EVIDENCE OF NORDIC MOVEMENTS IN PRE-COLUMBIAN AMERICAS

The term Nordic describes a subdivision of the Caucasoid race who were inhabitants of Northern Britain, Scandinavia, Northern Germany and the Netherlands. The term Norse on the other hand, refers to ancient and medieval Scandinavia or its inhabitants as well as it could be used to refer to Norway. Norseman/Northman is a term that is used interchangeably with the word Vi ing !who were any "anes, Norwegians or Swedes who raided the seas of North and #est $uro%e the &th and ''th centuries(. $vidence of Nordic %resence in the )mericas %rior to Columbus can be classified into botanical, metallurgical, archaeological, cartogra%hic, oral and written. '. *ral/#ritten The most %rominent sources of evidence of %re+Columbian Vi ing contact with the New #orld can be found in the ,celandic )nnals - ,slendingbo , .latey/arbo and 0andnamabo . ,nitially, the sagas contained in the above mentioned sources were transmitted orally until )damus Bremensis/ )dam of Bremen a cleric began transcribing these stories in '121. The sagas which ma e s%ecial reference to New #orld discoveries are generally termed 3Vinland4 sagas but are found in sections of the Greenlander5s saga and $ri the 6ed5s saga. The sagas document the arrival of ,celanders to three territories called 7elluland, 8ar land and Vinland which were ta en to be Baffin ,sland, 0abrador and New .oundland in Canada. The most im%ortant of these %laces mentioned in the sagas seemed to have been Vinland as several e9%editions were ta en to that %lace: i. ii. iii. iv. v. 0eif $ri sson Thorvald $ri sson Thorstein $ri sson Thorfinn ;arlefni .reydis $ri sson

,t is widely believed that Vindland is %resent day 05)nse au9 8eadows

<. Cartogra%hic ) world ma% dated around '==1 was found in '>?@ The ma% clearly showed the location of Vinland

The ma% was found in a boo called The Vinland 8a% and Tartar 6elation

A. 8etallurgical $vidence of Norse style smelting was uncovered at an e9cavation site in 05)nse au9 8eadows ,ron manufacturing was an activity where bog ore !a form of iron collected from bogs( was %rocessed in order to ma e boat nails The need for boa tnails e9%lains the introduction of iron smelting to the )mericas

=. Botanical "uring the e9cavation of the site at 05)nse au9 8eadows, the ,ngstads found A butternut that were %reserved in the bogs ,m%ortantly, bogs contain tannic acid which can %reserve both organic and inorganic materials for centuries The %resence of these butternuts suggests that they were trans%orted to the area rather than grown there. This adds more value to the %re+Columbian Nordic %resence theory ) burl of butternut wood was also found in the bog and since butternut trees do not and did not grow in 3Vinland4 it can safely be concluded that the Vi ings also brought this wood with them Similarly, items made from Scot5s Bine !Binus Sylvertris( were found in the bog. )gain this ty%e of wood did not grow in that area and it was common for utensils to be made from it in the *ld #orld.

@. )rchaeological 8ost archaeological evidence was garnered from the e9cavation at 05)nse au9 8eadows in '>?1 conducted by 7elge and )nne Stine ,ngstad The ,ngstads found a Norse site '11m from the ocean shore com%rising three com%le9es )ll the buildings were located on a narrow beach terrace surrounding a sedge %eat bog and a wet s%hagnum bog The buildings were made from a timber frame covered in sod and the roofs were stee%ly %ea ed. There was no windows, only smo e holes through the smo e from o%en fires on the floor eventually drifted out Some items found at the site that were %reserved in the bog include: i. #ood shavings and chi%s from the car%entry sho%

ii. ,tems of bro en wood iii. Treenails iv. Blan %atch for crac ed boat stra e v. Bow for an auger vi. Bieces of ro%e made from s%ruce roots vii. BronCe %in viii. Glass bead i9. S%indle whorl 9. Small needle hone 9i. Bone needle used for nitting 9ii. Gilded brass ring 9iii. "ug out fire %laces 6unestones are also %ieces of archaeological evidence of %re+Columbian Norse %resence in the )mericas + three most %o%ular runes were: i. ii. iii. * lahoma 6une S%irit Bond 6une !8aine( ;ensington 6une !8innesota(