Norse+Colonization+of+Greenland

What did these colonist eat?

What did these colonist trade/export?

What did these colonist need from the outside/import?

Where did the technology they used to survive come from?

The Norse colonized Greenland just before the year 1000. At this time Erik the Red was exiled from Iceland for a period of three years for committing a murder. He sailed to Greenland, where he explored the coastline and claimed certain regions as his own. He then returned to Iceland to persuade people to join him in establishing a settlement on Greenland. The Icelandic sagas say that 25 ships left Iceland with Erik the Red in 985 AD, and that only 14 of them arrived safely in Greenland.

The Norse settled in three separate locations: the larger [|Eastern settlement], the smaller [|Western settlement] , and the still smaller [|Middle Settlement] (sometimes considered part of the Eastern one). The settlements at their height are estimated to have had a population of between 2,000 and 7,000 people. Ruins of approximately 620 farms have been identified: 500 in the Eastern settlement, 95 in the Western settlement, and 20 in the Middle. The settlements carried on a trade in ivory from walrus tusks with Europe, as well as exporting rope, sheep, seals and cattle hides according to one 13th-century account. They depended on Iceland and Norway for iron tools, wood (especially for boat building, although they also may have obtained some wood from coastal [|Labrador] ), supplemental foodstuffs, and religious and social contacts. Trade ships from Iceland and Norway traveled to Greenland every year and would sometimes overwinter in Greenland. Beginning in the late 13th century, all ships from Greenland were required by law to sail directly to Norway.

There are many theories as to why the Norse settlements collapsed in Greenland after surviving for some 450–500 years (AD 985 to 1450–1500). Scientist think that some or all of five factors contributed to the demise of the Greenland colony: cumulative environmental damage, gradual climate change, conflicts with hostile neighbors, the loss of contact and support from Europe, and, perhaps most crucial, cultural conservatism and failure to adapt to an increasingly harsh natural environment.

(From the History of Greenland on Wikipedia)