In fourteen hundred and ninety - two , the verse form goes , Columbus sail the ocean blue . But , suppose a new study , by the class ten twenty - one , European colonization in North America had already begun .
It ’s well - known by now that Christopher Columbus wasbeaten to the Americasby a few century – the Vikings got to Newfoundland around the turn of the millenary and , of track , Native Americans have them both beatby at least 20,000 years . But beyond the general timestamp of “ Norse , ” detail ofwhen the first Europeansset substructure on American dirt have been unelaborated , with archeological artifacts allow too little evidence , and carbon date provide too much . Most estimates have relied hard on information gleaned from Icelandic saga , but since these were only spell down 100 after the fact and utter about affair likeglittery one - foot up assassins , researchers have wisely taken them with a food grain of common salt .
But the new study , published today in the journalNature , has pinpointed the Viking presence in North America to an exact yr : 1021 CE . This particular date now support as the earliest have intercourse crossing of the Atlantic Ocean – and , the research worker note , stand for we ’re currently hold out on the nose 1,000 long time after human migration is first make out to have encircle the entire major planet .
“ Viking were present in Newfoundland in AD 1021 , ” confirms the study . “ Our raw escort lays down a marker for European cognizance of the Americas , and … provides a definitive tie point for succeeding research into the initial consequences of transatlantic natural action , such as the transfer of noesis , and the potential interchange of genetic info , biota , and pathologies . ”
But how did the research worker incur such an exact date ? This is one of those discoveries where the methodological analysis is just as interesting as the result – it all come down to amassive solar stormthat occurred in 992 CE . Thesky turned red , the aurora borealis was seen as far South as Germany , and a distinct radiocarbon signature turned up inside trees across the major planet .
“ The decided uplift in radiocarbon production that occurred between 992 and 993 AD has been detected in tree - ring archives from all over the world,”saidMichael Dee , director of the research . If they could see this upthrust in wooden artifacts from the Newfoundland archeologic land site L’Anse aux Meadows , the authors explained , they would have a concrete reference point from which to see the Viking presence .
Although the find establishes that the Vikings had made it to Newfoundland by 1021 , evidence so far suggests that they did not settle down in the new continent . Unlikelater colonizers , European explorers at the time were often more interested inquick exploitationof new lands , and the settlements in “ Vinland ” , as the Vikings ' knew North America , were most likely transeunt and short - live on .
Nevertheless , the determination is meaning , the subject area confirms , as the date “ offer a dependable juncture for tardy Viking chronology . ” But more than that , they say , it sets an crucial precedent – one that paves the way for further breakthrough .
“ [ Our ] inquiry manifest the potential of the AD 993 anomaly … for pinpointing the ages of preceding migrations and cultural interactions , ” the discipline resolve . “ Together with other cosmic - ray events , this typical feature will allow for the exact dating of many other archaeological and environmental contexts . ”
