. Simpson
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Science, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA
Peter Skidmore
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology and Prehistory, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN
Guðrún Sveinbjarnardóttir
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology, University College London, London WC1H 0PY and National Museum of Iceland, 210 Garaðbær, Iceland

Abstract

The Norse colonisation or landnám of the North Atlantic islands of the Faroes, Iceland, and Greenland from the ninth century AD onwards provides opportunities to examine human environmental impacts on ‘pristine’ landscapes on an environmental gradient from warmer, more maritime conditions in the east to colder, more continental conditions in the west. This paper considers key environmental contrasts across the Atlantic and initial settlement impacts on the biota and landscape. Before landnám, the modes of origin of the biota (which resulted in boreo-temperate affinities), a lack of endemic species, limited diversity, and no grazing mammals on the Faroes or Iceland, were crucial in determining environmental sensitivity to human impact and, in particular, the impact of introduced domestic animals. Gathering new data and understanding their geographical patterns and changes through time are seen as crucial when tackling fundamental questions about human interactions with the environment, which are relevant to both understanding the past and planning for the future.

Type
Articles
Copyright
© 2005 Cambridge University Press

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