L’ANSE AUX MEADOWS

        A North American  Viking Settlement 

At the tip of the Great Northern Peninsula of the island of Newfoundland lies L’Anse aux Meadows, site of the first European settlement in North America nearly 1000 years ago. It  is a significant archeological find. Excavated remains of an 11th century Viking settlement consisting of timber-framed turf buildings (houses, workshops, etc.) that are identical of the same time period with those found in Norse Greenland and Iceland.

Viewing the outlines of Norse encampments at the UNESCO site stimulates the imagination while replicas of Norse sod buildings provide the stage for costumed interpreters to help one imagine what life in the harsh environment was like centuries ago.

            Our young Parks Canada guide told us, “Dr. Ingstad, a Norwegian, spent half his lifetime finding and working on this site, which he discovered in 1960. Unexpectedly a local fisherman told him about this place when the doctor asked if there were any strange or unusual earth formations around.”

            Walking on damp grass through the site, when asked our guide responded, “Only about 12-15 inches of wall was found. The weather had destroyed the upper parts of the wall. To preserve what is left the walls are covered with dirt which now is covered with grass.”

            The sail was the most important part of the Viking ship because it was made of wool and it took the wool of 90 sheep and many men working three years to make one.

            A building measuring 70 X 55 feet contained 5-6 rooms and fireplaces. Upper and lower walls were found. Lumps of slag iron found in several houses and large flat-surfaced stones near the river indicate the existence of a smithy. A large pit of charred wood, needed for smithy operations, was found in another pit. A tiny stone wheel carved from soapstone served as a fly-wheel on a spinning spindle  indicating that women were included in the settlement. The importance of L’Anse-aux-Meadows lies in the fact that it is the only place where actual evidence has been found that withstands scientific scrutiny that Vikings actually settled in North America. This permanent settlement took place 500 years before Columbus’s voyages.

            When we moved on to the sod buildings I was amazed at how comfortable they were inside. In the main building a “Viking” was playing a stringed instrument in front of a fire. The house was very warm and cozy---a great contrast to the drizzly cold outside.

Considerably different from later preserved settlements such as Williamsburg, it was a most interesting visit but the day was long with a lot of time spent on a bus. I’m not sure  there is a viable alternative though.