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Ivory from Greenland and Iceland was often transported back to Europe still attached to the walrus’ skull. (Image credit: Mikkel Høegh-Post)
“What really surprised us was that much of the walrus ivory exported back to Europe was originating in very remote hunting grounds located deep into the High Arctic,” Peter Jordan, a professor of archaeology at Lund University in Sweden and senior author on the study, said in a statement.
By the 13th century, most walrus ivory samples came from hundreds of miles north of Norse settlements, Ruiz-Puerta said. For Norse traders to access walrus ivory so far north, it’s possible they developed sailing capabilities advanced enough to survive the sea ice so they could hunt walruses and possibly even trade for ivory with the Thule Inuit, an Indigenous people who lived in what are now parts of eastern Russia, the Canadian Arctic and Greenland. Alternatively, perhaps the Norse stayed put in southern Greenland and traded with the Thule Inuit there.
Also around the 13th century, the Thule Inuit had recently migrated to these same northern hunting grounds. They were experts in Arctic living, and had developed sophisticated “toggling” harpoons that would latch into prey, enabling them to hunt walrus in open waters. They would have been capable of providing the Norse traders with walrus ivory, if the Norse had anything valuable to trade with, the researchers suggested.
Norse routes (in purple) extended from Scandinavia to Iceland and southern Greenland. During the same time period, the Thule Inuit (in orange) moved into the North Greenland area from western Canada. The two groups may have interacted as the Norse sailed into north Greenland to hunt walrus. (Image credit: Ruiz-Puerta and coauthors)
Evidence of the Thule Inuit traveling far enough south to contact Norse settlements on Greenland hasn’t been found, the study noted. But it’s possible that the Norse traveled north to the High Arctic to hunt walruses and interacted with the Thule Inuit there, the researchers suggested. To test this idea, study co-author Greer Jarrett, an archaeologist at Lund University, recreated and sailed in Norse boats to learn about the journey’s feasibility and the possible routes Norse voyagers may have taken to the High Arctic.
To pull off this journey, “walrus hunters probably departed from the Norse settlements as soon as the sea ice retreated,” Jarrett said in the statement. “Those aiming for the far north had a very tight seasonal window within which to travel up the coast, hunt walrus, process and store the hides and ivory onboard their vessels, and return home before the seas froze again.” The Norse likely would have hunted hundreds of walruses in this short period, and only made the treacherous journey every few years, Ruiz-Puerta added.
Greer Jarrett and colleagues sailed recreation medieval era Norse ships to understand their ability to sail in difficult Arctic waters. This smaller ship had limited cargo capacity. (Image credit: Greer Jarrett)
Jarrett and his colleagues’ journeys helped them understand Norse capabilities. It was possible for Norse traders to sail hundreds of miles into the Arctic circle, where they possibly encountered the Thule Inuit, the researchers found.
It’s likely that the Vikings, who were largely Norse, met Indigenous Americans even earlier in Newfoundland, Canada, where the Vikings arrived in A.D. 1021. It also appears likely that Greenland’s Norse people had encounters with the Tuniit, who preceded the Thule Inuit, the researchers wrote. For instance, a brass pot fragment was found at a Tuniit site by northwest Greenland, the researchers noted. But in the case of the possible walrus-hunting connection, contact between Indigenous North Americans and Europeans could have happened in the 13th century, around 200 years before Columbus landed in the Caribbean.
“I think for human history, that’s really important,” Ruiz-Puerta said.
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Publish date : 2024-10-03 05:57:00
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