Norse settlement of North America

Norse people established settlements in Greenland and briefly in Newfoundland around the year 1000, centuries before sustained European colonization.

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L’Anse aux Meadows: An archaeological site in Newfoundland containing remains of a Norse settlement dated to around the year 1000. Its buildings and artifacts confirm a Norse presence in North America.
Erik the Red: A Norse explorer traditionally credited with founding the Greenland settlement around the end of the tenth century. His Greenland colony created a base for westward voyages.
Norse architecture: Building forms and construction practices used by Norse communities, including longhouses with turf walls. The site’s building remains match construction traditions found in Norse settlements.
Helge Ingstad: A Norwegian explorer and writer who identified L’Anse aux Meadows as a likely Norse settlement site. His investigation led to the excavation that confirmed Norse remains in Newfoundland.
European colonization of the Americas: The sustained expansion of European states and settlers across the Americas beginning in the late fifteenth century. It contrasts with the Norse presence, which did not establish lasting colonies in North America.
Vinland: A land west of Greenland described in medieval Norse accounts of exploration and settlement. The sagas place Norse voyages and attempted settlement in this region.
Leif Erikson: A Norse explorer associated in saga accounts with a voyage to Vinland around the year 1000. Saga tradition connects him with the first Norse arrival in Vinland.
Radiocarbon dating: A method for estimating the age of once-living material by measuring its radioactive carbon content. It helped date occupation at L’Anse aux Meadows to the Norse period.
Anne Stine Ingstad: A Norwegian archaeologist who directed excavations at L’Anse aux Meadows with Helge Ingstad. Her archaeological work documented the settlement’s Norse structures and artifacts.
Columbian exchange: The transatlantic movement of people, plants, animals, diseases, and goods following sustained European contact with the Americas. Norse voyages did not produce the continent-wide exchanges associated with later colonization.