TV programme Vikings depicts the exploits of raiding warriors [AF archive / Alamy]
Posted on 09/24/2019 12:52:07 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
Iceland was once home to a unique subspecies of walrus, but the animals had vanished by the mid-14th century, just 500 years after the arrival of Norse settlers...
Researchers have known for years that walruses once lived on Iceland, but opinion has been divided on whether they vanished before or after humans arrived. To settle the debate, Morten Tange Olsen and Xénia Keighley at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark carbon dated the remains of 34 walruses found in western Iceland.
Three of the walruses died after the year 874 – the date permanent settlers are thought to have reached Iceland – with the youngest dating to between 1213 and 1330. In other words, Icelandic walruses survived for a few centuries after humans arrived.
A walrus hunt is described in one late 12th century Icelandic saga: the walrus’s skull and tusks are said to have been sent to Canterbury in the UK to honour the archbishop, Thomas Becket... The new data indicate the walrus in question could have been local to Iceland and not simply a migrant animal visiting the island from elsewhere.
Partly because of such medieval accounts of hunting, and because we know walrus ivory was a valuable commodity at the time, Olsen and Keighley suspect that the settlers were responsible for the disappearance of Iceland’s walruses.
But they also considered an alternative hypothesis: the animals might have fled the island when people arrived, as has happened elsewhere in the North Atlantic...
...an unexpected additional finding that came from examining mitochondrial DNA from the walrus remains. It turns out the animals belonged to a subspecies of Atlantic walrus, but their genetic signature within this subspecies is unlike any seen elsewhere.
(Excerpt) Read more at newscientist.com ...
TV programme Vikings depicts the exploits of raiding warriors [AF archive / Alamy]
Koo koo kachoo.
I wish to state for the record that no walruses were harmed in the creation of my Free Republic account.
I just got curious enough about that odd phrase ("I am the Eggman") to look up its origin. And, wow.
That is a relief. :^) Of course, if some had been harmed, the most likely response from your fellow FReepers would have been "tusk, tusk".
And my retort would have been, “ Has anyone gotten the coals hot yet? This fresh blubber ain’t gonna cook itself, ya know........!”
So Viking raiding parties included cute blonde chicks. I did not know that.
Walrus is delicious, but it’s a pain to knead the dough to make the oversized buns for the walrus sandwiches.
Odds are that you shared some electrons that came from walruses when you set up your account, you beast.
Game of Thrones has rekindled interest in the imaginary version of the sword-swingin' berserkin' crazies of the Middle Ages.
Yeah, but they at least made cool chess pieces out of them.
Dig them up and charge them with poaching
Chess is sooooooo Racists!....White against Black and White ALWAYS get to move 1st!....
It should be banned world-wide and all Govt’s should have a mandatory buy-back on chess pieces......../s
Force the Vikings football team to pay reparations to someone. Close enough.
Evil humans for being at the top of the food chain.
LMAO! Thanks.
Simple fix: Flame broiled the meat, chop it up, and put in a Caesar Salad.
Typical hate eyes from a typical socialist/commie these days. Again, how do they get out of bed in the morn with the first thing on their minds is HATE? What an awful existence.
Vikings probably hunted Iceland’s walruses to extinction for ivory
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Yeah, they wouldnt eat them...
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