AHC/WI: Enduring Norse Greenland

Cutting wood, grazing sheep removed ground cover, increasing erosion, and decreasing the quality of the soil.

Apparently not on all greenland farms...some farms showed improving soil quality to the very end. It varied between farms, indicating that some farmers were more skilled then others...
 
EDIT: Also, what if instead of sheep they tried to exploit caribou and muskoxen as sources of food?

You rang?

Caribou would not mesh well with the Norse lifestyle. They are highly migratory, and even today need to be followed by their herders. The Norse would not like abandoning their farms to follow their livestock, and would quite probably prefer to take some of the post-black death vacant land in Norway and use that to raise 'proper' livestock than go chasing after some half-wild dyr

Musk-ox might actually stand a chance of being domesticated, but at the time of the Norse they were restricted to the extreme northwestern tip of Greenland, only being introduced to other parts of Greenland in recent years.
 
Ouch. Would an able-bodied population with all the necessary tools and constant access to Europe be able to reverse the erosion/desertification scenario?

Also, would potatoes make a better crop there as in Ireland?

EDIT: Also, what if instead of sheep they tried to exploit caribou and muskoxen as sources of food?

Poatoes came from the Andes originally. They were acquired by Europeans after Colombus and only adopted in Europe in the 18th century or thereabouts.

Musk Ox, as has been pointed out weren't anywhere near the Norse. The only place they'd be found is in the extreme north of of greenland.

It's very hard to establish a new domesticate. It's a significant effort to domesticate. There's a huge learning curve and an investment curve.

Among other problems that you've got here is that Caribou are incompatible with sheep. Sheep carry KMT (sic), a cervine disease. Harmelss to them but almost instantly fatal to carbou.
 
Top