Ancient solar storm helped pinpoint the exact date Vikings settled in Newfoundland
A groundbreaking study has confirmed Vikings had settled in a remote corner of northern Newfoundland by AD 1021, establishing for the first time a precise date for the earliest European habitation in the Americas -- exactly 1,000 years ago.
The remains of the small Norse settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows were unearthed in 1960 by Norwegian explorer Helge Ingstad and his wife, archeologist Anne Stine. But the methods used to pinpoint the date of construction were imprecise.
Until this week, it was believed the Norse encampment was established around AD 1000 -- a finding that prompted Canada's easternmost province to stage an elaborate re-enactment and festival in 2000 called, "Vikings! 2000."
That initial date of settlement was based on early radiocarbon dating techniques, the results of which were cross-referenced with analysis of the architectural remains and a handful of artifacts, as well as interpretations of Icelandic sagas written centuries after the Vikings had left the island.
"The buildings are typical of 11th and 10th century Iceland and Greenland," said Birgitta Wallace, a retired senior archeologist with Parks Canada who worked with Ingstad and his wife in the 1960s. "They're quite distinctive in shape and material and there were enough artifacts to confirm that."
As well, Ingstad and Stine found wood cut by metal tools, which were not made by the local Indigenous inhabitants.
But radiocarbon dating techniques at the time were lacking. "You got error factors of plus or minus 100 years -- even more sometimes," said Wallace, a co-author of the new study published this week in the journal Nature. "You couldn't even say if it was late 10th century or early 11th century."
Wallace stressed that the original AD 1000 date was never meant to be a precise declaration. "But this new method pinpoints the exact year," she said in an interview Thursday.
Using accelerator mass spectrometry, researchers re-examined tree rings in pieces of wood used to build the camp. They found some tree rings exhibited a pattern consistent with exposure to a solar storm that swept over Earth in AD 993.
"There was one year of solar activity that affected the growth of trees throughout the world," said Wallace, who specialized in Viking archeology in Sweden and the United States before she moved to Canada. "Those tree rings are really wiggly."
Wallace said it's important to understand that the new AD 1021 date represents a precise calculation of when the trees used to build the settlement were felled. There's no way to know how long the Vikings were in Newfoundland, either before or after that date, but it is widely believed that the settlement existed for a relatively short time.
Still, it is the first and only authenticated Viking settlement in North America, outside of Greenland.
The study's contributors, who include researchers from the Netherlands, Germany and Canada, found conclusive evidence from three different trees to support their cosmic radiation theory.
"Our result of AD 1021 for the cutting year (of the wood) constitutes the only secure calendar date for the presence of Europeans across the Atlantic before the voyages of Columbus," the study says.
The archeological find in 1960 turned Norse myth into historical fact. Led by Norse explorer Leif Ericsson, the Vikings' voyage to Newfoundland -- completed almost 500 years before Christopher Columbus would lay claim to the continent -- was described in two medieval Icelandic documents, the Saga of Erik the Red and the Saga of Greenlanders.
The site at L'Anse aux Meadows, managed by Parks Canada, was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978.
When asked to explain why the latest findings are important, Wallace said the level of precision was key. "It's something we rarely have," she said. "There are always many uncertainties in archeology."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2021.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Young people 'tortured' if stolen vehicle operations fail, Montreal police tell MPs
One day after a Montreal police officer fired gunshots at a suspect in a stolen vehicle, senior officers were telling parliamentarians that organized crime groups are recruiting people as young as 15 in the city to steal cars so that they can be shipped overseas.
'It was joy': Trapped B.C. orca calf eats seal meat, putting rescue on hold
A rescue operation for an orca calf trapped in a remote tidal lagoon off Vancouver Island has been put on hold after it started eating seal meat thrown in the water for what is believed to be the first time.
Man sets self on fire outside New York court where Trump trial underway
A man set himself on fire on Friday outside the New York courthouse where Donald Trump's historic hush-money trial was taking place as jury selection wrapped up, but officials said he did not appear to have been targeting Trump.
Sask. father found guilty of withholding daughter to prevent her from getting COVID-19 vaccine
Michael Gordon Jackson, a Saskatchewan man accused of abducting his daughter to prevent her from getting a COVID-19 vaccine, has been found guilty for contravention of a custody order.
Mandisa, Grammy award-winning 'American Idol' alum, dead at 47
Soulful gospel artist Mandisa, a Grammy-winning singer who got her start as a contestant on 'American Idol' in 2006, has died, according to a statement on her verified social media. She was 47.
She set out to find a husband in a year. Then she matched with a guy on a dating app on the other side of the world
Scottish comedian Samantha Hannah was working on a comedy show about finding a husband when Toby Hunter came into her life. What happened next surprised them both.
B.C. judge orders shared dog custody for exes who both 'clearly love Stella'
In a first-of-its-kind ruling, a B.C. judge has awarded a former couple joint custody of their dog.
Saskatoon police to search landfill for remains of woman missing since 2020
Saskatoon police say they will begin searching the city’s landfill for the remains of Mackenzie Lee Trottier, who has been missing for more than three years.
Shivering for health: The myths and truths of ice baths explained
In a climate of social media-endorsed wellness rituals, plunging into cold water has promised to aid muscle recovery, enhance mental health and support immune system function. But the evidence of such benefits sits on thin ice, according to researchers.