Thesis: Despite the fact that the Inuit civilization was able to survive in Greenland for many years, the Norse civilization collapsed mostly due to environmental complications. In addition to the environmental complications, there were also political and economical factors as well.
Political:
Although the Norse civilization thrived for many years, the invasion of the Inuits played a large role in the collapse of the once flourished cultivation. To begin, the Inuits were able to adapt to the arctic conditions by learning to hunt through the ice and inventing the harpoon, as well as using animal skins to make clothes and boats. On the other hand, Norse had trouble with the cold weather, the largest reason being there was a shortage of lumber. This happened because farmers burned down trees to clear land and because animals were constantly trampling over the terrain. Due to their wood shortage, the Inuits struggled to find materials to build homes and make weapons. Because of this and their iron shortage, the Norse lost their military advantage over the Inuits, causing them to be vulnerable for attack and to be overthrown. In addition, once the Inuit civilization migrated to Greenland from Northern Canada, the two civilizations now had to compete for land and animals. In the end, the Inuit ultimately won the competition for resources because they were able to adapt to their surroundings, while the Norse eventually died out and vanished.
Environment:
While the Inuit were able to effectively adapt to their surroundings and thrive, the Norse were not as willing to adopt new ways of survival. To start, the Inuit learned how to overcome the extreme issue of climate change. They built igloos to protect themselves from the cold. The ...
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...e caused trade routes with the Europeans to freeze and no longer give the Norse any access to them. Although the Norse’ main source of supplies disappeared, they learned to trade with their surrounding neighbors, the Inuits and Aleuts. The Inuit and Aleuts relationship with the Norse was not close, so they had very little interaction with each other. Their lack of interaction left the Norse to adapt to the Greenlands by themselves. Because of their lack of interaction, the Norse life declined. On the other hand, the Inuit civilization was able to survive. The Inuits were able to survive because they knew how to adapt to the cold weather and did not have to rely on others for support and supplies that were essential to live. The Inuits adapted by using animals skins for clothes, hunted and fished for animals and improved on technologies to help their hunting skills.
The Collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge The Tacoma Narrows Bridge is perhaps the most notorious failure in the world of engineering. It collapsed on November 7, 1940 just months after its opening on July 1, 1940. It was designed by Leon Moisseiff and at its time it was the third largest suspension bridge in the world with a center span of over half a mile long. The bridge was very narrow and sleek giving it a look of grace, but this design made it very flexible in the wind. Nicknamed the
The factors that lead to the “collapse” of civilizations are almost directly related to those that created it. Archaeologists characterize collapse by a number of elements, some of which we have evidence for, others we do not. Most archaeologists are unsure of exactly what caused the decline of most civilizations in the ancient world, yet there are many clues to some of the events that could have contributed. The collapse of the ancient Roman Empire, the Mesoamerican Mayan, and the Egyptian cultures
The Collapse of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was a global superpower, possessing the largest armed forces on the planet with military bases from Angola in Africa, to Vietnam in South-East Asia, to Cuba in the Americas. When Mikhail Gorbachev succeeded Konstantin Chernenko as General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in March 1985, nobody expected than in less than seven years the USSR would disintergrate into fifteen separate states. Gorbachev's
The Collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe Communism is like Prohibition - it's a good idea but it won't work" (Will Rogers, 1927) (1) This essay will give a brief introduction to communism. It will then discuss the various factors which combined to bring about the collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe. It will examine each of these factors and evaluate the effect of each. Finally it will attempt to assertain whether Rogers' opinion (see above quotation) on Communism is true, that is, whether
members of so... ... middle of paper ... ...hy a complex society could potentially collapse. And aside from the two mentioned possibilities in the paragraphs above, Joseph Tainter briefly mentions others such as inefficient response to circumstances, other complex societies, intruders, mismanagement, and economic explanations. Whatever the case may be the cause may be different within each complex societal collapse, or could even be due to multiple causes as well. In all, the possibilities seem
Revolution in France: Who Benefited Most From The Collapse Of The Ancien Regime? The Ancien Regime (French for Old Order) was the way society was run, in a period in French history occurring before the French Revolution (1789 - 1799). France was ruled by an absolute monarchy (a system where the king was classed as divine - an infallible role) King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. The French society was separated into classes or Estates. The first Estate was the Clergy who were extremely rich
In the novel The Great Gatsby, The major theme is the collapse of the American dream. The American Dream consisted of money, lots of money. The Quote, "Her voice is full of money," is said about Daisy by Gatsby. To me this means that she has been raised rich and will always remain rich, which is the American dream. Gatsby believes that Daisy's voice is full of money and that is very addicting to him. It is the reason he is so attached to her, she is Mr. Gatsby's American dream. Like all people
An Inward Collapse of the Human Perspective in Forster's A Passage to India The reverberation of sound in the form of an echo is threaded throughout E.M. Forster's A Passage to India, and the link between the echo and the hollowness of the human spirit is depicted in the text. The echo is not heard in the beginning of the text when the English newcomers, Mrs. Moore and Ms. Quested, arrive in India; it is more clearly heard as their relationship with India gains complexity. The influence of the
... ...2). Gatsby believed he was once powerful, everybody wanted to go to his parties. At the time of his death, nobody came to his funeral. Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald shows the collapse of dreams, whether they are dreams of money, status, or simply of happiness. The biggest collapse, however, is of the American Dream. The failure of the American Dream is unavoidable, not only because life cannot compare to dreams, but also because they are usually too perfect to be compared
Civilizations can either choose to fail or succeed. This crucial verdict is upon the civilization itself. Jared Diamond, author of Collapse: How Society Chooses to Fail or Succeed, believes that a civilization's demise is in light of the fact that the society in any civilization decisions on how to lead it can destroy it. Diamond writes his own definition of collapse as, “a drastic decrease in human population size and/or political/ social complexity, over a considerable area, for an extended time
Jared Diamond’s book “Collapse” is a modern publication with a retrospective view of long-lost civilizations. He states on the cover “How Societies Choose to Fail of Succeed”, as a principle tone for readers. The thesis he introduces may best be captured as, any civilization can collapse if not developed in an environmentally stable means. Dimond then goes to offer more structure to his argument with the principal; that good governance and proper civilization/urban planning, which incorporates
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is increasing. (Diamond, Collapse, p. 300-406) In conclusion, Jared Diamond’s Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fate of Human Societies was one outstanding book. In this work, Jared Diamond answered a question that explained how civilizations amongst the world developed faster than one another during the same time period. In contrast to the preceding book Collapse: How Societies choose to Fail or Survive he came to a conclusion on how societies or what caused societies to collapse. These books are similar
too big. The problem is that since about 2006 the honeybee population has decreased drastically. Bees that were healthy to the eye one day were abandoning their hives in masses the next day, without return. Researchers call this occurrence, Colony Collapse Disorder, CCD. There is no set reason for CCD, but a there is a wide range of factors that are all very possible and probable to the cause of dying bees. As a consumer, everyone of us want to have fruit year round but never really take in to account
Colony Collapse Disorder and Pesticides From around the year 2006, many bee farmers in the U.S.A and some parts of Europe started reporting sharp declines in their bee stocks. The reason for this declining numbers was not known and therefore scientists named it colony collapse disorder (CCD). Colony collapse disorder (CCD) is a not a very old phenomena and it became popular when large number of bee colonies started disappearing. The disappearing was mysterious since no dead bees were found in or