Viking runestone reveals fear of climate catastrophe, scholars find
The new interpretation suggests the inscription deals the conflict between light and darkness, warmth and cold, life and death.
How Coal Played a Part in Medieval Air Pollution
Pollution was a problem long before the Industrial Revolution and complaints of air pollution and its association with fuel can be traced back over seven hundred years.
Norse arrival on Iceland led to extinction of its walrus population, study finds
A team of researchers have shown that soon after the Norse arrived in Iceland, that island’s species of walrus went extinct.
What lead pollution in Arctic ice shows can tell us about the Middle Ages
Researchers used thirteen Arctic ice cores from Greenland and the Russian Arctic to measure, date, and analyze lead emissions captured in the ice from 500 to 2010 CE, a period of time that extended from the Middle Ages through the Modern Period to the present.
Dealing with flooding in medieval Valencia – blaming garbage instead of God
There is a common perception that when a natural disaster struck in the Middle Ages, the people would just say that this was God’s punishment for their sins. However, this was not always the case – at least when it came to flooding in Valencia.
The day the sun turned blue: A volcanic eruption in the early 1460s
And the sun has been seen blue many times a day and a cross was spotted in the moon as well as many more miracles in the sky.
Beech Trees in the Bayeux Tapestry: an Ecological Perspective
There are 37 trees or groups of trees on the tapestry and it has been widely noticed that trees are used as scene endings.
Study shows that Vikings enjoyed a warm Greenland
Chemistry of bugs trapped in ancient lake sediment shows a warm climate at a key time in Greenland’s history.
Red lights in the sky, hunger in sight: aurora borealis and famine between experience and rhetoric in the early Middle Ages
The purpose of the present paper is to analyse the mental and cultural attitudes of early medieval people towards one celestial “unidentified” phenomenon: aurora borealis.
Viking Age garden plants from southern Scandinavia – diversity, taphonomy and cultural aspects
This article presents the diversity of evidence for garden plants from archaeological contexts in southern Scandinavia dated to the Viking Age (AD 775–1050).
Climate Impacts and Societal Resilience in the Mediterranean of the Last Millennium: the Case of Medieval Byzantium
The period we’re talking about is covering the period after the early medieval crisis until the period that followed the fall of Constantinople to the Latins in the year 1204
How the Vikings Inhabited Scotland: A Social Zooarchaeological Approach
The field of human-animal relations is a growing area of research, and with regard to the
Viking Age the majority of this research has concerned the Scandinavian homelands.
From Roman Gold, to Merovingian “Pale Gold,” to Medieval Silver
Paper by Michael McCormick, given at the Climate, Pollution and Economic Growth in Human History: New results from the Historical Ice Core Project.
Resilient Societies, Vulnerable People: Coping with North Sea Floods Before 1800
Resilient Societies, Vulnerable People: Coping with North Sea Floods Before 1800 By Tim Soens Past & Present, Volume 241:1 (2018) Abstract: On Christmas Day…
Waste Management and Attitudes Towards Cleanliness in Medieval Central Europe
The paper deals with the relationships between people and waste in the Middle Ages, primarily in urban environments in Central Europe.
Why Pisa’s harbour disappeared
New insights into the evolution and eventual disappearance of Portus Pisanus, the lost harbour of Pisa, have been revealed.
The Day the Sun Turned Blue: A Volcanic Eruption in the Early 1460s and Its Possible Climatic Impact—A Natural Disaster Perceived Globally in the Late Middle Ages?
Strange atmospheric phenomena visible all over Europe in September 1465 are interpreted as the result of a volcanic dust veil, possibly originating from a re-dated eruption of Kuwae in Vanuatu, in the southwestern Pacific.
‘To Talk of Many Things’: Whales, Walrus, and Seals in Medieval Icelandic Literature
In comparing the roles of whales, walrus, and seals, this study will examine the themes that recur throughout the Old Icelandic literary tradition, and how these may have been influenced by the circumstances of the time.
Earth, air, fire, and water in Beowulf
In this thesis, I explore the intersection of nature and human society in the poem Beowulf.
Volcanic eruptions in the 6th century plunged Eurasia into hunger and disease
A recent study indicates that volcanic eruptions in the mid 500s resulted in an unusually gloomy and cold period, and that the years 536 and 541-544 CE were very difficult for many people.
How a volcanic eruption influenced Iceland’s conversion to Christianity
Memories of the largest lava flood in the history of Iceland, recorded in an apocalyptic medieval poem, were used to drive the island’s conversion to Christianity, new research suggests.
Seven Wonders of the Medieval Far North
Konungs skuggsjá explains the wonders of the strange waters around Greenland, a far corner of the medieval world.
Climate of Doubt: A re-evaluation of Büntgen and Di Cosmo’s environmental hypothesis for the Mongol withdrawal from Hungary, 1242 CE
Büntgen and Di Cosmo’s recent article in Scientific Reports attempts to tackle an important historical mystery (the abrupt Mongol withdrawal from medieval Hungary). We agree with their underlying assumption that an interdisciplinary analysis of environmental and documentary resources can result in a better understanding of the events. However, some of the supporting evidence does not withstand critical examination in the context of the Mongol invasion of Hungary.
Medieval Iceland, Greenland, and the New Human Condition: A case study in integrated environmental humanities
By interlinking analyses of historically grounded literature with archaeological studies and environmental science, valuable new perspectives can emerge on how these past societies may have understood and coped with environmental impacts.
