L'Anse aux Meadows

Viking colonisation site at L'Anse-aux-Meadows

L'Anse aux Meadows (from the French L'Anse-aux-Méduses or "Jellyfish Cove") is a site on the northernmost tip of the island of Newfoundland, in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, where the remains of a Viking village were discovered in 1960 by the Norwegian explorer Helge Ingstad and his archaeologist wife, Anne Stine Ingstad.

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3 References and notes
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The only authenticated Viking settlement in North America outside Greenland, it was the site of a multi-year archaeological dig that found dwellings, tools and implements that verified its time frame. The settlement, dating more than 500 years before Christopher Columbus, contains the earliest European structures in North America. Named a World Heritage site by UNESCO, it is thought by many to be the semi-legendary 'Vinland' settlement of explorer Leif Ericson around 1000 AD.

The climate in Newfoundland then was significantly warmer than it is today. As recounted in the sagas, Leifur set forth from Greenland to search for the land Bjarni Herjólfsson had told him of. He found a land rich with grapes, salmon, and a frost free winter, and returned to harvest lumber to take back to tree-poor Greenland. L'Anse aux Meadows has been variously identified as: (a) the first camp made, (b) the camp made after fleeing hostile Skrælings, or (c) a camp not mentioned in the saga.

Viking colonisation site at L'Anse-aux-Meadows

The settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows consisted of at least 8 buildings, including a forge and smelter, and a lumber yard that supported a shipyard. The largest house measured a spacious 28.8 by 15.6 m and consisted of several rooms^[1].

The saga describes a colonizing attempt led by Thorfinn Karlsefni, with as many as 135 men and 15 women, who used Leifur's camp, perhaps L'Anse aux Meadows, as a base. Among them was Freydís Eiríksdóttir, half-sister to Leif. While it is not possible to verify that L'Anse aux Meadows is indeed the Vinland of Saga, it is certain that a group of Norse colonists lived here around the year 1000 AD.^[1]

The site was only used for 2 or 3 years. It is conjectured, based on both literary and archaeological evidence, that poor relations with natives doomed the settlement to abandonment. Intergroup conflict over women and unexpected weather have both been suggested as the cause for its abandonment.

Map of Viking Expansion

L'Anse aux Meadows may also be connected to the Algonquin legend of a Kingdom of Saguenay populated by a race of blond men rich in furs and metals, but this may be only conjecture.

External links

References and notes

^ ^a ^b From the Canadian Encylopedia article on L'Anse aux Meadows. Sewing and knitting tools found at the site indicate women were present at L'Anse aux Meadows.