The Vikings were the first Europeans to pass North America , bring in the New World 100 before Columbus and co. Little is known of their risky venture here and , as of yet , the only confirm Norse settlement in Vinland ( easterly Canada ) is at L’Anse aux Meadows on the very northerly tip of Newfoundland – but archeologist could be one footprint closer to locating the second .
" Hóp " , intend “ tidal lagoon ” , is a legendary Viking settlement in eastern Canada . Most of what we know about it comes from the Norse sagas . According to these texts , it is a place that supported the development of godforsaken grapes , provided copious supplying of salmon , and was home to a group of people who made canoes from animate being hides .
Over the years , several locations have been shoot a line as potential sites for this particular colonisation , including Newfoundland , Prince Edward Island , New Brunswick , Nova Scotia , Maine , New England , and New York .
Now , Birgitta Wallace , senior archaeologist emerita with Parks Canada , has compared descriptions of " Hóp " from the Norse texts to archeologic inquiry at L’Anse aux Meadows and various aboriginal American sites on North America ’s East Coast to pinpoint the most potential site of this lost settlement : the Miramichi - Chaleur bay area in New Brunswick , Canada . This is the only spot that cope with the full description , Wallace toldLive Science .
" New Brunswick is the northerly limit of grapes , which are not native either to Prince Edward Island or Nova Scotia , " she said .
Archaeological grounds also suggests there would have been a strong stock of wild salmon in the part at the time , but not in pre - Columbian Native American sites in Maine or New England .
As for the fell canoe - carrying locals , creature skin were used in shipbuilding by the Mi’kmaq people , who lived in the Miramichi - Chaleur Laurus nobilis area . The Mi’kmaq people even used a salmon totem as a spiritual emblem , again showing the significance of Salmon River in the area .
what is more , remnants of butternut tree diagram , which are native to New Brunswick , have been recover in excavations at L’Anse aux Meadows , alongside pieces of white elm , beech , white ash , and eastern hemlock , which , again , can be found in New Brunswick , said Wallace . This suggests the Vikings had set up camp , at least for a short time , in the New Brunswick sphere .
So , what ’s next ? alas , it might not be all that easy to find the actual site at New Brunswick to confirm Wallace ’s possibility . This is because the camp would have been irregular – probably only used for a few months over summer . dick and physical structure for burying in all probability would have been return to Greenland , while materials like Natalie Wood and nutrient are quick to biodegrade and probably lose to archaeology forever .
[ H / T : Live Science ]
