Ancient harp seal hunters of Disko Bay (Vol. 330):Subsistence and settlement at the 
Saqqaq culture site Qeqertasussuk 
(2400-1400 BC), West Greenland

Meldgaard, Morten

doi:10.26530/oapen_342353

Cited by 28 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…coincides with a contraction in the Saqqaq population toward West Greenland (3-5) and a shift from subarctic to arctic conditions in the Disko Bugt region (33) (approximately 250 km north of Kangerlussuaq; Fig. 1A) that likely affected resource availability (34). There is evidence from the Nipisat site near Sisimiut (Fig.…”

mentioning

confidence: 82%

Abrupt Holocene climate change as an important factor for human migration in West Greenland

D'Andrea

Huang

Fritz

et al. 2011

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

205

183

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West Greenland has had multiple episodes of human colonization and cultural transitions over the past 4,500 y. However, the explanations for these large-scale human migrations are varied, including climatic factors, resistance to adaptation, economic marginalization, mercantile exploration, and hostile neighborhood interactions. Evaluating the potential role of climate change is complicated by the lack of quantitative paleoclimate reconstructions near settlement areas and by the relative stability of Holocene temperature derived from ice cores atop the Greenland ice sheet. Here we present high-resolution records of temperature over the past 5,600 y based on alkenone unsaturation in sediments of two lakes in West Greenland. We find that major temperature changes in the past 4,500 y occurred abruptly (within decades), and were coeval in timing with the archaeological records of settlement and abandonment of the Saqqaq, Dorset, and Norse cultures, which suggests that abrupt temperature changes profoundly impacted human civilization in the region. Temperature variations in West Greenland display an antiphased relationship to temperature changes in Ireland over centennial to millennial timescales, resembling the interannual to multidecadal temperature seesaw associated with the North Atlantic Oscillation.anthropology | Arctic | biomarker | paleoclimatology

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mentioning

confidence: 82%

Abrupt Holocene climate change as an important factor for human migration in West Greenland

D'Andrea

Huang

Fritz

et al. 2011

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

205

183

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“…a BP ( Figure 4C, [62]). Based on archaeological data, Meldgaard [66] speculates that there was a change from subarctic to arctic conditions between 4200 and 3500 cal. a BP that significantly affected the availability of human food resources.…”

Section: -3000 Cal a Bp: Late-holocene Thermal Maximummentioning

confidence: 99%

Summer Sea-Surface Temperatures and Climatic Events in Vaigat Strait, West Greenland, during the Last 5000 Years

Sha

et al. 2017

Sustainability

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Abstract:We present a new reconstruction of summer sea-surface temperature (SST) variations over the past 5000 years based on a diatom record from gravity core DA06-139G, from Vaigat Strait in Disko Bugt, West Greenland. Summer SST varied from 1.4 to 5 • C, and the record exhibits an overall decreasing temperature trend. Relatively high summer SST occurred prior to 3000 cal. a BP, representing the end of the Holocene Thermal Maximum. After the beginning of the "Neoglaciation" at approximately 3000 cal. a BP, Vaigat Strait experienced several hydrographical changes that were closely related to the general climatic and oceanographic evolution of the North Atlantic region. Distinct increases in summer SST in Vaigat Strait occurred from 2000 to 1600 cal. a BP and from 1200 to 630 cal. a BP, and are consistent with the "Roman Warm Period" and the "Mediaeval Warm Period" in the North Atlantic region. The summer SST decreased significantly during 1500~1200 cal. a BP and 630~50 cal. a BP, corresponding, respectively, to the Northeast Atlantic cooling episodes known as the "European Dark Ages" and "Little Ice Age". Spectral and cross-correlation analyses indicate that centennial-scale oscillations in summer SST are superimposed on the long-term trend. The dominant periodicities are centered at 529, 410, and 191 years, which are close to the ubiquitous 512 and 206-year 14 C cycle, suggesting that solar forcing may play an important role in summer SST variability in Disko Bugt.

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“…At Qeqertasussuk, large whales e.g. bowhead or northern right whale (Balena mysticetus/glacialis), minke whale or sei whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata/borealis) and sperm whale were retrieved (Grønnow 1994;Meldgaard 2004) and these species no doubt also passed through the Nipisat Sound, which historically was known as a good place for whale hunting (see Chapter 2).…”

Section: White Whalementioning

confidence: 99%

“…At the Saqqaq site of Qeqertasussuq the caribou assemblage (N=302) shoved a distribution with antler and bones of high food value (in particular front and hind legs) being the most frequent bone elements (Meldgaard 2004: fig. 9.36).…”

Section: Ages Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 Totalmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nipisat - a Saqqaq culture site in Sisimiut, central West Greenland (Vol. 331)

Gotfredsen¹,

Møbjerg²

2004

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Ancient harp seal hunters of Disko Bay (Vol. 330):Subsistence and settlement at the Saqqaq culture site Qeqertasussuk (2400-1400 BC), West Greenland

Cited by 28 publications

References 24 publications

Abrupt Holocene climate change as an important factor for human migration in West Greenland

Abrupt Holocene climate change as an important factor for human migration in West Greenland

Summer Sea-Surface Temperatures and Climatic Events in Vaigat Strait, West Greenland, during the Last 5000 Years

Nipisat - a Saqqaq culture site in Sisimiut, central West Greenland (Vol. 331)

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