The Vikings reached North America over a millennium ago.
Archaeologists have unearthed what is only the second known Viking site ever discovered in North America.
Christopher Columbus has often been attributed with discovering America – a feat for which he has gone down in history – but in reality the continent had actually been frequented multiple times by Europeans many centuries before the Italian explorer had even been born.
Among the early seafarers to have reached North America were the Vikings who were known to have constructed a waystation at L’Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland some 1,000 years ago.
Now archaeologists have revealed that a second Viking site has been found – this time at the peninsula of Point Rosee which is situated several hundred miles to the south.
The discovery not only cements the presence of the Vikings in North America but also suggests that they had been there a lot longer and had travelled far further inland than anyone had ever realized.
“The sagas suggest a short period of activity and a very brief and failed colonisation attempt,” said archaeologist Douglas Bolender. “L’Anse aux Meadows fits well with that story but is only one site. ”
“Point Rosee could reinforce that story or completely change it, if the dating is different from L’Anse aux Meadows. We could end up with a much longer period of Norse activity in the New World.”
