Qoornoq

Qoornoq (old spelling: Qôrnoq) is an uninhabited fishing village in the Sermersooq municipality in southwestern Greenland.

Qoornoq
Qoornoq Greenland - 2010
Qoornoq
Location within Greenland
Coordinates: 64°32′00″N 51°05′40″W
State Kingdom of Denmark
Constituent country Greenland
Municipality Sermersooq
First settled2200 BCE
Abandoned1972
Time zoneUTC-03

History

The area was known to have been inhabited by the ancient pre-Inuit, Paleo-Eskimo people of the Saqqaq culture as far back as 2200 BC.[1] It still contains archaeological ruins of ancient Inuit and Norse buildings. The site was excavated in 1952 and the remains of an old Norse farm and ancient tools were discovered.[2] The outside walls of the farm are double hatched and contain several Inuit houses.[2] The last permanent resident left in 1972. Descendants of former residents often come to their houses in the summer by boat.[2]

Qoornoq also once had a railway used for transporting fish. The railway was used in the 1950s, with a small diesel-hydraulic locomotive hauling flat wagons full of fish. The line closed shortly before the town's last resident left.

Geography

Qoornoq is located on the northeastern coast of the Qoornuup Qeqertarsua Island in the Nuup Kangerlua fjord, to the northeast of Nuuk, the capital of Greenland.

References

  1. "Human history". Nuuk Tourism. Archived from the original on June 15, 2010. Retrieved July 12, 2010.
  2. From Middle Ages to Colonial Times. Museum Tusculanum Press. p. 338. ISBN 87-635-1239-4.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.