First settlers arrived in Greenland about 4,500 years ago

The headline was updated to state that first settlers arrived in Greenland about 4,500 years ago from Alaska.

"Who first settled Greenland?" A young patron from the Wauconda Area Library wanted to know more about Greenland's first people.

Chicago's recent polar vortex, which drove thermometer readings below the Arctic's average winter temperatures, inspired questions about Greenland, an island situated near arctic northern latitudes where the world is snowy white and covered by ice sheets.

During the two months of summer, the midnight sun keeps the night skies glowing bright and temperatures rise to 50 degrees.

Greenland is the world's largest island - about the size of Alaska. Although freezing, dark, and almost devoid of greenery, surprisingly Greenland has supported human settlement since about 2,500 B.C.

A few thousand years ago, a group of people ventured from Alaska east across Canada. They filled small boats and crossed the Baffin Bay to reach Greenland's shores.

Hans Husayn Harmsen, administrator at the Greenland National Museum & Archives, tells the story of Greenland's first human settlers: "About 8,000 years ago, the ice started to disappear from Greenland's coasts and some plants and grasses began to grow. Caribou and other animals soon followed. The first people, the Saqqaq ... came to Greenland looking for good places to hunt."

Not much is known about the daily life of Greenland's first visitors. They were secluded and possibly preferred keeping to themselves. Saqqaq culture lasted about 1,700 years. Scientists have isolated DNA from these first people and verify their lineage has not continued.

"We know they had dogs, but are still unsure if they had dog sleds," Harmsen said. "Caribou, seal, fox, polar bear skins, goose and duck feathers were probably used in clothing and helped keep the Saqqaq people warm during the bitter cold times of the year."

Artifacts uncovered at archaeological sites in Greenland provide a window to the past. A well-preserved, ancient sock crafted from sealskin shows the Saqqaq were experts at sewing. Tiny stitches pieced the material together using fine threads of animal tendon.

The Greenland Museum and Archives features artifacts such as harpoons and stone bowls used as oil lamps, crafted by these early people and another of Greenland's Paleo-Eskimo cultures, the Dorset, whose chief food source was walrus.

Walrus tusk became a valuable commodity the Norse leveraged when they journeyed to the island in the 10th century.

Another group settled in Greenland, the Inuit, venturing from the Arctic about 800 years ago. Most Greenlanders today have Inuit ancestry.

There are 6,000 archaeological sites registered in Greenland. The very cold temperatures help to preserve items made of wood, fur and fabric that might decay in warmer climates. Refuse piles, called middens, have revealed much about daily life.

However, warming temperatures resulting from climate change are reducing opportunities to learn more since rising temperatures cause decay.

In a collaboration with the National Museum of Denmark and the Center for Permafrost at the University of Copenhagen, the Greenland Museum is prioritizing work at archaeological sites so experts can learn about Greenland's ancient inhabitants before temperature upswings and melting ice destroy objects from Greenland's earliest settlers.

Check it out

The Wauconda Area Library suggests these titles on Greenland:

• "A Child's Introduction to Norse Mythology," by Heather Alexander

• "Greenland: Enchantment of the World," by Jean F. Blashfield

• "The Norsemen," by Virginia Schomp