Aug 25 - L'Anse aux Meadows

I am a sucker for UNESCO World Heritage sites. Each is of some kind of major significance, so I felt it was worth the drive up the west coast of the province to get to this one.

L’Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site, located at the tip of the Great Northern Peninsula of the island of Newfoundland, is the remains of an 11th-century Viking settlement. With carbon dating estimates between 990 – 1050 CE (mean date 1014) and tree-ring dating of 1021, L'Anse aux Meadows is the only undisputed site of pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact of Europeans with the Americas outside of Greenland.

L’Anse aux Meadows (“Meadow Cove”) Canadian National Historic Site (named in 1968) and UNESCO World Heritage Site (named in 1978) contains the excavated remains of a complete 11th-century Viking settlement. This archaeological site consists of eight timber-framed turf structures built in the same style as those found in Norse Greenland and Iceland from the same period. The buildings include three dwellings, one forge and four workshops, on a narrow terrace overlooking a peat bog and small brook near the shore of Epaves Bay in the Strait of Belle Isle.

Artifacts found at the site show evidence of activities including iron production and woodworking, likely used for ship repair, as well as indications that those who used the camp voyaged further south. The remnants correspond with the stories told in the Vinland Sagas, which document the voyages of Leif Erikson and other Norse explorers who ventured westward across the Atlantic Ocean from Iceland and Greenland to find and explore new territory, a significant achievement in the history of human migration and discovery. This site represents the farthest known extent of European exploration and settlement of the New World before the voyages of Christopher Columbus almost 500 years later.

Before the Norse arrived in Newfoundland, there is evidence of occupations by five Indigenous groups at the site of L'Anse aux Meadows, the oldest dated to roughly 6,000 years ago.

The site is located about 40 minutes north of St. Anthony. It was another beautiful clear day. We have been so fortunate with weather over the past two weeks, so we were able to enjoy the wonderful vistas yet again, both on the drive there and at the site. There actually isn’t a lot to see on the site, but the history is fascinating. When early man began to migrate from Africa, some groups went east, and some groups went west. When the Norse landed in Newfoundland and met the Indigenous peoples, it represented the first-time human migration out of Africa had completed circumnavigation of the globe.

The Norse (Vikings were Norse who were at battle with enemies) came from Greenland in search of timber and iron ore, elements in very short supply in Greenland. They found both in Newfoundland.

Why did the Norse choose this particular location? It was the mid-point between Greenland and the riches to the south – what is mainly Nova Scotia and New Brunswick now. Although it is not a sheltered harbour, the landmarks of Belle Island and two smaller islands made it easy to find. They built sod houses to withstand winter weather and to be able to have large storerooms. By staying over the winter, the Norse were able to gather lumber and repair their boats and return home the next summer.

The other attraction besides timber was bog iron. This steel industry girl was fascinated by this part of the history of L'Anse aux Meadows. The surrounding bogs and fens were rich in minerals, though not necessarily the ones needed to support strong plant growth, hence the scrubby vegetation. Decomposing plants released acids that, as they were carried by water, leached iron and other minerals from soil and bedrock. The iron-rich water would come into contact with air and produce iron oxide (aka rust). The iron oxide would cement sand and peat particles into nodules, producing a layer of bog iron. This is the ore that the Norse would use to produce boat rivets that were crucial for their sturdy vessels. They built little blast furnaces to product small batches of iron for these rivets. Their little blast furnaces bear a striking similarity in shape and process to the blast furnaces of today.

L’Anse aux Meadows is well worth visiting and has a lovely (albeit narrow and a bit rough) walking trail that we covered. The views were breath-taking. We found the red chairs!Les mer