Reddit reviews Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga

A recent article in Science has shown that the Sadlermiut did not have a genetic link to the Dorset culture and rather were descendants of the Thule people and that there appears to have been no intermarriage between the Dorset, Norse, and Thule. While the study is obviously limited by its sample size (i.e. there may have been some intermarriage with a small amount of individuals), its conclusions are solid. This also does not mean that the three cultures never interacted. Rather, it might be a type of interaction that did not result in intermarriage or cultural transmission (which is entirely possible).

Second, and this is directed to the above post, I wouldn't classify the Thule migration as a "conquest". It was simply a population movement. There is almost no archaeological evidence for violence during this time. Admittedly, this is very hard to detect in the archaeological record.

While I am a full supporter of the importance of metal in the Thule worldview (with sources from Cape York in northern Greenland, the Coppermine River in the central Arctic, and the Norse), I highly doubt their migration was so mono-causal. The climate may have been warming at this time, increasing the range of bowhead whales, one of the Thule's prime food sources. There may have been also some "push" from other groups in the Bering Strait region. I'll admit this last one is purely an educated guess as I am not as familiar with the situation in the Bering Strait at the time of Thule migration. Regardless, the migration was certainly as complex as it was quick! Interestingly, new radiocarbon dates suggest that the Thule only really moved south into Labrador after Norse Greenland was abandoned. Perhaps this was to put themselves in a better position to exploit the newly incoming Europeans in the south just as their link to Europe in Greenland had faded away? A chapter by Peter Ramsden and Lisa Rankin in Exploring Atlantic Transitions discusses this.

Last, this map is slightly old. If I recall correctly, I first saw it (or a version of it) in the Vikings: the North Atlantic Saga book which was first published in 2000. I'm too lazy to check my copy right now... But from memory, I don't think the map in the OP is any different. While I am pleased that it places the Thule migration around the 13th century (something that most people still get wrong), there are a few inaccuracies:

First, there are some radiocarbon dates from a few Late Dorset sites in northern Greenland that indicate a 13-14th century occupation. Those sites also have a few bits of Norse material as well. So that would mean that the Thule and Dorset may have lived in the area around the Nares Strait for a small amount of time. I forget if the dates are mentioned but the Gullov and Appelt chapter in Archaeology of Shamanism talks about this site. I know it's discussed in later articles by those authors and in the site report but that is probably not as easy to get ahold of. Second, there is evidence of Thule occupation in the Disko Bay region during the time of Norse occupation in southern Greenland. There is even a site called Sandhavn that shows potential cohabitation by the Thule and Norse. Third, this is outside of my own knowledge but I am 80% sure that Innu groups moved around during the map's timeframe. Specifically, they moved slightly north in Labrador around the time of Norse settlement in Greenland. Although I am not sure if the distance they moved would be perceivable on the map.

P.S. Sorry about the silly Amazon links, I just figured that they would be more useful for people to see which books I am talking about than me to simply provide a full reference at the end. I am sure that most libraries (and certainly university libraries) would have a copy of the books I mentioned.

Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga is a good read on Viking history. For a more indepth study of Viking culture i'd recommend The Vikings by Else Roesdahl

I was actually going to take a class on the Vikings this spring for kicks (main area of study is Near Eastern archaeology). While I ended up not being able to take the class due to time, I did keep the books since they did a pretty good job of introducing the topic to someone who never had any exposure to it before; not to mention they were extremely interesting!

A History of the Vikings by Gwyn Jones: Kind of dry, but very informative and helpful.

Medieval Scandinavia: From Conversion to Reformation, circa 800-1500 (Nordic Series) by Birgit and Peter Sawyer: If I recall correctly, the husband and wife who wrote this are both archaeologists. This was a pretty accesible book.

Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga edited by William F. Fitzhugh and Elisabeth Ward: Lots of information with lots of pictures!

Silver Economy in the Viking Age edited by James Graham-Campbell and Gareth Williams: This is also available on Amazon, but I had originally just bought the e-Book rental through this link. This book mostly concentrates on the archaeology of the Viking Age, if that's what you're looking for. I think I might just buy this book soon, haha.

Hopefully that helped a bit!

--edit--

/r/AskHistorians also seems to recommend The Viking World by Stefan Brink (as mentioned by /u/ThrostThrandson) and Exploring the World of the Vikings by Richard Hall. That subreddit has compiled a pretty extensive book list for a wide variety of subjects, if that interests you as well.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Vikings-A-History-ebook/dp/B002TV07E2/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1368241864&sr=1-4&keywords=vikings

Pretty good book, lots of information. A bit dry though, pretty much written for people already immensely interested in the topic and not really designed to capture the attention of a random reader.

http://www.amazon.com/Vikings-Atlantic-William-F-Fitzhugh/dp/1560989955/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1368241957&sr=1-7&keywords=vikings

A little bit better in my opinion. Lots of images so you can see what is being referenced instead of trying to imagine it.

As for the figure head, I can't tell you exactly where it's from. All i can say is it's a modern interpretation of a dragon figurehead, with some embellishments, especially with the figures forming the top side rails.