David Babson wrote:
>
> And, even the Vikings didn't keep it up indefinitely--my understanding is
> that the Greenland "colony" died out in the 14th century, some years after
> their connection to Iceland was broken, due to changing trade patterns and,
> perhaps, the Black Death in Scandinavia.

A colleague of mine here at York did her doctoral dissertation on the
palaeoecology of the Norse settlements of Greenland.  I was under the
impression that climate change was also a strong factor in the decline
of the settlements, but it's hardly my area of specialisation.  If
anyone's interested in the topic, e-mail me off-list and I'll pass on
contact details.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alasdair Brooks
Department of Archaeology
University of York
King's Manor
York
YO1 2EP
England, UK
phone: 01904 433931
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The Buffalo tastes the same on both sides of the border"
Sitting Bull