NEW YORK (TNS) — A new study has pinpointed when Vikings first traveled across the Atlantic to North America: 1021, or almost 500 years ahead of Christopher Columbus.
After arriving on their longships, like from Iceland or Greenland, they settled in Newfoundland’s northern peninsula in an area called L’Anse aux Meadows.
According to the study, published in the journal Nature, when the Vikings reached the island, they used metal blades —which were not used by the Indigenous population at the time — to cut down several types of trees to build their settlement.
However, those trees were more special than anyone realized for hundreds of years.
The researchers examined wood from L’Anse aux Meadows and found tree rings dating back to the year 993. How did they know the rings dated back to the year 993? A massive solar storm occurred the year before and sent energy particles from the sun at roughly the speed of light. One of the resulting effects this storm had on Earth is leaving a noticeable and distinct signature in tree rings the next year.
“The distinct uplift in radiocarbon production that occurred between 992 and 993 AD has been detected in tree-ring archives from all over the world,” Michael Dee, lead study author and associate professor of isotope chronology at the Dutch University of Groningen.
Knowing about the solar storm’s marking on trees, the researchers were able to determine the trees were chopped down 29 years after the storm, in 1021.
“Finding the signal from the solar storm 29 growth rings in from the bark allowed us to conclude that the cutting activity took place in the year 1021 AD,” said Margot Kuitems, study coauthor and postdoctoral researcher at the University of Groningen.
Dee said it’s long been thought Vikings had first began venturing west to gathering materials, primarily wood. After settling in Greenland and Iceland, it would only be a short—albeit treacherous, voyage to Newfoundland.
Excitingly, for the researchers, their new data appears to align with oral histories the Vikings passed down depicting the stories of explorer Leif Erikson which were written down centuries later called The Icelandic Sagas.
“This date acts as an anchor point for the Icelandic Sagas,” Dee said. “It is somewhat in keeping with date estimates based on these Sagas, and therefore adds some credibility to the stories they contain of exploration of the Americas and interaction with Indigenous inhabitants.”
“Thus it begs the question, how much of the rest of the saga adventures are true?” Dee added.
The researchers have also begun attempting to see what else they can learn about civilizations from other solar storms in the year 775 and one in 660 B.C.
“In time, it is hoped that such research will provide new and explanatory insights into the story of the human past,” Dee said.
However, the Newfoundland site represents a significant historical marker as the first trans- Atlantic voyage as well as the place where the human race finally encircled the globe after previously heading east across a land bridge in Siberia into Alaska and then other parts of North America.
