Climate, cod and crops: coastal land use in the SW Barents Sea region during the past 2.5 ka

Abstract

The SW coast of the Barents Sea is a historical transition zone between the traditional agrarian cultures of western Europe and Sami hunter-gatherers of northern Fennoscandia. It is today north of the climatic limit of cereal cultivation and the economy is primarily based on fisheries. The pollen content of two peat profiles from the outer coastal island Sørøya ( c. 70.5°N) were examined. Increased anthropogenic influence was seen in the pollen assemblages at 600—100 BC, AD 150—550, AD 1300—1550 and AD 1700—2000, as well as a general environmental shift around AD 950, probably towards a wetter climate and more open vegetation. The results largely confirm the general held view on agrarian expansion phases in North Norway. These different phases are discussed from a regional, historical, economic and environmental perspective. During the early Iron Age the arctic limit for agriculture is extended northward along the coast into the Barents Sea area, probably during periods of more favourable climate. From the late Middle Ages onwards the development towards an efficient market economy allowed better exploitation of the marine recourses, which reduced the dependence on climatically sensitive agrarian activities.