Location
of the Vinland described in the Viking sagas has been the subject of much
speculation. In 1960, Norwegian archaeologists Helge Ingstad and his wife
Anne Stine investigated at Epaves Bay in Newfoundland at a site called L'Anse
aux Meadows (Meadow Cove), and discovered the only Viking settlement
so far known in North America.
The excavation of L'Anse aux Meadows revealed the outlines of eight sod-walled structures, one with features suggesting it was a bath-house of a type known from the Norse occupation of Greenland. This is the first solid, material evidence that the Vinland described in the Viking sagas was a real place visited ca. AD 1000 by Leif Erickson and his companions.
[Fig.1: Map of Newfoundland coast, showing Viking landing site in inset box.]
[For more details, see Vikings in Vinland.]
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