1. About 400 miles north of the Western settlement (which was actually the more northern of the two major settlements on the west coast), I think.
2. I believe there's something in (one of) the Icelandic Annals about this, although I haven't read the relevant document myself (my excuse for this being that there are far few editions / translations of it than there are of the sagas).
3. This is a really tricky one. The evidence there is suggests a long, slow decline until the early 15th century; then a sharp drop off in population numbers, but without a corresponding increase in the number of burials; and then with some people staying behind. So it seems like some combination of the two. There is no record of a large migration to either Iceland, Norway or the UK at that time; but there could have been several small movements there; or a move to North America; possibly with some of the emigration fleet being sunk en route.
4. L'Anse aux Meadows, on the northern arm of Newfoundland, is very well attested. There is a relatively major settlement, with all sorts of Norse artefacts, from just the right period. There are also items in the Norse stratum there (butternuts, and butternut wood) that could only have been brought from further south; this ties in well with the saga tales of salmon, vines and self-sown wheat, none of which could have lived in northern Newfoundland.
Some Norse artefacts have also been found in northern Canada, although it is less clear whether these were from semi-permanent settlements, temporary camps, or left by Native Americans who might have obtained them by trade (or looting). Places mentioned in the sagas and annals as being visited by the Vikings have been fairly well tied up to locations in Canada (although not as closely as L'Anse aux Meadows has been tied up with Leifsbudhir).
There are lots of "Norse" finds in America, none of which have the slightest shred of real evidence behind them. The partial exception is the "Maine penny", which is a genuine Norwegian coin, but which could have found its way there through later trade (or, like so much else, have been planted fraudulently).
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Date: 2010-10-02 01:28 pm (UTC)1. About 400 miles north of the Western settlement (which was actually the more northern of the two major settlements on the west coast), I think.
2. I believe there's something in (one of) the Icelandic Annals about this, although I haven't read the relevant document myself (my excuse for this being that there are far few editions / translations of it than there are of the sagas).
3. This is a really tricky one. The evidence there is suggests a long, slow decline until the early 15th century; then a sharp drop off in population numbers, but without a corresponding increase in the number of burials; and then with some people staying behind. So it seems like some combination of the two. There is no record of a large migration to either Iceland, Norway or the UK at that time; but there could have been several small movements there; or a move to North America; possibly with some of the emigration fleet being sunk en route.
4. L'Anse aux Meadows, on the northern arm of Newfoundland, is very well attested. There is a relatively major settlement, with all sorts of Norse artefacts, from just the right period. There are also items in the Norse stratum there (butternuts, and butternut wood) that could only have been brought from further south; this ties in well with the saga tales of salmon, vines and self-sown wheat, none of which could have lived in northern Newfoundland.
Some Norse artefacts have also been found in northern Canada, although it is less clear whether these were from semi-permanent settlements, temporary camps, or left by Native Americans who might have obtained them by trade (or looting). Places mentioned in the sagas and annals as being visited by the Vikings have been fairly well tied up to locations in Canada (although not as closely as L'Anse aux Meadows has been tied up with Leifsbudhir).
There are lots of "Norse" finds in America, none of which have the slightest shred of real evidence behind them. The partial exception is the "Maine penny", which is a genuine Norwegian coin, but which could have found its way there through later trade (or, like so much else, have been planted fraudulently).