January 13, 2020
If any of you are on speaking terms with that idiot "scientist" who promotes the "hockey stick" theory of Climate Change -- James Hansen, isn't it -- will you please forward this article https://www.foxnews.com/science/viking-left-greenland-overhunted-walruses to him after you've read it, and tell him to pay particular attention to the paragraph about the Medieval Warming Period, which is absent from his graph? He won't thank you for it, but you'll be doing a service nevertheless.The study, led by Dr. James Barrett of the University of Cambridge, concludes that the overhunting of walruses played a major role in Norsemen’s vanishing from Greenland. Walrus tusks were a big commodity during the period, with Europeans willing to pay big money or trade iron and much-needed timber (trees are scarce in Greenland) for the ivory.
According to the research, by the time the 11th century rolled around, all ivory traded in Europe came from Greenland walruses. Starting in the 13th century, the walrus tusk gravy train started to splinter, as the West African Trade routes opened up and Europeans were now able to buy "superior†elephant ivory. Consumers preferred the larger, more consistently-colored elephant tusks to the smaller walrus ivory, which had a different color in the middle.
Instead of walrus hunting declining after their decrease in popularity, it had the opposite effect—Vikings killed even more walruses in an attempt to keep up with the market.
"We think that when elephant ivory became more popular in Europe, the unit value of walrus ivory decreased, meaning the Greenland Norse had to hunt more animals to maintain the volume of their trade with Europe,†Barrett told Fox News. "We think this led to overhunting.â€
The common belief of why the Vikings left Greenland had been they overexploited the environment, then either died or left once temperatures declined.
For their study, the researchers analyzed 67 genuine medieval walrus skulls that served as "packaging" for tusks traded from Greenland to Europe. When shipped in the Middle Ages, the tusks were still attached to the front part of walrus skulls. They were then extracted for their ivory when they reached European towns such as Dublin, Bergen and London.
"We looked at how these skulls were modified for trade, which showed very similar methods of butchery and decoration, implying that they were produced by a single group of hunters or craftspeople (probably in Greenland),†Barrett explained. "We also used ancient DNA and stable isotopes to see where the walruses had been caught, and we considered archaeological and historical evidence regarding Norse Greenland and the medieval ivory trade.â€
According to their analysis, during the 13th century, the skulls harvested became smaller and smaller in size, with the Norsemen having to keep traveling further north into the Arctic Circle to hunt any available walruses, male or female. These smaller skulls belonged to walruses from an evolutionary branch found in Baffin Bay, a large body of water far north of the settlements where the Vikings first hunted.
[...]
With so much effort spent hunting walruses for less money in return, along with unsustainable farming practices, the Black Death, and temperatures plunging, it’s believed the Vikings had no option but to leave the island.
[...]
Erik the Red [Thorvaldson] arrived from Scandinavia in 985 A.D. during the Medieval Warming Period, from 900-1300 A.D. In this time, Norsemen started communities, built towns, large houses and farms in the region.
Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at
12:02 PM
| Comments (17)
| Add Comment
Post contains 782 words, total size 6 kb.
Posted by: Bill H at January 14, 2020 12:20 AM (vMiSr)
Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at January 14, 2020 09:07 AM (Av220)
An excellent article!
Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at January 14, 2020 09:10 AM (Av220)
You go into our local supermarkets around Christmastime and see "fresh lutefisk," an oxymoron if ever there was one. And it's not for the local Hispanic population, nor the Somalis either.
The first Christmas we were here, we saw a hilarious billboard, darn near made us run the car off the road. It was an ad for Windsor Canadian whisky, and the big caption was "Lutefisk Helper."
Posted by: Dana Mathewson at January 14, 2020 09:46 AM (pUntP)
Posted by: Bill H at January 14, 2020 05:17 PM (vMiSr)
Couldn't be that various scientific "tribes" had agendas and didn't want to admit it? Naw, couldn't be. . .
Posted by: Dana Mathewson at January 14, 2020 09:16 PM (s0Ds3)
Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at January 15, 2020 06:03 AM (pzbSR)
Somebody says nowadays that "I ate lutefisk the other day" and everybody else says "Why?"
