Kujataa

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Kujataa
UNESCO world heritage UNESCO World Heritage Emblem
Vatnahverfi.jpg
The shepherd's settlement Tatsip Kitaa near Igaliku in Kujataa
National territory: GreenlandGreenland Greenland
Type: Culture
Criteria : v
Surface: 34892 ha
Buffer zone: 57,227 ha
Reference No .: 1536
UNESCO region : Europe and North America
History of enrollment
Enrollment: 2017  ( session 41 )

Map: Greenland
marker
Kujataa​
Magnify-clip.png
Greenland

Kujataa [ kujaˈtaː ] is a sub-Arctic agricultural landscape in southern Greenland . It covers an area of ​​34,892 hectares (348.92 km 2 ). It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2017 .

Zones

Kujataa consists of five zones:

  1. Qassiarsuk (113.42 km 2 ) borders in the north on the 1267 meter high Ulunnguarsuaq massif and in the south on the highland area of ​​Qaqqarsuatsiaq. It was the second zone in Kujataa after Igaliku where modern sheep farming was (and still is) practiced. The zone is named after the settlement of Qassiarsuk , which is the largest shepherd settlement in Greenland.
  2. Igaliku (82.87 km 2 ) borders the mountains Illerfissalik and Tallorutit in the north . It was the first zone in Kujataa where modern sheep farming was practiced. It was an important strategic position for the Grænlendingar and was the perfect location for the 12th century bishopric. The settlement of Igaliku is the namesake of this zone.
  3. Sissarluttoq (3.39 km 2 ) is the smallest zone and contains a single Nordic farm, which is one of the best preserved in Greenland.
  4. Tasikuluulik (75.42 km 2 ) was used by the Grænlendingar for agriculture and contains the settlement Igaliku Kujalleq . The zone was affected by unsystematic artifact excavation by antiquarians in the 19th century. Nowhere in Greenland is more archaeological research done than in Tasikuluulik.
  5. Qaqortukulooq (73.82 km 2 ) includes an agricultural research station and the ruins of Hvalsey Church are located there.

history

Scandinavian settlement

When Erik the Red landed in Greenland during his exile, he founded his first settlement in 985 within today's world cultural heritage, on the site of today's Qassiarsuk. The church of Brattahlíð , built by his wife, is also considered the oldest church in Greenland and was built shortly after the settlement, which was the first time Christianity found its way into Greenland.

After the so-called “East Settlement”, the “West Settlement” to the northwest was founded in the area of ​​today's Nuuk , which, however, was smaller than the original settlement with around 90 farmsteads.

These settlers lived mainly from animal husbandry and fishing. However, agriculture was also practiced and in favorable years even apples should have grown. At the latest after the colonies had submitted to the Norwegian King Håkon IV in 1261 , trade with Europe flourished. The colony's commercial goods were popular, especially the high-fat wool from the sheep, the gyrfalcons , narwhal tusks and walrus ivory .

In 1406 the last Norwegian merchant ship docked in the port and the captain Þórsteinn Óláfsson (Thorstein Olafsson) celebrated a splendid wedding with the Greenlander Sigríðr Bjarnardóttir (Sigrid Björnsdottir). However, this was the last written report from Scandinavians in Greenland. An Icelandic expedition discovered a body in the former eastern settlement in the 1540s, which may be the last tradition of Scandinavians in Greenland.

There are various theories as to what caused the downfall, such as conflicts with the incoming Inuit or a colder climate.

Inuit settlement

The Thule culture, which probably originated around the year 900 AD, spread further and further in Greenland and displaced the older and more backward Dorset culture .

By the 15th century at the latest, Greenland was completely settled by the Thule Inuit. These lived mainly from whaling, which, thanks to their new lances and harpoons, brought large yields. Thanks to their dog sleds , a kind of trade arose.

The Little Ice Age caused a small population decline and the colder areas were depopulated. The Inuit way of life changed even more drastically with the arrival of European whalers from the 17th century. This created new trading opportunities and Christianity spread through the proselytizing of the newcomers.

Web links

  • Entry on the UNESCO World Heritage Center website ( English and French ).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Kujataa on the UNESCO World Heritage Center website ( English and French ).
  2. ↑ a b c d e Nomination to UNESCO's World Heritage List: Kujataa - a subarctic farming landscape in Greenland. (PDF; 22.8 MB) January 2016, accessed on July 6, 2019 (English).
  3. ↑ Narsaq at groenlandkreuzfahrt.de
  4. ^ Brattahlið, Greenland. In: Follow the vikings. Retrieved August 7, 2019 .
  5. ↑ Tjodhildes Church - the reconstruction in Qassiarsuk. In: Visit Greenland. Retrieved August 7, 2019 .
  6. ↑ Carol S. Francis: The Lost Western Settlement Of Greenland, 1342 . University of California. 2011. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  7. ↑ Kujataa - a subarctic farming landscape in Greenland. January 2016, p. 54 , accessed August 7, 2019 (English).
  8. ↑ Kujataa - a subarctic farming landscape in Greenland. January 2016, p. 103 , accessed August 9, 2019 .
  9. ^ Dale Mackenzie Brown: The Fate of Greenland's Vikings ( en ) Archaeological Institute of America. February 28, 2000. Retrieved on August 25, 2019: “One [...] [man] was found lying face down on the beach of a fjord in the 1540s by a party of Icelandic seafarers, who like so many sailors before them had been blown off course on their passage to Iceland and wound up in Greenland. The only Norseman they would come across during their stay, he died where he had fallen, dressed in a hood, homespun woolens and seal skins. Nearby lay his knife, 'bent and much worn and eaten away. "
  10. ↑ Why did Greenland's Vikings disappear? . In: Science | AAAS , November 7, 2016. 
  11. ↑ Tim Folger: Why Did Greenland's Vikings Vanish? (en) . In: Smithsonian . Retrieved August 23, 2019. 
  12. ↑ Kujataa - a subarctic farming landscape in Greenland. January 2016, p. 140 , accessed on August 7, 2019 .
  13. ↑ Kujataa - a subarctic farming landscape in Greenland. January 2016, p. 139 , accessed on August 7, 2019 .
  14. ↑ Kujataa - a subarctic farming landscape in Greenland. January 2016, p. 116 , accessed on August 9, 2019 (English).
  15. ↑ Kujataa - a subarctic farming landscape in Greenland. January 2016, pp. 140–141 , accessed on August 9, 2019 (English).