Topline
Researchers have established the exact year Europeans were first present in North America in a study published Wednesday, dating the Viking presence in Newfoundland, Canada, to exactly 1,000 years ago in 1021 A.D.—almost 500 years before Christopher Columbus set foot in the Americas.
The L'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site in Newfoundland, Canada.
Key Facts
Scientists were able to identify a precise year by analyzing wood from the Norse settlement known as L’Anse aux Meadows, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The discovery represents “the first known point at which humans encircled the globe,” according to the study published in the journal Nature, and “the only secure calendar date for the presence of Europeans across the Atlantic before the voyages of Columbus.”
Previous estimates—which dated the site in the 11th century—were based on oral histories and “stylistic analysis” of artifacts and architectural remains, the study said.
L’Anse aux Meadows is the earliest and only known Viking site in North America and was first discovered in 1960, according to UNESCO, and hundreds of wooden, bronze, bone and stone artifacts have been uncovered there by archaeologists over the years.
Evidence from the location also suggests it was used as a base camp for explorations further south.
Big Number
470. That’s at least how many years the Vikings reached the Americas before Christopher Columbus, who landed in the Bahamas in 1492. But indigenous communities predated both Columbus and Leif Erikson, an Icelandic explorer who has been linked to L’Anse aux Meadows and is believed by some to have been the first European visitor to North America.
Key Background
The colonial legacy of Columbus and others has come under scrutiny in recent years. Last month Canada marked its first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation commemorating the indigenous survivors of the residential school system, as the country reckons with colonization’s destructive long-term impacts; a statue of Columbus in Mexico City was recently taken down and is being replaced with one of an indigenous woman; and earlier this month President Joe Biden officially recognized Indigenous Peoples’ Day, the first American president to do so.
Further Reading
“In tree rings and radioactive carbon, signs of the Vikings in North America” (NBC News)
“Viking Artifacts Give Precise Date for Europeans’ Earliest Presence in North America” (Wall Street Journal)
“Vikings discovered America 500 years before Christopher Columbus, study claims” (The Independent)