The Little Ice Age

What was the Little Ice Age?

The Little Ice Age is a period of time between about 1300 and 1870 during which Europe and North America were subjected to much colder winters than during the 20^th century. The period can be divided into two phases: the first began around 1300 and continued until the late 1400s, this was then punctuated by a slightly warmer period in the 1500s; after that the climate deteriorated substantially and the period between 1600 and 1800 is what marks the height of the Little Ice Age. 

So what caused this dramatic climate fluctuation?

The cause of the Little Ice age is largely unknown. Many people have however noted a coincidental low in sunspot activity as well as a possible reversal of the North Atlantic ocean current oscillation. The link below shows a documentary about the Little Ice Age of which some sections might prove successful in introducing the topic to students in the classroom:

More information on the facts and figures can be found at:

http://www.eh-resources.org/timeline/timeline_lia.html

How can cultural evidence aid our understanding of the impacts surrounding the Little Ice Age?

There is a wealth of cultural items such as paintings, diary accounts and other literature that help depict the various impacts that The Little Ice Age had on Europe and North America. For instance many painters have produced paintings that encapsulate how the Little Ice Age caused much colder winter temperatures that frequently froze rivers and canals so deep that winter fairs and ice skating could be held on them e.g. the first Frost Fair held on the River Thames in 1607. 

The Frost Fair held on the River Thames. 

A frozen river during the height of the Little Ice Age

Ice Skating was popular on the frequently frozen rivers and canals. 

Iceland was one of the worst affected areas during the Little Ice Age with around a half of its population falling. Evidence shows that the farmers suffered a series of cereal crop failures and its livestock perished, subsequently pushing up grain prices to extremes. The Norse colonies in Greenland also suffered and eventually vanished as architectural evidence in the picture below demonstrates. Diary entries and written accounts also suggest that many places were hit by severe snowstorms such as one person’s account who writes, ‘snowfall was much heavier than recorded before, and the snow lay on the ground for many months’. Glaciers also advanced further than before as shown in the picture of the Shone Glacier below; the advance of such glaciers destroyed villages and farming areas in their path causing further devastation. Finally, accounts also suggest that sea ice advanced, it was particularly bad around Iceland where it became near impossible to bring a ship ashore.

Glaciers such as the Shone Glacier advanced destroying homes and farm land. 

Archaeological evidence shows the sudden disappearance of Norse colonies in Greenland who heavily relied on grain. 

Activity Idea

Overall I think the section above shows the wealth of cultural resources that can be analysed to look at geographical events such as the impact of the Little Ice Age on human populations. Furthermore I think the analysis of sources such as paintings and literature has a further advantage as it allows for students own interpretations of what the material is depicting, rather than being told by a teaching presentation or textbook. In light of this I came up with an activity that I think would work well in the classroom. 

Firstly it involves introducing students to a brief fact file of what happened in a geographical event such as the collapse of Mayan Civilisation or the Little Ice Age. To follow the students should then be given a series of sources such as diary entries, graphs, literature and art work that depicts many of the impacts that events, such as those mentioned, had. From this the students should then write a diary account of what they think happened during the event and what impacts they think it had from interpreting the sources independently. To differentiate other students could produce a story board instead. I think this would not only introduce students to a higher order skill of source analysis and interpretation, but also prove to be cross curricular with subjects such as literacy and history.