The Vikings were active in colonizing Newfoundland almost 500 years before Christopher Columbus crossed the Atlantic, according to new research. The viral news comes to shatter what we believed until now.
At the northernmost tip of the northernmost peninsula of Newfoundland, Canada, lies a prehistoric Viking settlement known as L'Anse aux Meadows. The site has been explored by archaeologists since the 1960s, but until now, a firm date of colonization had not been determined.
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New research published in Nature adds much-needed clarity to the issue. A team led by archaeologist Michael Dee of the University of Groningen in the Netherlands provides new evidence that suggests Vikings were active at L’Anse aux Meadows by 1021 AD – exactly 1,000 years ago. Dee says his team’s findings represent the “first and only known date for Europeans in the Americas before Columbus, who crossed the Atlantic in 1492 AD.”.
That the Vikings were skilled seafarers is no secret. The Norse settlers are believed to have reached Iceland in the late 9th century and North America in the 11th century, although the exact timing of the latter event is still a matter of debate.
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How are exact dates determined for archaeological events?
To date archaeological sites, one needs either contemporary written records or a significant number of artifacts that can be placed within a specific time range. L'anse aux Meadows yielded neither of these things. The best scientific dating method is probably radiocarbon dating, but it tends to only be able to provide dates to the nearest centuries.
To date, Dee and his colleagues have analyzed three pieces of wood collected from the site, all from different trees. These pieces of wood were leftover from logging and are associated with Viking activity at L'anse aux Meadows. The findings showed cut marks from metal tools, which the indigenous people living in the area at the time were not known to have possessed.
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The team then analyzed distinctive features of atmospheric carbon to narrow down the radiocarbon dating of the cut trees. The incredible degree of dating accuracy was made possible by a massive solar storm that occurred in 993 AD, which left a distinct radiocarbon signature in tree rings around the world.
Trees absorb carbon from the atmosphere and store it in their annual growth rings. A sharp increase in the concentration of growth ring radiocarbon was recently found to correspond to a solar storm.
“By measuring the radiocarbon concentration of the tree rings in the Viking wood, we were able to find the same spike,” Dee said, which meant the ring came from 993 AD. From there, “it was just a matter of counting the rings to the edge of the bark to figure out when the last ring was placed,” meaning when the tree was cut down, he explained. The researchers applied this technique to all three pieces of wood, with all results returning a cutting date of 1021 AD.
The Vikings were present in North America until 1021 AD, but many questions remain. The total number of expeditions to the continent is not known, nor is the total length of their stay. That said, it does not appear that the Norsemen spent much time in North America.
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"They probably came there looking for timber and other resources to take back to Greenland," Dee explained. "There were perhaps 100 Norse people at the site. We know from some plant remains found at the site that they also traveled further south to the Americas, but we don't know exactly where. From the amount of trash left behind and because no Norse burials have been found, most archaeologists believe they were at L'Anse aux Meadows for a very short time.".
In anticipation of future research, Dee hopes that archaeologists might find more exotic plant remains, which could point to other North American sites explored by the Norse. Regardless, the new research confirms the Vikings' remarkable achievements and extensive global reach.
With information from gizmodo.com
