Free Republic

Archaeologists conducting surveys of retreating ice patches have found perishable artefacts associated with ancient mining activities. The study, published in the Journal of Field Archaeology, reports that the researchers have found over 50 perishable artefacts near Goat Mountain and the Kitsu Plateau, located in northern British Columbia, Canada. Among the artefacts are stitched containers made from birch bark, wooden walking staffs, intricately carved and beveled sticks, an atlatl dart foreshaft, and a boot crafted from stitched hide. According to the researchers: “Most of the perishable artefacts were manufactured from wood, including birch bark containers, projectile shafts, and walking staffs. Of...

According to author Leo Tolstoy, born at the very end of the Little Ice Age, in quite a cold country: The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow-witted man if he has not formed any idea of them already; but the simplest thing cannot be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he already knows, without a shadow of a doubt, what is laid before him. So, our new technical paper in GeoResJ (vol. 14, pages 36-46) will likely be ignored. Because after applying the latest big data technique to six...

A medieval port has been discovered in a 2,500m2 building site and archaeological dig surrounding a chateau in Vendée, western France.Among the discoveries are a large number of oak beams that are extremely well preserved thanks to the levels of underground humidity in Talmont-Saint-Hilaire, where the dig has been taking place...Archaeologists have already been able to identify a river bank and a gutter on the site.As the Atlantic coastline is only a few kilometres away from the site, an initial hypothesis is that boats and ships could have transported merchandise and people to the chateau from England or even Spain,...

March 26, 2002 Tree Rings Show a Period of Widespread Warming in Medieval Age By KENNETH CHANG A new study of old tree rings shows that 1,000 years ago, long before power plants and sport utility vehicles, temperatures across North America, Europe and Asia rose in a period of unusual warmth. In warm weather, trees thrive and grow a thick ring of wood in their trunks for that year. In cold years, growth slows and the tree ring is thin. Temperatures were known to be warm in Europe between 900 and 1100, what is known as the Medieval Warm Period....

It has often been cited as one of the classic examples of how changes in climate have shaped human history. Circa the year 985, Erik the Red led 25 ships from Iceland to Greenland, launching a Norse settlement there and giving the vast ice continent the name "Greenland." Within just a few decades, the Norse -- sometimes also dubbed Vikings -- would make it to Newfoundland as well. They maintained settlements of up to a few thousand people in southwest Greenland for several centuries, keeping livestock and hunting seals, building churches whose ruins still stand today, and sending back valuable...

The Norman castle at Pevensey Bay is one of the most historic sites in Britain. It is built inside of a Roman wall, and was William the Conqueror’s headquarters. It was also used as a defense outpost by Brits and Americans in WWII It is currently several miles from the sea, but at the time when the Romans and Normans built the structures, the water lapped right up to the edge of the stone. The map below shows the bay 900 years ago, and the current seashore as a dashed line.

A paper published January 21st in Quaternary Science Reviews reconstructs storm activity in Iceland over the past 1,200 years and finds storminess and extreme weather variability was far more common during the Little Ice Age in comparison to the Medieval Warm Period and the 20th century. The paper adds to many other peer-reviewed publications finding global warming decreases storm activity, the opposite of claims by climate alarmists....

When your liberal friends talk about global warming, give them the one word answer that noone can explain: "Greenland." Why was the land that today is characterized as a huge icecap named Greenland? Eric the Red discovered Greenland in the 980 AD time frame. He called it Greenland because of the lush green fields and valleys. He saw in Greenland a tremendous potential for agriculture. His return trips would bring settlers who would number about 5000 and build 300-400 farms. What??????? Agriculture??? Farms??? Wait a minute, this country is nothing but a huge ice cap isn't it? Here is a...

Viking Farms Tell Cautionary Climate Tale Boundary walls built by Iceland's Viking farmers run through Unnsteinn Ingason's land. At some point, farmers stopped repairing the walls, and a climate change may help explain why. Ingason's land had been farmed for hundreds of years prior to his family's ownership. Here, ruins of a stone farm house with a turf roof on a hill behind Ingason's home. Archaeologist Adolf Fridriksson stands near the ruins of an early Viking farm. The farm was long ago abandoned, and its soil heavily eroded. Icelandic farmers bring their sheep down from the hills for the winter....