The Norse Greenlanders were dependent on wood for making houses, boats, utensils, tools and as fuel. Due to Greenland's northerly latitude and short, cool summers, the local woody taxa include relatively few species, most of which are low-growing shrubs. Consequently, it has been argued that import of timber was necessary to meet the wood requirements of the Norse Greenlanders. The taxa of archaeological wood assemblages from five Norse sites in Greenland, the episcopal manor Garðar/Igaliku (Ø47), Tatsip Ataa Killeq (Ø172), Tasilikulooq (Ø171), Narsaq (Ø17a) and Gården under Sandet (GUS) were analysed to determine whether the wood was native, import or driftwood. This paper demonstrates that farmers in Greenland used mainly driftwood and native wood, while high-status sites like Igaliku had access to sporadic timber imports from mainland Europe and North America. Furthermore, the proportions of driftwood taxa from the Norse settlements are more or less the same as of Inuit and pre-Inuit cultures in Greenland and the Smith Sound. These results suggest that the Norse Greenlanders were not reliant on imported wood but were in fact mostly self-sufficient in regard to their timber resources.

北欧格陵兰人依赖木材来建造房屋、船只、器皿、工具和燃料。由于格陵兰地处北纬，夏季短暂凉爽，当地木本类群的种类相对较少，其中大部分是低矮灌木。因此，有人认为必须进口木材才能满足北欧格陵兰人的木材要求。来自格陵兰五个北欧遗址、主教庄园Garðar/Igaliku (Ø47)、Tatsip Ataa Killeq (Ø172)、Tasilikulooq (Ø171)、Narsaq (Ø17a)和Gården under Sandet (GUS)的考古木材组合分类群进行分析以确定木材是本地的、进口的还是浮木。本文表明，格陵兰岛的农民主要使用浮木和原生木材，而像伊加利库这样的高地位地区可以从欧洲大陆和北美进口零星木材。此外，来自北欧定居点的浮木分类群的比例与格陵兰岛和史密斯湾的因纽特人和前因纽特人文化大致相同。这些结果表明，北欧格陵兰人并不依赖进口木材，但实际上他们的木材资源大多自给自足。