Saturday, March 18, 2017

Chapter Review: Did Leif Ericsson Discover America?

Unsolved Mysteries of American History by Paul Aron, Barnes and Noble, New York, 1997.
I think we all pretty much accept that the Vikings visited North America in their travels.   Eric the Red had discovered Greenland, giving it a hopeful name in order to attract people to settle.  However Biarni Heriulfson first made it to North America, but was very unimpressed.  He did mention his find to Leif Ericsson, who was impressed with his story.  He went to establish the first non Native American settlement there and called in Vinland.  It wasn't until 1964 that evidence of an actual village was discovered.   This discovery included domestic items, which indicated their must have been women in the settlement.  However it didn't last long.  The natives were too inhospitable.  The mystery remains however that the site discovered is too far north for grapes to grow, thus belying the name of the city.  It could have been a rouse to encourage settlement, or the climate may have been more conducive to grapes at a past period, or there could be another site farther south.

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