Vikings from Greenland discovered and settled in Newfoundland, North America, 1,000 years ago, according to a new study. Newfoundland, located in Maritime Canada, has long been suspected of hosting Viking settlers, but scientists were previously unable to determine the exact timeline of their settlement.
Researchers have now pinpointed the date to 1021, thanks to analysis of trees that the Vikings cut down to build shelters. This discovery places their presence in North America 470 years before Christopher Columbus’s arrival, marking the first time that a precise date for the Viking settlement has been scientifically confirmed.
Tracing the Vikings’ presence in America
“This is the first time the date has been scientifically established,” said Margot Kuitems, the archaeologist from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands who led the study. Prior to this, dating was based on Norse sagas — oral histories that were only written down in the 13th century, around 200 years after the events took place.
The Viking settlers came from Iceland and Scandinavia, making their way to Greenland before arriving in Newfoundland. The study indicates, however, that the Vikings were not comfortable in North America and left the settlement after only 13 years, returning to Greenland.
Expert opinions on the discovery
“I am impressed by the results,” said Thomas McGovern, an archaeologist at Hunter College in New York City who was not part of the research team. “The site continues to provide data after all these years. I think the date is totally plausible and fits with Birgitta Wallace’s original idea of a fairly short, circa 1,000 A.D. settlement event,” added McGovern, who has studied Norse settlements in Greenland for roughly two decades.
Pinpointing the date through radiocarbon dating
The research team identified the exact year using radiocarbon dating, a common archaeological tool. This study was unique in using a “cosmic ray event” to determine the date. In 993, a cosmic ray event increased the levels of radioactive carbon-14 in the atmosphere. Trees absorb carbon dioxide, including carbon-14, throughout their lives, and the researchers matched the growth rings of trees at the Viking site with the carbon-14 spike from the cosmic ray event.
By counting the rings from the event in 993 until the tree was cut down, the researchers determined that the trees were felled in 1021, the same year the Vikings used the wood for their settlement in Newfoundland.
The Norse sagas and life in ‘Vinland’
The Norse sagas recount a westward journey from Greenland to a place called “Vinland,” believed to be Newfoundland, where grapes grew. The sagas also describe difficult interactions with the local Indigenous people, whom the Vikings called “skraelings,” or people who screeched. According to the stories, the skraelings were fierce warriors who repeatedly attacked the settlement, eventually forcing the Vikings to abandon it.
This new study not only provides the first scientifically backed date for Viking activity in North America but also sheds new light on the short-lived Norse presence on the continent.
Related: Vikings Traded Walrus Ivory with Native American Inuits, Study Finds