Norsemen failed to establish permanent colonization in North America due to specific environmental and social factors
Multiple studies demonstrate that the Norse failure to maintain permanent colonization in Greenland was driven by a combination of environmental challenges (such as sea-level rise and a persistent drying trend) and social factors (including inflexible agricultural practices and cultural limits to adaptation).
The retrieved literature consistently points to a multi-causal explanation for the abandonment of Norse settlements in North America/Greenland, highlighting specific environmental pressures (sea-level rise, drying trends, cooling) interacting with social and cultural rigidities (imported farming styles, specialization). There are no papers refuting these specific environmental and social factors.
Dugmore AJ, McGovern TH, Vésteinsson O, Arneborg J, Streeter R, Keller C. Cultural adaptation, compounding vulnerabilities and conjunctures in Norse Greenland.. 2012. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1115292109
The paper explains that the Norse collapse in Greenland stemmed from a complex socioenvironmental system involving cultural limits to adaptation and environmental vulnerabilities.
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Borreggine M, Latychev K, Coulson S, Powell EM, Mitrovica JX, Milne GA, Alley RB. Sea-level rise in Southwest Greenland as a contributor to Viking abandonment.. 2023. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2209615120
The study demonstrates that sea-level rise and coastal flooding contributed to the Viking abandonment of settlements in Southwest Greenland.
Zhao B, Castañeda IS, Salacup JM, Thomas EK, Daniels WC, Schneider T, de Wet GA, Bradley RS. Prolonged drying trend coincident with the demise of Norse settlement in southern Greenland.. 2022. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abm4346
The research highlights how a persistent regional drying trend undermined grass production essential for livestock overwintering, contributing to the demise of the settlement.
Jackson R, Arneborg J, Dugmore A, Madsen C, McGovern T, Smiarowski K, Streeter R. Disequilibrium, Adaptation, and the Norse Settlement of Greenland.. 2018. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-018-0020-0
The authors argue that a mismatch between imported Scandinavian agricultural traditions and sub-arctic environmental constraints limited the Norse ability to adapt.
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