Posted by: Dana Mathewson at January 15, 2020 10:12 AM (LVmqo)
If you’re looking for the best CBD oil for sale on the market, it pays to do your homework. While there are many places to buy CBD oil, many sites are different and have different pros and cons. Here are some examples of places where you can buy pure CBD oil for pain, CBD vape juice, CBD hemp oil, CBD capsules, CBD vape oil, CBD gummies, CBD cream, Wax, crystals, and other options.
CBD Oils and EdiblesThis site is also known as Cannabinol Life. They have a variety of services that commend them as an excellent choice. For example, you can get 10% off your order just by inputting the coupon code they have at the top there. They are also recommended by places like the Expo site and Medical Marijuana Doctors. They are well on their way to getting the USDA organic certification to, which is excellent for those who want to monitor what goes into their body in terms of chemicals. You can get gummies here called "Hempful Gummies†which are tasty and have the desired medical effect as well. They have isolate available as well in 10 grams, for example. This stuff is highly powerful and will be best for those who know what they’re doing already. You can cook it into your products, for example.
Joy Organics
Joy Organics has a lot to recommend it. For example, you can look at its full oil guide to get a sense of what you might want to buy. This makes it much easier to make sure that you’re getting what you want. This way, you don’t need to worry about trying one oil after another until you get the one you want, for example. Plus, the site’s products are completely free of THC, which is a big advantage if you want to go without having your mind muddled at all since THC is psychoactive. You could instead get just the calming effect without the part from THC. You get free shipping here, and they even have a money-back guarantee. They also have a variety of tinctures and even salves, which are particularly good for any kind of muscle ache or other problem which could be eased by a topical cure. They make all of their products organically as well, so you know that you’ll be free of any kind of harsh chemicals.
Diamond CBDIf you visit this company’s webpage, you can get coupons that will give you up to 40 percent off. There are unique options at Diamond, such as getting gift boxes that have a variety of different products in them. They have products like the Pain Master that will help you reduce whatever kind of pain you’re feeling easily. You also have the unique option to take the supplement inside of honey. This means you can drop the honey into tea so that you can both wake up and stay calm at the same time. That’s a potent combination. Overall, the best CBD oil for sale on the market will depend on what kind of situation you’re in. You should buy CBD oil based on what you need it for. So, for example, pure CBD oil for pain will work if you want to keep your head clear. Other products, such as a pure salve, will work better if need to take away the pain from some other condition. If you don’t like taking the oil in tinctures, it can help to get the food products that have the oil in them so that you can get the amount that you need that way instead.
http://www.buycannabis-online.com/
Posted by: buy cannabis at March 19, 2020 09:03 AM (bx9LS)
Posted by: หวยหุ้นดาวโจนส์ at December 25, 2021 12:00 AM (m0e2F)
Best Ecommerce Solutions Company
Posted by: Devid at December 28, 2021 05:20 AM (1+x87)
Pinaak Is An AI Oriented Best Website Designing And Digital Marketing Company In Chandigarh. Pinaak Has A Team Of Highly Skilled Professionals, Who Can Transform Your Business And Improve Your Online Presence On Global Platform. best seo agency in chandigarh
Posted by: Pinaak at April 29, 2022 01:00 AM (HVGiK)
Today we are pleased to introduce ourselves as one of the best Keychain manufacturers in Delhi.
Posted by: brandsity at May 02, 2022 02:58 AM (esBZi)
Posted by: yhcargo at May 02, 2022 03:16 AM (WDwQ/)
Posted by: dectrans at July 18, 2022 11:16 PM (59a3K)
https://dectrans.com/ DECTRANS LOGISTICS is one of the most reliable freight forwarding companies in India.
Posted by: dectrans at July 18, 2022 11:17 PM (59a3K)
Posted by: dectrans at July 18, 2022 11:18 PM (59a3K)
37 queries taking 0.161 seconds, 175 records returned.
Powered by Minx 1.1.6c-pink.