May 22- L'anse aux Meadows or Vikingville

The end of last evening was filled with two amazing pieces of communication. As we were sailing away from Corner Brook, Newfoundland I noticed that our friend Bill Kemp was online so I sent a “want to video chat” message to him and he answered. We had a great “conversation” with Bill and Lucy- from Corner Brook, Newfoundland as we sailed along toward Iceland. Imagine seeing and hearing across the many miles and from the middle of the ocean for a “chat” with folks in Bradenton, Florida. Now isn’t the world an amazing place!?!

At dinner tonight the Captain announced that we would be slowing down at about 1:00AM because of reported icebergs and ice flows in the area. We don’t think we’ll sleep on the deck to watch but Jim thinks he might sleep in his life jacket- JUST KIDDING!

We awoke this morning to our anchor spot and discovered there were many icebergs around us. The sky was clear and the view stunning. The tenders were out and ready to go. We arrived right on time.

L'Anse aux Meadows (pronounced /ˈlænsi ˈmɛdoʊz/; from the French L'Anse-aux-Méduses or "Jellyfish Cove") is an archaeological site on the northernmost tip of the island of Newfoundland in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is the only known site of a Norse village in North America outside of Greenland. The UNESCO World Heritage Site remains the only widely-accepted instance of pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact, and is notable for possible connections with the attempted colony of Vinland established by Leif Ericsson around 1003, or more broadly with Norse exploration of the Americas.

In the 1960s Norse ruins were found here by the Norwegian explorer Helge Ingstad and his wife Anne Stine Ingstad, an archaeologist. Archaeologists determined the site is of Norse origin due to definitive similarities between the characteristics of structures and artifacts found at the site compared to sites in Greenland and Iceland. They found a bronze pin used to secure the tunic, which confirmed the presence of people of the Norse.

This discovery led scholars to believe this was the site described by Norsemen (Vikings) after they visited a portion of the North American coast around 1000AD.

The Viking voyages were recorded in a book called the Greenlanders' Saga (1200AD). Norwegian-born Leif Ericsson (c.970–c.1020) is generally credited with having been the first European to set foot on North American soil. Ericsson was the son of navigator Erik the Red who founded a Norse settlement in Greenland, where he moved his family in 985 or 986AD. About the same time another Norseman, Bjarni Herjolfsson, who was driven off course on his way from Iceland to Greenland, became the first European to see North America, but he did not go ashore. It is believed that Ericsson decided he would follow up on this discovery, and about 1001 he set out from Greenland with a crew of 35 men and probably landed on the southern end of Baffin Island (north of the province of Quebec). The expedition likely reached Labrador, Canada, and later landed on the coast of what is today Nova Scotia or Newfoundland, Canada. This landfall may have been L'Anse aux Meadows. Ericsson and his crew spent the winter of 1001-02 at a place he called Vinland, which was described as well wooded and abounding in fruit, especially grapes. He returned to Greenland in the spring of 1002.

The first authenticated European landing in North America was in 1500AD when Portuguese navigator Gaspar de Corte-Real (1450?–1501?) explored the coast of Labrador and Newfoundland.

The UNESCO World Heritage site contains the remains of eight buildings believed to have been constructed of sod placed over a wooden frame. Based on associated artifacts, the buildings were variously identified as dwellings or workshops. The largest dwelling measured 94.5 by 51 ft and consisted of several rooms. Workshops were identified as an iron smithy containing a forge and iron slag, a carpentry workshop, which generated wood debris, and a specialized boat repair area containing worn rivets. Besides those related to iron working, carpentry, and boat repair, other artifacts found at the site consisted of common everyday Norse items, including a stone oil lamp, a whetstone, a bronze fastening pin, a bone knitting needle, and part of a spindle. The presence of the spindle and needle suggest that women were present as well as men. Food remains included butternuts, which are significant because they do not grow naturally north of New Brunswick, and their presence probably indicates the Norse inhabitants traveled farther south to obtain them. Archaeologists concluded that the Norse inhabited the site for a relatively short period of time-probably no more than 4 years.

The UNESCO site itself was closed because of current digging going on, but the reconstructed village was interesting. AND to think we have spent all these years celebrating Christopher Columbus when he was really late to the discovery party in North America.