Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2002, Page 109

Enduring Impacts: Viking Age Settlement in Iceland and Greenland
tion of colonization (note that the layers
dated from W51 Sandnes are not from
the first occupation deposits, which are
largely eroded away). The early dates
from the base of the stratified midden at
W48 (which almost certainly do not
reflect the very first occupation) are par-
ticularly surprising, as this farm is on one
of the steepest, smallest and least produc-
tive patches of pasture in the Westem
Settlement (McGovern & Jordan 1982).
One would expect this sort of site to be
settled late in the colonization process,
after all the more desirable sites had been
chosen. A traditional “population pres-
sure” argument is unconvincing in this
case given the location of this most
remote permanent settlement in the
Norse world. The results of a simple pop-
ulation model suggests that when W48
was occupied ca. AD 1000 it is likely that
no more than 1,000-1,200 settlers were
present in Greenland, combining both
settlements (Fig. 3, based on generous
assumptions about ship cargo capacity
and rate of immigration and natural
increase, McGovern 1995, see also
Lynnerup 1995 and Keller 1991 for dif-
ferent approaches producing comparable
results). Even if model assumptions are
off by an order of magnitude, it seems
highly unlikely that population pressure
on resources had motivated the settle-
ment of inland and apparently marginal
coastal locations like W48 at such an
early date. Long term pollen and sedi-
ment investigations by Bent Fredskild
(Fredskild 1978, 1988, 1992) on samples
drawn from numerous sites in both
Eastem & Westem settlements provide a
picture of widespread and rapid impact
on willow and birch comparable to the
Icelandic deforestation evidence.
Fredskild observes the widespread
impact of the Norse grazing economy
was not paralleled in Greenland until the
re-establishment of sheep farming in the
Eastem Settlement in the early 20th cen-
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