Old Teeth Reveal Climate's History Research on Vikings' Enamel Confirms Europe's `Little Ice Age'

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An analysis of tooth enamel from Viking settlements in Greenland has found evidence of the temperature drop thought to have led to the settlers' demise around 1500, researchers say.

The cooling trend detected by way of the teeth coincides with Northern Europe's Little Ice Age, which according to historical records lasted from 1300 to 1500.

Scientists drew their conclusions from the ratio of different types of oxygen atoms in teeth of Norse settlers and Eskimos living along the Greenland coast between 1100 and 1500.

The tooth enamel technique could provide a means of "determining temperature changes in continental areas wherever and whenever human remains …