A site on Epaves Bay, Newfoundland, Canada, containing evidence of a Viking settlement during pre-Columbian times. Material which is anomalous to the cultural setting of the time, such as remains of turf-built houses (which have cognates in Greenland and Iceland), iron rivets, slag, a ring-headed bronze pin and a soapstone spindle whorl, is convincingly ascribed a Norse origin. Supporting documents, such as Groen-lendingabok, Erik’s Saga and the map of Sigurthur Stefansson, also indicate that, around 1000, Norse sailors journeyed to a land west of Greenland, which they called Vinland. The site has produced a series of radiocarbon dates which fall in the range ad 660-1080, with many clustering around ad 1000. The site mean date is 920 + 30 ad, which gives a corrected date of c970 ad.
The Macmillan dictionary of archaeology, Ruth D. Whitehouse, 1983Copied