CONDITIONS FOR SETTLEMENTGeographically the Greenland settlements were several days’ sailing from Iceland,
and a well-developed ship technology was a prerequisite for navigation in the at times
very dangerous North Sea. Several theories have been put forward to explain why the
sedentary Norse population settled in an environment that was basically marginal for
the pasture economy they brought with them. Among the push factors, overpopulation
in Iceland has been put forward (Ólafsson 2000 ). As pull factors, the uninhabited land
and a relative abundance of fish and seal in the sea and caribou on land have been pointed
out (Krogh 1982 : 66 f.) as has access to the sought-after Arctic commodities such as
walrus ivory, narwhal tusks and polar bear skins (Arneborg 2000 , 2002 ). For the Norse
way of life to survive in Greenland, contacts with the homelands were prerequisite. The
settlements especially needed supplies of iron from Scandinavia, and the Greenlandic
ivory and furs were the main means of trade (Arneborg 2000 , 2002 ; Roesdahl 1995 ).
Already in the Iron Age trade networks were established in Norway that – among
other things – included iron, walrus tusk, hides and furs (e.g. Christophersen 1989 :
126 ff.), and in the late ninth century the north Norwegian chieftain Ottar went from
Hålogaland to Hedeby to sell his Arctic commodities (see Lund 1983 : 23 f.). Although
sedentary, the resource utilisation of the Norse settlers was therefore not restricted to the
settlement areas. The Norse settlements depended on resources that included most of
the west coast of Greenland from Thule in the north to Kap Farvel in the south and
also the most southern part of the east coast was their exploitation territory (Arneborg
2004 ).
FARMS AND SUBSISTENCEThe many well-preserved ruins dating from the Norse settlers that are visible in the
south-west Greenland landscape today are from the medieval period, but archaeological
excavations indicate that the settlement pattern did not alter from the Viking to the
medieval period. From the landnám (landtaking) period the farms were scattered on
the moraine plains along the fjords and in the fertile and protected valleys reflecting the
pastoral economy of the settlements. A few farms occur on sites with very little pasture-
land available. Here especially the seal hunt was decisive for the choice of settlement.
Zooarchaeological analysis of the animal bone collections (McGovern 1985 ; Enghoff
2003 ) and isotope analysis (^13 C) of human bones (Arneborg et al. 1999 ) show that
subsistence economy was based on the combination of pastoral farming, fishing and
hunting. Seal and caribou were the main meat supplies. Cattle, sheep and goats were
primarily kept for the secondary products such as milk, cheese and butter. Sheep were
also kept for the wool. According to the distribution of animal bones the individual
farms were self-sufficient at subsistence level and the exchange of foodstuffs does not
seem to have taken place.
The farms were run in an infield–outfield system. In the summer the domestic
animals grazed the outfields, while in the growing season to maximise the yields the
infields were manured (e.g. Schweger 1998 ) and at some farms also irrigated (Arneborg
2005 ). Unlike the cattle that had to be stalled for many months of the year, sheep and
goats can survive the winter outside in Greenland. But they may have needed supple-
mentary fodder, and the production of grass was fundamental for the farmers.
–– Jette Arneborg––