According to Icelandic sagas, 25 Viking ships set sail from Iceland in 985 to establish settlements in Greenland.
Their descendants lived there for centuries before suddenly disappearing in the 1400s, according to Historienet.
Historians have debated for years why the colony collapsed. New research suggests that a combination of unfortunate circumstances led to their downfall.
Studies of sediment from Greenland’s fjords show that temperatures dropped sharply around the year 1250.
The cold caused the fjords to freeze, making sailing difficult. Summers also became much windier. These harsh conditions made survival harder.
People needed more firewood and larger food supplies to endure the long winters. Keeping the colony running became increasingly difficult.
At the same time, the settlers lost one of their main sources of income. European buyers lost interest in Greenlandic walrus ivory and switched to elephant ivory instead.
This led to fewer trading ships arriving in Greenland. As trade slowed, the settlers became more isolated from the outside world.
The departure from Greenland seems to have happened gradually. Skeletons from burial sites show a decline in the number of young people.
This suggests that many of them left first. They likely traveled to Iceland or Norway, where opportunities for land ownership had improved.
The Black Death had devastated Europe in the 1300s, leaving behind abandoned farms and open land.
There is no evidence of a sudden, violent end to the Greenlandic Norse settlements. Instead, it appears that the people left in small groups over time.
The worsening climate, economic struggles, and isolation probably made life too difficult.
Faced with these challenges, the settlers likely saw better chances elsewhere and abandoned their homes in search of a new future.
