New scientific research has once and for all proven that the Vikings were the first Europeans to reach North America, and that they did so 1,000 years ago.
The theory that Vikings, native peoples from Scandinavia, had made it to North America long before Christopher Columbus and other European explorers had long been accepted but, until now, this was not possible to exactly date. However, thanks to new scientific insights it can be exacted that the Vikings reached North America 470 years before Columbus.
The research is published in the Nature Journal and was carried out by researchers at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands.
They used analysis of wood used by Vikings to build homes in Newfoundland, an area of modern Canada.
The research found a spike in the process of carbon dating, the wood that reflects a time when there was a spike in solar activity, proving beyond doubt the Vikings were in Newfoundland in the year 1021.
Oral histories of the Vikings finding a land in the West exist from the 1300s, but these were 200 years after the fact, and couldn't be verified, and while Viking settlements were known of in Newfoundland, these could not be exactly dated.
In these epic sagas, mostly of Icelandic origin, the new world found was known as Vinland, translated as 'the land of wine' and was said to inhabited by mysterious tribes, which they called the 'wearers of animal skins', as well as mysterious and unknown animals.
Those taking the journey would have likely hopped from Iceland to Greenland, and then onto Canada.
Margot Kuitems, who led the study, said:
"This is the first time the date has been scientifically established. Previously the date was based only on sagas — oral histories that were only written down in the 13th century, at least 200 years after the events they described took place."
What is believed is that only around 100 Vikings made the trip to the new settlement and that they only remained in the new world for around 13 years, after which they disappeared. They are thought to have interacted with local native tribes and most likely found the environment hostile and unforgiving.
[Based on reporting by: NBC]
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