The Faroes and other islands became links in a maritime world in which people, animals, goods and stories moved by ship.

Greenland represented the western edge of that system.

It was not an accidental detour.

It was the result of a maritime culture that had learned to treat the ocean as a road rather than an absolute boundary.

Even the impressive stone buildings should not be mistaken for proof that life was easy.

Stone survives unusually well.

The roofs, wooden fittings, textiles, food stores, tools and countless ordinary objects that once filled the buildings were much more vulnerable.

Archaeologists therefore see an uneven record: the durable skeleton of a settlement remains while much of the human activity has disappeared.