Sermermiut

Just below the Icefjord Centre, tucked into a sheltered hollow above the fjord, is Sermermiut — one of the most important archaeological sites in Greenland and one of the most hauntingly situated anywhere in the Arctic. The ruins of Inuit turf houses are scattered across a green hillside that drops steeply to the icefjord below.

The site is freely accessible via the trail that leads down from the Icefjord Centre. Interpretive boards explain the settlement's long history. The combination of ancient archaeology and staggering natural scenery makes this one of the genuinely moving stops in all of Greenland — take your time here.

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A story
Sermermiut has been inhabited almost continuously since around 2200 BCE, making it one of the oldest known human settlement sites in Greenland. Three distinct cultures occupied the site over the millennia — the Saqqaq people, the Dorset culture, and finally the Thule people who are the ancestors of modern Greenlanders. The Thule community here was still occupied into the 19th century before being abandoned when the Danish colonial settlement of Jakobshavn drew people away.

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