Timber as a Marine Resource: Exploitation of Arctic Driftwood in the North Atlantic

What is it about?

Although woodland has always been scarce in northern Norway and the North Atlantic, the inhabitants of these regions had another source of timber: driftwood. Although driftwood delivery is now threatened by climate change, in the past it has been vital to communities in these regions both as fuel and as a construction material. This paper presents archaeological and historical evidence for driftwood use across the North Atlantic, and demonstrates the importance of driftwood through folk customs, place names, laws and literary sources.

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