The collapse of civilizations is possibly one of the most examined aspects of human history. The disappearance of an established culture is a source of fascination for scholars, presumably to give warning to modern societies to not fall into the same traps that have imperiled prior civilizations. The mysterious disappearance of Norse settlements in Greenland in the fifteenth century, after flourishing for five hundred years, is perhaps one of the most enigmatic cases of colony abandonment in Medieval Europe. Thomas McGovern, in his 1980 paper ‘Cows, Harp Seals, and Churchbells: Adaptation and Extinction in Norse Greenland,’ and Jette Arneborg, in her 2003 article ‘Norse Greenland: Reflections on Settlement and Depopulation,’ present slightly
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Most significant of these external factors is the weakening of trade with Europe, especially Norway, with whom Norse Greenland paid allegiance to. Both Arneborg and McGovern agree that Norway monopolized Greenland’s overseas trade and that such trade significantly went down in the fourteenth century due to increasingly hazardous sea routes brought on by climate changes (McGovern, 1980, 269), coupled with declining demand for Greenland’s primary export (walrus ivory), and finally, the plague that hit Norway in 1349, which virtually shut down most of the outbound voyages (Arneborg, 2003, 172). Arneborg proposes that the shutting down of trade was most devastating to the Norse colonies because the sudden inability to import iron, which was used for cutting hay since the earliest settlements, created a fundamental deficiency that prevented the continuance of a cattle-herding economy (Arneborg, 2003, 177). Furthermore, Arneborg implies that export trade was much more significant to the Norse economy than McGovern suggests in his article. In her analysis, Arneborg cites various documentary sources that indicate the wide reach of Greenland exports across Europe. Also, given that most of the export commodities can only be …show more content…
It implies a strong dependency among nations and shows how isolation and the inability to participate in trade could lead to disastrous results. In comparing the two articles, Arneborg provides a much more holistic and global view of the events that led to the disappearance of Norse Greenland. To be fair, however, between the twenty-three years that had passed between the two articles, Arneborg obviously had much more resources at her disposal, such as new archeological finds and advanced studies. Nonetheless, both articles play a significant role in the progression of our historical understanding of lost medieval societies. In particular, they both advance the idea that complex historical events, such as the mysterious extinction of Norse Greenland, are better viewed as a product of many interrelated causes, rather than ascribing to a simplistic rationalization that ignores the dynamics between internal and external forces. As the world becomes more and more interconnected, it will become even more important for scholars of history to develop the ability to view past events using multiple lenses, as markedly exhibited in McGovern’s and Arneborg’s
Most significant of these external factors is the weakening of trade with Europe, especially Norway, with whom Norse Greenland paid allegiance to. Both Arneborg and McGovern agree that Norway monopolized Greenland’s overseas trade and that such trade significantly went down in the fourteenth century due to increasingly hazardous sea routes brought on by climate changes (McGovern, 1980, 269), coupled with declining demand for Greenland’s primary export (walrus ivory), and finally, the plague that hit Norway in 1349, which virtually shut down most of the outbound voyages (Arneborg, 2003, 172). Arneborg proposes that the shutting down of trade was most devastating to the Norse colonies because the sudden inability to import iron, which was used for cutting hay since the earliest settlements, created a fundamental deficiency that prevented the continuance of a cattle-herding economy (Arneborg, 2003, 177). Furthermore, Arneborg implies that export trade was much more significant to the Norse economy than McGovern suggests in his article. In her analysis, Arneborg cites various documentary sources that indicate the wide reach of Greenland exports across Europe. Also, given that most of the export commodities can only be …show more content…
It implies a strong dependency among nations and shows how isolation and the inability to participate in trade could lead to disastrous results. In comparing the two articles, Arneborg provides a much more holistic and global view of the events that led to the disappearance of Norse Greenland. To be fair, however, between the twenty-three years that had passed between the two articles, Arneborg obviously had much more resources at her disposal, such as new archeological finds and advanced studies. Nonetheless, both articles play a significant role in the progression of our historical understanding of lost medieval societies. In particular, they both advance the idea that complex historical events, such as the mysterious extinction of Norse Greenland, are better viewed as a product of many interrelated causes, rather than ascribing to a simplistic rationalization that ignores the dynamics between internal and external forces. As the world becomes more and more interconnected, it will become even more important for scholars of history to develop the ability to view past events using multiple lenses, as markedly exhibited in McGovern’s and Arneborg’s