Scientists from the University of Iceland traced the movement of timber across the North Atlantic, showing that Scandinavian sailors transported wood from North America to Greenland. The findings, reported in a scholarly journal, illuminate a surprising network of exchange that reached into the high Arctic centuries ago.
Greenland’s initial settlement is dated to around 985 or 986 AD by Norwegian and Icelandic groups. The early colonists established two main communities along the southwest coast. Scholars have since revisited these dates and the material traces left behind, including wooden artifacts that reveal long-distance links spanning the North Atlantic. Through careful analysis, researchers identified wood samples that date back many centuries, underscoring sustained contact between distant regions.
The study highlights that a small portion of recycled timber was clearly imported from distant sources. Wood types such as oak, beech, hemlock, and pine were positively identified as foreign imports, representing a fraction of the total timber used. In contrast, the bulk of the timber consisted of species like larch, spruce, Scotch pine, and fir, which may have been imported or simply carried ashore from ships and supply caches that traveled along established routes.
Hemlock and pine were not native to Northern Europe at the time these settlements were active. Their presence in Greenland goods suggests import from North American sources, consistent with the broader maritime lore surrounding Vinland, the Norse exploration of lands beyond Greenland. Tales recount how explorers associated with Leif Eriksson and other travelers brought timber back to Greenland from lands west of Greenland, a narrative that aligns with the physical evidence uncovered by the latest research.
Given Greenland’s limited natural resources, it has long been believed that settlers depended on goods ferried from farther afield, including iron and wood. The new findings support this view and add nuance to it, showing that long-distance timber movement occurred alongside other trade and provisioning practices. The research also implies that Greenlanders undertook voyages toward the North American continent at least as far back as the fourteenth century, expanding our understanding of the Arctic’s early exchange networks.
Overall, the work from Icelandic laboratories contributes a tangible material record to the story of Norse settlement in Greenland. By combining dendrochronology, wood anatomy, and typology, the researchers provide a clearer picture of how wood and other resources circulated across the North Atlantic long before modern trade routes emerged. This evidence helps place Greenland’s colonial efforts within a wider framework of exploration, resilience, and adaptation in harsh climates, where timber and metal were precious and scarce resources.
In sum, the story of Greenland’s earliest settlers is not simply one of isolation. It is a tale of connections—between continents, between communities, and between the ships that carried timber, tools, and hope to a distant land. The research from the University of Iceland reinforces the idea that even in an era defined by survival, people forged linkages that spanned oceans and centuries, leaving behind a material legacy that continues to inform how we understand Norse enterprise in the North Atlantic.