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Archaeological research confirms that the oldest remnants of buildings in Iceland are of the same type as those found in mainland Scandinavia from the same period. Clearly, the settlers brought with them the building techniques of their home country; at that time, however, the turf house was then giving way to the timber house. In areas where woodland was limited, such as Iceland, the Faroe Isles and Greenland, the turf house remained predominant, as it did in some areas on the southwest coast of Norway. In Iceland and Greenland, the natural conditions differed from those in Scandinavia, and the turf house gradually adapted to these changed conditions. The development of the turf house in Greenland came to a halt in the late 15th century, when the Norse settlements there died out.