The 13th-century Vinland sagas recount Leif Erikson's voyages to Vinland; Erik the Red founded a Norse settlement in Greenland. In 1960 Helge Ingstad and Anne Stine Ingstad began excavating L'Anse aux Meadows on Newfoundland's Northern Peninsula. They found Norse-type buildings and iron objects. Low-angle, parallel-sided cuts in wood indicate iron-tool use, not metal manufacture. Researchers radiocarbon-dated the cut-marked wood—not metal artifacts—and a 2021 analysis placed the associated activity in AD 1021. A spike in atmospheric carbon-14, possibly linked to cosmic rays, aided calibration. ⚔️🛖
Cut-marked wood dates Norse activity at L'Anse aux Meadows to 1021
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Key facts
- The surviving Vinland sagas were composed in the 13th century. They recount Leif Erikson's voyages to Vinland; Erik the Red founded a Norse settlement in Greenland.
- Helge Ingstad and Anne Stine Ingstad began excavating L'Anse aux Meadows in 1960. The site is on Newfoundland's Northern Peninsula.
- The site yielded Norse-type buildings and iron objects. Low-angle, parallel-sided cuts on wood indicate iron-tool use, not metal manufacture.
- Researchers radiocarbon-dated the cut-marked wood, not metal artifacts. A 2021 analysis placed the associated activity in AD 1021; a spike in atmospheric carbon-14 associated with possible cosmic-ray activity aided calibration.
Sources
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time.com
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perseus.tufts.edu
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link.springer.com
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dailysabah.com
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The First Conclusive Proof that Norsemen Reached North ...historyofinformation.com
"L'Anse aux Meadows remains the only widely accepted instance of pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact and is notable for its possible connection with the ...
Vinland and L'Anse aux Meadowsfredolsencruises.com
Helge Marcus Ingstad was a Norwegian lawyer and bureaucrat turned huntsman, explorer and archaeologist, is best known for his significant ...
Top of the World: L'Anse aux Meadows Viking Settlementadventurecanada.com
L'Anse aux Meadows was forgotten for centuries outside of the pages of the Icelandic sagas. Nearly a millennium later, Helge Ingstad and Anne Stine Ingstad
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