The Beginning of the End? How the Medieval Warm Period’s Climate Shift May Have Doomed The Vikings

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The Viking Age (793-1066 AD) marked a significant period of exploration, expansion, and maritime mastery for the Norse peoples. From their homelands in Scandinavia, the Vikings embarked on daring voyages across the North Atlantic, establishing pioneering settlements in places like Iceland, Greenland, and possibly even North America.

However, recent evidence suggests that these impressive feats of colonization may have been facilitated by a temporary climatic anomaly known as the Medieval Warm Period. The eventual shift from this warm phase to a period of arctic cooling may have played a role in the downfall of these Norse settlements.

The Medieval Warm Period (950-1250 AD)

During the Medieval Warm Period (950-1250 AD), the North Atlantic region, including areas such as Greenland and Iceland, experienced temperatures significantly warmer than the preceding centuries.

Glaciers retreated and sea ice melted, leading to lush vegetation and forests growing at latitudes far north of their current extent. The exact degree of warmth compared to today is contentious, but there is a consensus that this period was unusually hospitable.

This surprising Medieval Warm Period was not a global event. The warmth varied across different regions and didn’t occur at the same time everywhere. Some areas, like the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean, were much cooler than they are today.

The Medieval Warm Period was followed by a cooler period known as the Little Ice Age. This saw the onset of several phenomena, including reduced solar activity, annual freezing of rivers, and the loss of vineyards from Brittania.

The Vikings’ migration to Greenland around 985 AD coincided with the Medieval Warm Period, and the onset of the Little Ice Age is thought to have contributed to the decline of the Norse settlements.

So, while the Medieval Warm Period may have aided the Vikings in establishing far-flung colonies, the subsequent climatic shift may have contributed to their demise.

Viking Expansion During the Medieval Warm Period

At the height of the Medieval Warm Period, the Vikings embarked on their most audacious expeditions across the Atlantic. Around 985 AD, Erik the Red founded the first European settlements on the southwest coast of Greenland, where they remarkably farmed lands that were not frozen. 

Archaeological evidence suggests that a small group of Norse people may have established a brief outpost in Newfoundland around 1000 AD, exploring lands that they called “Vinland.”

During this period, the Vikings established several colonies during rapid expansion. They founded the Kingdom of the Isles (Suðreyjar), Orkney (Norðreyjar), York (Jórvík) and the Danelaw (Danalǫg), Dublin (Dyflin), Normandy, and Kievan Rus’ (Garðaríki). 

They also gained control of the Northern Isles of Scotland (Shetland and the Orkneys), the Hebrides, and much of mainland Scotland. They founded Ireland’s first trading towns, Dublin, Waterford, Wexford, Wicklow, and Limerick. They used their base on the Irish coast to launch attacks within Ireland and across the Irish Sea to England.

The Influence of the Medieval Warm Period on Viking Colonization

The warmer weather during the Medieval Warm Period facilitated the successful establishment of certain Viking colonies in several ways:

1. Improved Farming Conditions: The warmer climate allowed for crop cultivation in no longer suitable regions. For instance, in Greenland, the Norse settlers could farmlands that were not frozen. This provided a reliable food source and enabled the establishment and growth of settlements.
2. Expanded Habitats: The warmer temperatures made previously inhospitable regions more livable. This allowed the Vikings to establish settlements in far-off lands such as Greenland and Newfoundland.
3. Increased Seafaring and Trading Opportunities: The warmer climate also affected the Vikings’ seafaring and raiding activities. Summer storms stopped the movement of the Vikings to new lands, and winter sea ice was one of the causes of the first overwintering for raiding the Norse on mainland Europe. The milder climate during the Medieval Warm Period would have made these activities easier and more profitable, furthering the establishment of new colonies.

The Onset of the Little Ice Age (1250-1850 AD)

The fortunes of the Viking colonists began to turn by the late 13th century. A dramatic temperature regression heralded the arrival of the Little Ice Age across the North Atlantic region that lasted into the 19th century.

Glaciers advanced, seas froze over for longer seasons, and farming activities faced mounting difficulties. Previously thriving settlements in marginal northern environments came under increasing strain from the deteriorating climate.

The Decline and Fall of the Greenland Colonies

Nowhere was this transition more acute than in Greenland, where archaeological excavations of the Norse dwellings revealed a bleak picture.

By the early 15th century, the colonies had been completely abandoned – with evidence of depleting food reserves, housing disrepair, and even disturbing signs of famine-induced cannibalism.

While conflict with Inuit peoples may have contributed, mounting research points to the increasingly inhospitable climatic conditions as a principal factor dooming the Greenland settlements.

Did Climate Doom the Vikings?

The stark juxtaposition of Greenland’s settlements thriving during the medieval warmth, only to then be abandoned when the Little Ice Age hit, has led some historians and scientists to propose a controversial theory: the Vikings were lured into overextending themselves during the unusually pleasant Medieval Warm Period, only to be caught tragically unprepared when it was succeeded by dramatic arctic cooling.

Signs of depleted resources, ecological strains, and social unraveling could all point to the colonists being prehistoric “climate refugees” of sorts.

EVIDENCE AGAINST THE CLIMATE THEORY

While the theory that the Medieval Warm Period facilitated Viking colonization is widely accepted, some scholars dispute it based on recent studies and evidence.

1. Regional vs Global Warmth: Some researchers argue that the Medieval Warm Period wasn’t a global event but patchy and regionalized. This suggests that while Europe enjoyed exceptionally clement weather, the climate in other parts of the world, including where the Vikings settled, might not have been the same.
2. Climate at the Time of Settlement: A study from Columbia University suggests that the climate was already cold when the Norse arrived in Greenland. 
3. Climate and the Vikings’ Demise: The same study also argues that climate probably didn’t play much of a role in the demise of the Norse settlements some 400 years later. After all, they were Vikings and weren’t unfamiliar with the cold. This suggests that other factors, such as hostilities with the Inuit, a decline in the ivory trade, soil erosion caused by the Vikings’ imported cattle, or a migration back to Europe to farms depopulated by the Black Plague, could have contributed to their disappearance.
4. Reconstruction of Past Climate: A team from Northwestern University reconstructed southern Greenland’s climate record over the past 3,000 years. They found it was relatively warm when the Norse lived there between 985 and 1450 C.E., compared to the previous and following centuries. This supports the idea that the Medieval Warm Period may have enabled Viking colonization.

These findings suggest that while the Medieval Warm Period may have played a role in facilitating Viking colonization, the climate conditions were more complex than previously thought. And the Vikings’ ability to adapt to these conditions likely played a significant role in their impressive feats of colonization.

Final Thoughts

The jury is still out on whether the back-to-back Medieval Warm Period and Little Ice Age doomed Greenland’s famed Viking explorers and settlers. However, the emerging evidence poses compelling questions about the role of favorable and then adverse climate conditions – and humanity’s ability to respond – in the rise and demise of their North Atlantic colonies.

As we peer deeper into the past’s climatic clues, we gain invaluable insights into which factors may determine the survival or collapse of societies confronting the profound environmental changes to come.

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