That the Vikings managed to sail across the ocean to North America is no longer an unfounded theory, but an increasingly widespread belief. And they do not stop coming out, year after year, new evidence that confirms this hypothesis. The last one comes from Greenland.
Microscopic analysis of the remains of wood obtained from various archaeological sites on this large island situated between the Atlantic and the Arctic Ocean has revealed that the Nordic settlers used logs imported from both Europe and North America.
Beyond the Inuit immigration from various North American islands, the Norwegian Gunnbjörn Ulfsson was the first European navigator to reach the coast of Greenland in 978, five years before Eric the Red reached the main island of the archipelago.
As explained by archaeologists from the University of Iceland in an article published in the journal Antiquity, the Vikings used the Greenlandic forests and also the driftwood in their homes. Tier 1 farms, however, used imported lumber for shipbuilding or larger buildings, because native trees were unsuitable.
Researcher Lísabet Guðmundsdóttir and her team examined wooden assemblages from five Norse sites in western Greenland, which were occupied between 1000 and 1400 AD, of which four were medium-sized farms and the fifth an episcopal mansion. of high status.
The results obtained show that only 0.27% of the wood examined was unambiguous imports, including oak, beech, hemlock and jack pine (also known as Labrador pine). Another 25% of the samples studied could be imported or floating, including larch, Scots pine and fir.
Because hemlock and Labrador pine were not present in northern Europe in the early 2nd millennium AD, experts say pieces identified in medieval Greenlandic contexts must have come from North America.
This confirms the historical sources that suggest that the Norse acquired wood from the east coast of North America. The sagas (legends about historical or mythological beings) indicate that the explorers Leifur heppni, Þorleifur karlsefni and Freydís brought wood from Vínland to Greenland.
Vínland is a territory where, according to ancient Viking texts, it does not snow in winter and vines with grapes flourish. It has long been linked to locations between Labrador and Florida, on the North American east coast. Currently it is believed that it could be Newfoundland or the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence.
In addition to the possibility of timber importation into Greenland, logs floating in the ocean were also one of the most important raw materials among the island's Viking community, accounting for over 50% of the combined assemblage.
Timber also came from Europe, probably including oak, beech, and Scots pine. Some planks may have arrived as ready-made artifacts, such as barrel staves, while reused wood from ships could have been used in buildings in Greenland.
The study further points out that these Nordic navigators and settlers have been acquiring resources from North America for much longer than previously thought. The range of sources used by the island's Norse demonstrates how the medieval world of the North Atlantic was connected via ocean.
But what has really surprised archaeologists is that the presence of timber from North America shows that Greenlanders had the means, knowledge, and proper vessels to cross the Davis Strait to the east coast of North America even before the XIV century.
Historical records have long suggested that the medieval Norse settlers in Greenland (AD 985-1450) relied on imported materials such as iron and wood. Until now, it has not been fully recognized where these timber imports came from.
