L'Anse aux Meadows

L'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site*
UNESCO World Heritage Site
State Party	Canada
Type	Cultural
Criteria	vi
Reference	4
Region†	Europe and North America
Inscription History
Inscription	1978  (2nd Session)
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List. † Region as classified by UNESCO.

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, located in the Province of 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.

The Settlement

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 five hundred years before Christopher Columbus, contains the earliest European structures in North America.^[1] Named a World Heritage site by UNESCO, it is thought by many to be the semi-legendary 'Vinland' settlement of explorer Leif Ericson around AD 1000. The "Skalholt" map (marked 1570) shows the "Promontorium Winlandia" at the northern tip of what is likely to be a depiction of Newfoundland.

The settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows consisted of at least eight buildings, including a forge and smelter, and a lumber yard that supported a shipyard. The largest house measured 28.8 by 15.6 m and consisted of several rooms^[2] Sewing and knitting tools found at the site indicate women were present at L'Anse aux Meadows.

Viking colonisation site at L'Anse-aux-Meadows

History

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.

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 AD 1000.^[2]

L'Anse aux Meadows may have been a way station between a colony in Greenland and another settlement in the southern Gulf of Saint Lawrence region, or it may have served as an overwintering station for Norse explorers from Greenland.^[3] The site was only used for two or three years. It is conjectured, based on both literary and archaeological evidence, that poor relations with natives doomed the settlement to abandonment. Intragroup conflict over women and unexpected weather have also been suggested as the causes for its abandonment.

The sagas also tell an interesting story: in their wish to build good relationships with the native Indians, the Vikings invited some Indian chieftains to one of their feasts, where milk was also served. The Indians probably suffered from lactose intolerance, as they got sick, and suspected poisoning. Thus, the contact attempt was unsuccessful.

Map of Viking Expansion

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

See also

• List of communities in Newfoundland and Labrador
• Norse colonization of the Americas
• Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact
• Vinland map
• Helluland

References and notes

1. ^

   Nydal, Reidar (1989). "A critical review of radiocarbon dating of a Norse settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland, Canada". Radiocarbon 31: 976-985. 

2. ^ ^{a b} From the Canadian Encyclopedia article on L'Anse aux Meadows.
3. ^ Allen, John Logan (1997). North American Exploration: A New World Disclosed. Volume: 1.. University of Nebraska Press, p. 27. 

External links

• UNESCO
• Parks Canada
• Severed Ways, The Norse Discovery of America, a drama set in 1000A.D. and filmed in L'Anse
• Skalholt Map

Pictures

L'Anse-aux-Meadows, Nfld

Landing at L'Anse aux Meadows reenactment 2000

Looking outside from Viking house, 2006

World Heritage Sites in Canada
Canada	Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks · Dinosaur Provincial Park · Gros Morne · Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump · L'Anse aux Meadows · Old Town Lunenburg · Miguasha · Nahanni · Old Quebec · Rideau Canal · SGaang Gwaay · Wood Buffalo
Canada / USA	Kluane-Wrangell-St. Elias-Glacier Bay-Tatshenshini-Alsek · Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park

Coordinates: 51°35′42.96″N, 55°31′52.40″W

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