PBS Secrets of the Dead - The Lost Vikings (1999)

Part detective story, part true-life drama, SECRETS OF THE DEAD unearths evidence from around the world, challenging prevailing ideas and throwing fresh light on unexplained events. Today, scientists from a wide range of disciplines, armed with advanced technology and a determination to know the truth, are penetrating myths and legends to arrive at important conclusions about the causes and consequences of these dark mysteries. Using the most up-to-date science in the laboratory and in the field, scientists and researchers examine the missing pieces of each puzzle, completing the picture of what had been merely an assemblage of suppositions.
In the 1st Season of "Secrets of the Dead", 3rd episode, THE LOST VIKINGS: Why did Greenland's Vikings disappear? What really happened to the Vikings? The Vikings of Greenland left no clues to their sudden and mysterious disappearance. Or did they? New forensic studies reveal the truth about the thriving community's mysterious disappearance. The west coast of Greenland was the site of a thriving Viking colony for hundreds of years. Originally settled by explorers who had bravely sailed across the treacherous North Atlantic from their homes in Scandinavia, the Greenland outpost grew into a farming community of thousands. And then something went terribly wrong. Visitors in the 1400s reported that the inhabitants had simply vanished, leaving no bodies and few clues about what could have happened.
On a desolate coast of Greenland, an international team of archeologists, forensic anthropologists, entomologists and botanists sets out to investigate clues in a complex chain of events that may have led to the demise of a Viking colony. Unearthing the ruins of a settlement that included a cathedral complete with stained glass, the scientists carefully identify and date the vestiges of the Viking society. Identifying and dating the vestiges, they delve into possible explanations: war with neighboring Eskimos, emigration due to new trade patterns, a deadly climate change that resulted in severe famine, and a religious order that may have doomed the Vikings to obsolescence.
The archaeological record, combined with the scant written accounts of how the settlers lived, begin to reveal some surprising evidence. And a complicated story involving a "mini ice age" emerges. The compelling theory indicates that worsening conditions, coupled with strict religious beliefs that kept the Greenland Vikings from adapting by learning the ways of the natives, sealed their fate. This is a captivating look at a little-known mystery.