The Eastern Settlement was the largest and first of the three areas of Greenland

Greenland

Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...

, settled in approximately 985 AD by Norse

Norsemen

Norsemen is used to refer to the group of people as a whole who spoke what is now called the Old Norse language belonging to the North Germanic branch of Indo-European languages, especially Norwegian, Icelandic, Faroese, Swedish and Danish in their earlier forms.The meaning of Norseman was "people...

 farmers from Iceland

Iceland

Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

 (the other settlements being the Western

Western Settlement

The Western Settlement was the smaller of the two main areas of Greenland settled in around 985 AD by Norse farmers from Iceland ....

 and Middle

Ivittuut

Ivittuut, was a municipality , located on the coast of Arsuk fjord in southern Greenland. With an area of just 100 km² , it was the smallest municipality of Greenland, bordering on the former Narsaq municipality in the north, east, and south, and on the west by the Labrador Sea...

 Settlements). At its peak it contained approximately 4,000 inhabitants. The last written record from the Eastern Settlement is of a wedding in 1408; thus it ceased to be occupied after around 1410-1420 AD, about 60–70 years longer than the Western Settlement.

Despite its name, the Eastern Settlement was more south than east of its companion and, like the Western Settlement, was located on the southwestern tip of Greenland

Greenland

Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...

 at the head of long fjords: Tunulliarfik Fjord

Tunulliarfik Fjord

Tunulliarfik Fjord is a fjord in the Kujalleq municipality in southern Greenland. In times of the Norse settlement in southern Greenland, it was known as Eiriksfjord.- Geography :...

 or Eiriksfjord, Igaliku

Igaliku

Igaliku is a settlement in the Kujalleq municipality in southern Greenland. Present day Igaliku was founded in 1783 by trader and colonial administrator Anders Olsen and his Greenlandic wife Tuperna...

  or Einarsfjord, Sermilik Fjord, to name a few (see also the map).

Approximately 500 groups of ruins of Norse farms are found in the area, including 16 church ruins (see Brattahlíð

Brattahlíð

Brattahlíð was Erik the Red's estate in the Eastern Settlement Viking colony he established in south-western Greenland toward the end of the 10th century. The present settlement of Qassiarsuk, approximately southwest from the Narsarsuaq settlement, is now located in its place...

, Garðar

Gardar, Greenland

Garðar was the seat of the bishop in the Norse settlements in Greenland.-Diocese of Garðar:In the sagas it is told that Sokki Þórisson, a wealthy farmer of the Brattahlíð area launched the idea of a separate bishop for Greenland in the early 12th century. He got the approval of the Norwegian King....

 and Hvalsey

Hvalsey

Hvalsey is located near Qaqortoq, Greenland and is the site of Greenland's largest, best-preserved Norse ruins in the area known as the Eastern Settlement .-History:...

).

The economy of the medieval Norse settlements was based on livestock farming

Pastoral farming

Pastoral farming is farming aimed at producing livestock, rather than growing crops. Examples include dairy farming, raising beef cattle, and raising sheep for wool. In contrast, mixed farming is growing of both crops and livestock on the same farm. Pastoral farmers are also known as graziers...

 - mainly sheep and cattle, with significant supplement from seal hunting. A climate deterioration in the 14th Century may have increased the demand for winter fodder and at the same time decreased productivity of hay meadows

Meadow

A meadow is a field vegetated primarily by grass and other non-woody plants . The term is from Old English mædwe. In agriculture a meadow is grassland which is not grazed by domestic livestock but rather allowed to grow unchecked in order to make hay...

. Isotope analysis of bones excated at archaeological investigations in the Norse settlements have found that fishing played an increasing economic role towards the end of the settlement's life. While the diet of the first settlers consisted of 80% agricultural products and 20% marine food, from the 14th century the Greenland Norsemen had 50–80% of their diet from the sea.

Sources

• Diamond, Jared
  Jared Diamond
  Jared Mason Diamond is an American scientist and author whose work draws from a variety of fields. He is currently Professor of Geography and Physiology at UCLA...
  
   (2005): Collapse: How societies choose to fail or succeed
  Collapse (book)
  Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed is a 2005 book by Jared M. Diamond, professor of geography and physiology at University of California, Los Angeles...
  
  . New York: Penguin.