Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Goodbye, Columbus
New evidence confirms Vikings beat him to America by 500 years: According to the report, “Although less than 400 km separated the Norse Greenlandic colonies from the coasts of Arctic Canada, and explorations to the west of Greenland are described in Icelandic sagas, surprisingly little is known of ventures to North America. The archaeological site at L’Anse aux Meadows in northern Newfoundland confirms saga accounts that the Norse established a short-lived station in Atlantic Canada at some time around A.D. 1000.”
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Mary Ann and I visited that site when we were in Newfoundland in 2009. It’s one of those World Heritage sites, so it’s pretty well fixed up now. They’ve got re-built huts and artifacts and a statue commemorating the first time people migrating westward (the Vikings) met people migrating eastward (the orientals who became the indians). Seems the vikings had to take their boats apart, forge some low quality iron ore into nails and rebuild them. There’s lots of the original nails left lying around that the archeologists found.
I'd like to see that one of these days.
Post a Comment