Evidence of nordic movements in pre

1. EVIDENCE OF NORDIC MOVEMENTS IN PRE-COLUMBIAN AMERICAS
The term Nordicdescribesasubdivisionof the Caucasoidrace whowere inhabitantsof Northern
Britain,Scandinavia,NorthernGermanyandthe Netherlands.The termNorse onthe otherhand,
referstoancientand medievalScandinaviaoritsinhabitantsaswell asitcouldbe usedto referto
Norway.Norseman/Northmanisatermthat isusedinterchangeablywiththe wordViking(who
were anyDanes,Norwegians orSwedeswhoraidedthe seasof NorthandWestEurope the 8th
and
11th
centuries).
Evidence of Nordicpresence inthe AmericaspriortoColumbuscanbe classifiedintobotanical,
metallurgical,archaeological,cartographic,oral andwritten.
1. Oral/Written
 The most prominentsourcesof evidence of pre-ColumbianVikingcontactwiththe
NewWorldcan be foundin the IcelandicAnnals –Islendingbok,Flateyjarbokand
Landnamabok.
 Initially,the sagascontainedinthe above mentionedsourceswere transmitted
orallyuntil AdamusBremensis/Adamof Bremenaclericbegantranscribingthese
storiesin1070.
 The sagas whichmake special reference toNew Worlddiscoveriesare generally
termed“Vinland”sagasbutare foundinsectionsof the Greenlander’ssagaand Erik
the Red’ssaga.
 The sagas documentthe arrival of Icelanderstothree territoriescalledHelluland,
Marklandand Vinlandwhichwere takentobe BaffinIsland,LabradorandNew
FoundlandinCanada.
 The most importantof these placesmentionedinthe sagas seemedtohave been
Vinlandasseveral expeditionsweretakentothatplace:
i. Leif Eriksson
ii. ThorvaldEriksson
iii. ThorsteinEriksson
iv. ThorfinnKarlefni
v. FreydisEriksson
 It iswidelybelievedthatVindlandispresentdayL’Anse aux Meadows
2. Cartographic
 A worldmapdatedaround 1440 wasfoundin1965
 The map clearlyshowedthe locationof Vinland
 The map was foundina bookcalled The VinlandMapand Tartar Relation
3. Metallurgical
 Evidence of Norse style smeltingwasuncoveredatanexcavationsite inL’Anse aux
Meadows
 Iron manufacturingwasanactivitywhere bogore (a formof ironcollectedfrom
bogs) wasprocessedinorderto make boat nails
 The needforboa tnailsexplainsthe introductionof ironsmeltingtothe Americas

2. 4. Botanical
 Duringthe excavationof the site at L’Anse aux Meadows,the Ingstadsfound3
butternutthatwere preservedinthe bogs
 Importantly,bogscontaintannicacidwhichcan preserve bothorganicandinorganic
materialsforcenturies
 The presence of these butternutssuggeststhattheywere transportedtothe area
rather thangrownthere.Thisadds more value tothe pre-ColumbianNordic
presence theory
 A burl of butternutwoodwasalsofoundinthe bog andsince butternuttreesdonot
and didnot growin “Vinland” itcansafelybe concludedthatthe Vikingsalso
broughtthiswoodwiththem
 Similarly,itemsmade fromScot’sPine (PinusSylvertris) were foundinthe bog.
Againthistype of wooddidnot grow inthat area andit was commonforutensilsto
be made from itin the OldWorld.
5. Archaeological
 Most archaeological evidence wasgarneredfromthe excavationatL’Anse aux
Meadowsin1960 conductedby Helge andAnne Stine Ingstad
 The Ingstadsfounda Norse site 100m fromthe oceanshore comprisingthree
complexes
 All the buildingswere locatedonanarrow beach terrace surroundingasedge peat
bog anda wetsphagnumbog
 The buildingswere made fromatimberframe coveredinsodandthe roofswere
steeplypeaked.There wasnowindows,onlysmoke holesthroughthe smoke from
openfiresonthe flooreventuallydriftedout
 Some itemsfoundatthe site that were preservedinthe boginclude:
i. Wood shavingsandchipsfromthe carpentryshop
ii. Itemsof brokenwood
iii. Treenails
iv. Plankpatch forcracked boatstrake
v. Bow foran auger
vi. Piecesof rope made fromspruce roots
vii. Bronze pin
viii. Glassbead
ix. Spindle whorl
x. Small needle hone
xi. Bone needle usedforknitting
xii. Gildedbrassring
xiii. Dug out fire places
 Runestones are alsopiecesof archaeological evidence of pre-ColumbianNorse
presence inthe Americas - three mostpopularruneswere:
i. OklahomaRune
ii. SpiritPondRune (Maine)
iii. KensingtonRune (Minnesota)