Landn�m ("land take" in Old Norse) is a type of agriculture used in the 9th and 10th centuries by Norse farmers during their expansion into the Atlantic from their homes in Scandinavia. Essentially, when the Norse came to Iceland and Greenland, they instituted the form of farming they practiced at home: cattle grazing. Didn't work very well.
Iceland Vista taken from Borgarvirki in Vestur-H�navatnss�sla; photo by Atli Har�arsonScholars sometimes use landn�m to mean "colonization": which is right on the mark, because the processes of landn�m brought about not just an infusion of people colonies, but also plant colonies into a region. The Norse colonies in Greenland lasted three hundred years before failing: scholars believe they fell victim to climate change and their unwillingness to adapt the landn�m system to new circumstances.
A recent article in Vegetation History and Archaeobotany by Norse scholars JE Schofield and KJ Edwards describes how archaeologists use the presence of pollen, charcoal and fungal spores to identify landn�m in a landscape, and gives me a terrific reason to update my article on Viking agriculture.
Schofield J, and Edwards K. 2011. Grazing impacts and woodland management in Eriksfjord: Betula, coprophilous fungi and the Norse settlement of Greenland. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 20(3):181-197.
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