The Norse Walrus Ivory Trade Crash

Gone Medieval

History Hit

History

4.6 • 2.2K Ratings

🗓️ 26 July 2022

⏱️ 34 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The first of Greenland’s Viking settlements were established in the tenth century. But by the fifteenth century, they had all but vanished, their fate confounding generations of archaeologists. But new research has revealed that it was the trade in walrus ivory that was behind both their prosperity and decline.

In this edition of Gone Medieval, Dr. Cat Jarman talks to Professor James Barrett, to discuss an enterprise that traversed East and West, but ultimately crashed as stocks ran out and elephant ivory became more accessible.

The Senior Producer on this episode was Elena Guthrie. It was edited by Thomas Ntinas and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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1:32.8	Hello and welcome to Gone Medieval. I'm Doctor Cat Jamon. One thing we know about the Medieval
1:39.4	period is that it was a time when trade across not just Europe but also the wider world
1:45.6	began to reach something we could call globalisation. How far did these trading connections go and
1:52.2	what did they mean for the people and societies behind them? This week we're talking about this
1:57.7	and a very specific commodity that was highly prized at Medieval society which brand new research
2:03.8	now shows travelled vast distances connecting east and west and a commodity that may have had an
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