L’Anse aux MeadowsNewfoundland, Canada

Pam Chamberlain-Clouser20 April 2010

Located on the northern tip of the island of Newfoundland in Canada

Discovered in 1960 and excavated 1961-1968 by Richard and Anne Stine Ingstad with assistance from local fisherman George Decker

Who settled the site?

Unfortunately not.

• The settlers were Vikings who came from Norway (via Iceland and Greenland) on longships that would have looked much like the one above

• Erik the Red settled in Greenland; his son Leif Eriksson is thought to have been the first to lead an expedition to Newfoundland

• According to the Icelandic Sagas, Thorfinn Karlsefni brought over three ships with over 100 settlers, farm tools and livestock. His son, Snorri, was born soon after and was the first European child born in the New World

Oldest European Settlement in North America

Carbon dating of material recovered indicates that the site was settled nearly 500 years before Columbus reached the

Americas

•Eight buildings were discovered that were the same construction as those in use in Iceland and Greenland around the year 1000•A Norse cloak-pin was found inside one of the buildings•Iron boat nails, rivets and slag from ironworking were also evidence that the settlers were Norse•An assortment of “women’s tools” (spindles and knitting needles) were also found

Parks Canada excavation, 1973-1976

•Three housing complexes – blacksmiths, carpenters, ship repair

•Blacksmiths lived nearest to the smithy

•2000+ fragments of worked wood found in the site

•It was probably not a long-term settlement, but a waypoint and ship repair station for explorers

•The complexes were buried and covered with turf to protect them from further deterioration

Furnace pit/smithy

Reconstructed smithy

Other occupiers• Site inhabited since at least 6,000 years BP• Five or six different cultures have been identified• No other cultures were there concurrently with the Vikings• Norse did have conflicts with native groups – referred to as

Skraelings; “skraeling” translates (arguably) as “coarse fellow” or “sub-human”

• These possibly made the Norse decide to return to Europe

Sources:• http://www.exploretravelcanada.com/Viking_Ships_Longhouses_Vi

nland.htm• http://www.mnh.si.edu/vikings/voyage/subset/vinland/archeo.html• http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/lhn-nhs/nl/meadows/natcul/

bref_brief.aspx• http://www.hurstwic.org/history/articles/society/text/

North_American_exploration.htm• http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/L

%27Anse_aux_Meadows_map.png• http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/vinland.html• http://users.wolfcrews.com/toys/vikings/