Vikings were in the Americas 500 years before Christopher Columbus, study claims
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Vikings arrived in America 500 years before Christopher Columbus — the explorer often credited with discovering the country in 1492, a study has found.
University of Iceland archaeologists analyzed wood from five Norse sites in western Greenland that were occupied between the years 1000 and 1400.
They were able to determine the tree species from which many of the samples came, revealing that some had been imported from the Americas and Europe.
In particular, hemlock spruce and Jack pine were not cultivated in Northern Europe during the second millennium, so the wood from these trees must have sailed across the Atlantic.
This supports some ‘sagas’ – tales handed down by Viking societies – which claim that explorers imported timber from ‘Vínland’, a coastal region of North America thought to be along the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
The results confirm the sagas that explorers, such as Leif Erikson, who is believed to have been the first European to set foot on the continent, brought wood from Vínland in the US. In the photo: Leif Erikson discovers America by Hans Dahl (1849-1937)
University of Iceland archaeologists analyzed wood from five Norse sites in western Greenland, which were occupied between the 1000s and 1400s. Pictured: Imported oak planks and barrel bars
Jack pine grows naturally around the Mackenzie River, Nova Scotia and New England, while Hemlock grows close by Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Ontario and Nova Scotia.
The researchers wrote: ‘These findings emphasize the fact that Norse Greenlanders had the means, knowledge and suitable ships to cross the Strait of Davis to the east coast of North America, at least until the fourteenth century.
“As such, journeys were made from Greenland to North America throughout the period of Norse settlement in Greenland, and resources were acquired by the Norsemen from North America for much longer than previously thought.”
Many historical records suggest that Vikings who lived in Greenland between 985 and 1450 relied on imported materials, such as iron and wood.
They used these for large construction projects, shipbuilding and producing artifacts – purposes for which local tree species were not suitable.
For the study, published in Antiquityarchaeologists wanted to know how much foreign wood the Vikings used and where it came from.
They collected samples from wood assemblages in four medium-sized elite farms and an Episcopal mansion.
These were known to have been occupied in the first half of the second millennium by radiocarbon dating of the wood and the types of artifacts left there.
The researchers examined the cellular structure of the wood using microscopes to identify the tree species they came from.
Their analysis found that 0.27 percent of the samples came from imported species, either from North America or Northern Europe.
Species that fell into the latter category included oak, beech and Scots pine, some of which may have been old ship’s timbers or arrived as ready-made artifacts.
European tree species from which timber was imported included oak, beech and Scots pine, some of which may have been old ship timber or arrived as ready-made artifacts. Pictured: fragments of oak and beech
The analysis found that 0.27 percent of samples came from imported species, either from North America or Northern Europe. Pictured: Proportion of wood from different tree species identified at each of the five locations and combined
The analysis also showed that a quarter of the samples had been imported or arrived in Greenland as driftwood, with species such as larch, spruce, Scots pine and spruce.
Driftwood, as well as wood from local forests, was used as fuel and for other domestic purposes.
These results confirm that the Vikings had established numerous trade routes across the Northwest Atlantic.
They also confirm the sagas that claim that explorers, such as Leif Erikson, who is believed to have been the first European to set foot on the continent, brought wood from Vínland.
These results confirm that the Vikings had built numerous trade routes across the Northwest Atlantic (pictured)
In 2021, a study of wooden objects from L’Anse Aux Meadows in Newfoundland, Canada reached the same conclusion.
In 1960 the area was first thought to be a Norse site, thus proving that the Vikings may have come to the New World before all other Europeans in 1960.
This was because the wood left there showed signs of cutting and cutting with knives made of metal – a material not produced by the indigenous people.
The researchers at the University of Groningen discovered that this wood dates from the year 1021 – 471 years before Columbus would arrive.
DID THE VIKINGS DISCOVER NORTH AMERICA?
Some experts believe that the Vikings discovered North America nearly 500 years before Christopher Columbus made his famous voyage to the New World.
L’Anse aux Meadows was the first Viking settlement believed to have been found in North America in the 1960s.
In 2016, scientists claimed to have discovered another Viking settlement in Newfoundland built between 800 AD and 1300 AD.
Some experts believe that the Vikings discovered North America nearly 500 years before Christopher Columbus made his famous voyage to the New World.
The site, discovered in an area called Point Rosee in southern Newfoundland, is 400 miles (643 km) southwest of a Viking settlement found at L’Anse aux Meadows in the 1960s.
Now an expert claims to have found a mysterious location known as ‘Hop’.
Based on Viking descriptions, three key things identify this mystical settlement: an abundance of grapes, salmon, and canoes made from animal skins.
An archaeologist claims that the only place matching this description is the Miramichi-Chaleur Bay area in northeastern New Brunswick, Canada.
This would be the third Viking settlement claimed to have been found in North America, although it could be difficult to prove it once and for all.
It is believed that the Vikings first discovered America by accident in the fall of 986 AD, according to a historical source, the Saga of the Greenlanders.
It tells how Bjarni Herjolfsson stumbled across North America after being blown off course trying to sail from Norway to Greenland, but failed to land.
Inspired by his stories, another Viking, Leif Ericsson, then embarked on his own expedition and found North America in 1002.
He found it a fertile land, rich in grapes and berries, and called it Vinland.
Eriksson also mentioned two other “lands” on the North American coast – one with flat stones, which he called Helluland, and one that was flat and forested, called Markland.