Norse colonization of North America

This article is about the Viking presence in the western Arctic. For the Swedish, see Swedish colonization of the Americas. For Danish-Norwegian, see Danish colonization of the Americas.

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Leiv Eirikson Discovering America, 1893 painting by Christian Krohg
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The Norse exploration of North America began in the late 10th century, when Norsemen explored areas of the North Atlantic colonizing Greenland and creating a short term settlement near the northern tip of Newfoundland. This is known now as L'Anse aux Meadows where the remains of buildings were found in 1960 dating to approximately 1,000 years ago.[1][2][3] This discovery helped reignite archaeological exploration for the Norse in the North Atlantic.[4] This single settlement, located on the island of Newfoundland and not on the North American mainland, was abruptly abandoned.

The Norse settlements on Greenland lasted for almost 500 years. L'Anse aux Meadows, the only confirmed Norse site in present-day Canada,[5] was small and did not last as long. Other such Norse voyages are likely to have occurred for some time, but there is no evidence of any Norse settlement on mainland North America lasting beyond the 11th century.

The Norse exploration of North America has been subject to numerous controversies concerning the European exploration and settlement of North America.[6] Pseudoscientific and pseudohistorical theories have emerged since the public acknowledgment of these Norse expeditions and settlements.[6]

  1. ^ Nydal, Reidar (1989). "A Critical Review of Radiocarbon Dating of a Norse Settlement at L'Anse Aux Meadows, Newfoundland Canada". Radiocarbon. 31 (3): 976–985. Bibcode:1989Radcb..31..976N. doi:10.1017/S0033822200012613. ISSN 0033-8222. S2CID 129636032.
  2. ^ Cordell, Linda S.; Lightfoot, Kent; McManamon, Francis; Milner, George (2009). "L'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site". Archaeology in America: An Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. p. 82. ISBN 978-0-313-02189-3. Archived from the original on 25 April 2023. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  3. ^ Kuitems, Margot; Wallace, Birgitta L.; Lindsay, Charles; Scifo, Andrea; Doeve, Petra; Jenkins, Kevin; Lindauer, Susanne; Erdil, Pınar; Ledger, Paul M.; Forbes, Véronique; Vermeeren, Caroline (20 October 2021). "Evidence for European presence in the Americas in ad 1021". Nature. 601 (7893): 388–391. Bibcode:2022Natur.601..388K. doi:10.1038/s41586-021-03972-8. ISSN 1476-4687. PMC 8770119. PMID 34671168.
  4. ^ Fitzhugh, William W, 'Vikings: The north Atlantic saga', Anthronotes museum of natural history publication for education, available at www.anthropology.si.edu.
  5. ^ "L'Anse aux Meadows". L'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site of Canada. Parks Canada. 2018. Archived from the original on 9 December 2019. Retrieved 21 December 2018. Here [L'Anse aux Meadows] Norse expeditions sailed from Greenland, building a small encampment of timber-and-sod buildings ...
  6. ^ a b Feder, Kenneth L. (2020). Frauds, myths, and mysteries : science and pseudoscience in archaeology (10 ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 127–137. ISBN 978-0-19-009641-0. OCLC 1108812780. Archived from the original on 2 May 2023. Retrieved 3 May 2022.