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Qoornoq

Coordinates: 64°32′00″N 51°05′40″W / 64.53333°N 51.09444°W / 64.53333; -51.09444
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Qoornoq
Qoornoq is located in Greenland
Qoornoq
Qoornoq
Location within Greenland
Coordinates: 64°32′00″N 51°05′40″W / 64.53333°N 51.09444°W / 64.53333; -51.09444
State Kingdom of Denmark
Constituent country Greenland
Municipality Sermersooq
First settled2200 BCE
Abandoned1972
Time zoneUTC-03

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

History

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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

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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

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  1. ^ "Human history". Nuuk Tourism. Archived from the original on June 15, 2010. Retrieved July 12, 2010.
  2. ^ a b c From Middle Ages to Colonial Times. Museum Tusculanum Press. 1997. p. 338. ISBN 87-635-1239-4.