Greenland Norse walrus exploitation deep into the Arctic

Emily Ruiz Puerta*, Greer Jarrett*, Morgan L. McCarthy, Shyong en Pan, Xénia Keighley, Magie Aiken, Giulia Zampirolo, Maarten J.J.E. Loonen, Anne Birgitte Gotfredsen, Lesley R. Howse, Paul Szpak, Snæbjörn Pálsson, Scott Rufolo, Hilmar J. Malmquist, Sean Desjardins, Morten Tange Olsen*, Peter Jordan*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

30 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Walrus ivory was a prized commodity in medieval Europe and was supplied by Norse intermediaries who expanded across the North Atlantic, establishing settlements in Iceland and Greenland. However, the precise sources of the traded ivory have long remained unclear, raising important questions about the sustainability of commercial walrus harvesting, the extent to which Greenland Norse were able to continue mounting their own long-range hunting expeditions, and the degree to which they relied on trading ivory with the various Arctic Indigenous peoples that they were starting to encounter. We use high-resolution genomic sourcing methods to track walrus artifacts back to specific hunting grounds, demonstrating that Greenland Norse obtained ivory from High Arctic waters, especially the North Water Polynya, and possibly from the interior Canadian Arctic. These results substantially expand the assumed range of Greenland Norse ivory harvesting activities and support intriguing archaeological evidence for substantive interactions with Thule Inuit, plus possible encounters with Tuniit (Late Dorset Pre-Inuit).
Original languageEnglish
Article numbereadq4127
Number of pages12
JournalScience Advances
Volume10
Issue number39
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 27-Sept-2024

Keywords

  • ARCTIC
  • WALRUSES
  • ARCHAEOLOGY
  • biomolecular archaeology
  • ANCIENT DNA
  • experimental archaeology
  • IVOR LEWIS
  • VIKING AGE
  • climate
  • Human animal relations

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Greenland Norse walrus exploitation deep into the Arctic'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this