Could Dorset people from Greenland settle in Iceland?
- Thread starter Bobbbcat2
- Start date
They'd need better boat-building. The sea ice does not extend to Iceland, especially not in the warmer periods in northern Europe. Crossing open seas in the sort of boats the Dorset had is extremely challenging. No point to try and cross that far when there's plenty of food elsewhere. Not impossible, just very difficult to see it happening.
If they did though, they'd find it to be a pretty good environment, since there's plenty of animals and plants to harvest in a relatively temperate environment. Iceland could probably support a sizable population of them. The Celtic monks who lived in Iceland before the Norse would no doubt find the situation interesting.
If they did though, they'd find it to be a pretty good environment, since there's plenty of animals and plants to harvest in a relatively temperate environment. Iceland could probably support a sizable population of them. The Celtic monks who lived in Iceland before the Norse would no doubt find the situation interesting.
The sea ice occasionally reaches Iceland, but hasn't since the sixties. Still, it would be highly unlikely unless the Dorset had a reason to cross it.
I think best way to get them to settle might be some Dorset get lost while boating, and stumble across Iceland.
When the Norse reached Greenland the Dorset had only been living there for about 200 years and only inhabited a bit of the north east coast of the Island. The Norse later settled far further south. So you'd need the Dorset population to first be large enough to prompt settlement further south, which may require life style changes given that southern Greenland was well... actually green at the time.
Then you can think up a way to cross the Iceland.