New Evidence Shows Vikings Were in America Much Longer Than We Thought

Video from Discovery Future

New Evidence Shows Vikings Were in America Much Longer Than We Thought

"History loves a clean story. Christopher Columbus arrives, Europe “discovers” America, and everything before that fades into myth. But archaeology and modern science are very bad at respecting simple narratives.

New evidence is forcing historians to rethink how long Vikings were present in North America and what they were actually doing there. This video explores the growing body of scientific proof showing that Norse seafarers did not simply stumble onto the continent once and vanish, but returned repeatedly, harvesting resources and maintaining contact across the Atlantic long before Columbus ever sailed west.

Drawing on recent archaeological studies from Greenland, microscopic analysis of thousands of wooden artifacts, and the precise tree-ring dating of Viking activity at L’Anse aux Meadows, this documentary breaks down how North American timber ended up in Norse settlements and why that matters. The presence of oak, hemlock, and jack pine in Greenland tells a story of intentional voyages, skilled navigation, and a world far more connected than medieval maps suggest.

We also examine the Greenland Norse colonies themselves, their dependence on timber, the challenges of surviving in a treeless Arctic landscape, and how the sagas once dismissed as legend are increasingly supported by physical evidence. Together, these discoveries reveal a forgotten chapter of transatlantic history and challenge long-held assumptions about Europe’s first contact with the New World.

As archaeological techniques continue to improve and new sites are investigated, more Viking journeys, camps, and possibly additional settlements may yet be discovered, further reshaping what we know about the Norse presence in North America." from the video introduction

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