Late Holocene environmental change in southwest Greenland – fossil insect assemblages from Tasiusaq

Abstract

Palaeoecological research based on insect remains from the vicinity of a Norse farm at Tasiusaq in southwest Greenland provides information on the area surrounding the farm and new information on extirpations attributed to human impact. Anthropochorous species (spread by people) from the farm faunas are lacking in the assemblages, and the natural faunas provide evidence of moderate exploitation of the landscape as a result of activities related to livestock. The gaps in the stratigraphic sequence of the site are interpreted to be the result of peat‐cutting for structural turfs or fuel, and the implications of this activity are discussed. Insect assemblages from Tasiusaq, and studies from Norse sites in Greenland, do not provide clear evidence for any distinct climatic event during the medieval period. In contrast to what happened on other islands of the North Atlantic, insects introduced to Greenland by the Norse did not find suitable natural habitats and did not survive after the demise of the farms. However, the landscape did not return entirely to its pre‐Landnám biota after the human colonizers disappeared from it. Our findings provide new evidence for the consequences of the Norse and their agricultural practices on the Greenlandic environment and additional information on the fate of insect introductions in the area during the late Holocene.