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Viking barley in Greenland
ScienceNordic via Past Horizons ^ | Monday, February 6, 2012 | Sybille Hildebrandt, tr by Michael de Laine

Posted on 02/11/2012 7:20:47 AM PST by SunkenCiv

The Vikings are both famous and notorious for their liking of beer and mead and archaeologists have discussed for years whether Eric the Red (ca 950-1010) and his followers had to make do without the golden drink when they settled in Greenland around the year 1,000: The climate was mild when they landed, but was it warm enough for growing barley?

Researchers from the National Museum in Copenhagen say the answer to the question is 'yes'. In a unique find, they uncovered tiny fragments of charred barley grains in a Viking midden on Greenland.

The find is final proof that the first Vikings to live in Greenland did grow barley – the most important ingredient in making a form of porridge, baking bread and of course in brewing beer, traditionally seen as the staple foods in the Vikings' diet.

(Excerpt) Read more at pasthorizonspr.com ...


TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: agriculture; ancientnavigation; animalhusbandry; barley; godsgravesglyphs; greenland; thevikings; viking; vikings; vinland
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To: Monkey Face
"I have a book about a Native American who runs away from her tribe and survives the cold winter in Nova Scotia, where she meets up with Inuits. They all, in turn, meet up with the Viks and eventually this gal has children and dies in Greenland."

DNA Study To Settle Ancient Mystery About Mingling Of Inuit, Vikings

21 posted on 02/11/2012 7:54:44 AM PST by blam
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To: Dysart; barbarianbabs; blueunicorn6; Sacajaweau; svcw

Hey, not everyone is a fan of barley. ;’)

AFAIK, the earliest known surviving sample of cultivated grain is some multirow barley, from some site in the Middle East, uncalibrated RC date of 14,000 years ago.

Probably that early breakthrough led to mass migrations out of the area, resulting in a wave of conquest and colonization, the first the world had ever seen. ;’)


22 posted on 02/11/2012 7:57:03 AM PST by SunkenCiv (FReep this FReepathon!)
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To: SunkenCiv
"By “soon”, I meant, soon by ‘Civ standards... "

Yeah, I know.

I've been waiting YEARS now for something you were going to send me. I expect I'll die of old age first.(ahem)

23 posted on 02/11/2012 7:57:22 AM PST by blam
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To: FormerACLUmember

The polar bears I know laugh about these global warming claims. ;’)


24 posted on 02/11/2012 7:57:58 AM PST by SunkenCiv (FReep this FReepathon!)
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To: Mr Ramsbotham

It was not less filling, either.


25 posted on 02/11/2012 7:58:37 AM PST by SunkenCiv (FReep this FReepathon!)
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To: Sacajaweau
How did man figure out how to make booze and figure out how to market the stuff on such a huge scale and get folks addicted....century after century??

To cripple the Indians Indian tribe files $500 million suit against big brewers

But seriously, I've always believed the discovery of alcohol was an accidental one of via the ingestion of fermented fruits and grains by some famished hairy guy many moons ago. Probably repeated occurences before it sunk in, or the association made. Then, inference; trial and error. The draw of its effects were self-evident, and the mass marketing simply and application of a fundamental business precept.

26 posted on 02/11/2012 7:59:29 AM PST by Dysart ("Don't worry, it's not loaded")
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To: Rebelbase; svcw

The Vikings got around, including constructing buildings in North America, and even back then, 1000 years ago, wondering who’d built the earlier structures. The Mystery Hill (now called “America’s Stonehenge”) structures are at least 4000 years old, meaning that they weren’t built as “colonial root cellars”, regardless of what they were (much) later used for. :’)


27 posted on 02/11/2012 8:00:34 AM PST by SunkenCiv (FReep this FReepathon!)
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To: prisoner6; Renfield

My pleasure, thanks for the kind remarks, and thanks again to Renfield for the link.


28 posted on 02/11/2012 8:01:01 AM PST by SunkenCiv (FReep this FReepathon!)
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To: blam

Hey, I’m pretty sure I know what *room* it’s in.

Of course, the region code on the disk may be no good, this was a French-speaking area back then. ;’)


29 posted on 02/11/2012 8:05:27 AM PST by SunkenCiv (FReep this FReepathon!)
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To: Dallas59

Imagine how much crap the global warming demagogues would be shilling out if Denmark had said yes.


30 posted on 02/11/2012 8:11:00 AM PST by SunkenCiv (FReep this FReepathon!)
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To: SunkenCiv

But it tasted great!


31 posted on 02/11/2012 8:13:05 AM PST by Mr Ramsbotham (Laws against sodomy are honored in the breech.)
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To: svcw

evidence they came way inland, halfway across Canada


32 posted on 02/11/2012 8:21:17 AM PST by Bulwyf
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To: barbarianbabs

Jellied fish.....couldn’t have grape jelly or raspberry jelly......jellied fish.....I’ll bet they fed ludefisk to the Berserkers just to get them good and mad.


33 posted on 02/11/2012 8:22:46 AM PST by blueunicorn6 ("A crack shot and a good dancer")
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To: svcw
There's genetic information that a lot of Nordic blood was infused into the Native American population as far back as Ice Age times. Both a chromosome that only shows up in European races, and a type of Clovis toolmaking that was only seen in stone age times in Western Europe, are showing up in ancient bones and relics in North America.

Which leads you to the crazy image of seafaring cavemen launching themselves across the Atlantic, in large numbers, long before Columbus or Eric the Red.

I'm visualizing skin boats made with mammoth hides or something...mind-boggling. But the scientists are still arguing over it.

34 posted on 02/11/2012 8:23:04 AM PST by AnTiw1 (I lived through a mormon hell, I will not live in a country with a mormon president.)
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To: AnTiw1

Interesting.


35 posted on 02/11/2012 8:27:01 AM PST by svcw (Only difference between Romney & BH is one thinks he will be god & other one thinks he already is.)
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To: blam

wow that was really interesting article. thanks.

just read a pretty good book on columbus too. strange guy. it didnt end well for him.


36 posted on 02/11/2012 8:28:33 AM PST by beebuster2000
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To: blam

Nice boat. Beautiful wood. It even has a cabin & probably a diesel. If it has a trailer I’ll take it:)


37 posted on 02/11/2012 8:28:33 AM PST by Cold Heart
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To: SunkenCiv

How does finding a tiny bit of Barley “Prove” that it was grown there? Couldn’t it have been transported there in their boats?


38 posted on 02/11/2012 8:29:09 AM PST by PilotDave (No, really, you just can't make this stuff up!!!)
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To: svcw

Interesting point?? How did it get to be “a man thing”?


39 posted on 02/11/2012 8:34:34 AM PST by Sacajaweau
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To: Sacajaweau

I don’t know. I think if women had a taste of good beer they would enjoy it.


40 posted on 02/11/2012 8:53:37 AM PST by svcw (Only difference between Romney & BH is one thinks he will be god & other one thinks he already is.)
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