470 years before Columbus discovered the Americas
Greenlanders - the first Europeans to visit the Americas - lived in a village in Newfoundland, Canada, exactly 1,000 years ago, according to research published on October 20.
For years, scientists have known that the Viking people built a village in the L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland around the turn of the 21st century. However, the study published in the journal Nature on October 20 is the first to accurately date the Viking to the Americas.
explorers, up to 100 people, including both men and women, cut down trees to build villages and repair ships. The new study determines the time when the Viking in this village cut down at least three trees in 1021, at least 470 years before Christopher Columbus arrived in the Bahamas in 1492.
"This is the first time the dating has been scientifically established," said Margot Kuitems, an archaeologist at Groningen University in the Netherlands and the lead author of the study. Previously, the era was based on oral legends and was only re-written in the 13th century, at least 200 years after the events took place."
The first Viking settlers in Greenland came from Iceland and Sc Scandinavia and their arrival in Newfoundland marked the first time humans have gone around the entire Earth.
But the stay of the Viking in North America did not last long. Research shows that they lived in L'Anseau Meadows for 3 to 13 years before leaving the village and returning to Greenland.
The archaeological sites are now protected as a historical site and Parks Canada has built a visitor center nearby. This place is also recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
Ageing technique using cosmic ray events
The scientific key to the exact date that Viking in the village in Canada today is the sudden increase in a form of natural radioactivity of carbon discovered in ancient wood in this area: A tree trunk and pieces of a board...
Wild people lived in the L'Anse aux Meadows both before and after the Viking, so researchers had to ensure that the specimens had special signs showing they were cut with metal tools - something that the indigenous people did not have at that time.
Archaeologists have long relied on carbon dating to find the exact date of organic materials such as wood, bones and coal, but the latest study uses a technique based on a global cosmic ray phenomenon created by large rays of sunlight to date accurately.
Previous studies have shown that there was a cosmic ray event in 993. This event has caused higher-than-normal carbon-14 levels in the atmosphere's carbon dioxide over several months.
Trees are carbon dioxide-fortified in their development, and researchers have used radioactive carbon signals to determine that the annual growth cycle on the edges of the wood has been in place since 993, says Kuitems.
The team then used a microscope to count growth cycles to the wood shells to know exactly when the trees stopped growing - that is, when the trees were cut down by Viking people.
Each piece of wood among the 3 pieces of wood analyzed by the research team was from a tree that was cut down in 1021, but from 3 different trees, including 2 linh Sam trees and 1 tree that could be a banyan tree.
Researchers cannot know whether 1021 is the beginning or the end of the Viking occupation period. The group hopes that further research on different types of wood from this location will expand the dating range.
The trips of the Viking to Newfoundland are mentioned in two Icelandese legends showing that the L'Anse aux Meadows were a temporary home for explorers on six trips. The first match was led by Leif Erikson, known as Leif the Lucky. This is the son of Erik the Red, the founder of the first Nordic settlement in Greenland.
L'Anseau Meadows is also expected to be a long-term settlement, but legend says the village is abandoned due to internal conflicts and conflicts with local people.
The legend calls the entire area Vinland, meaning "the land of wine" - said to be because this area has a warm enough climate to grow grapes for wine. Because Newfoundland was too cold to grow grapes at that time, this was also a signal that the Viking people had explored further into the warmer southern region, Ms. Kuitems noted.
