1. September 12th:
The Peopling of the New World:
Who ELSE Discovered America
before Columbus?

2. The Mississippian Boom and Bust:
A Demographic Perspective on the Late
Pre-Columbian Period in the Lower Midwest
A Presentation by:
Dr. Jeremy Wilson
Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)
Friday, September 14th, 4:00 pm,
Lafferty Hall, room 108
University of Kentucky
Archaeology Roundtable

3. Siberia vs. Iberia
Ancestors of today’s Native Americans People from what is now Spain and France
Came from Asia… may have made it to Americas long ago…
--shovel shaped incisors
--genetic evidence
…But we don’t know exactly how …But they died out or did not stay for
very long

4. Kensington Runestone, Kensington ,Minnesota
Olof Ohman

5. Kensington Runestone Norse Runes

6. Kensington Runestone

7. Kensington Runestone
Funny runestone prank:
“John Doe went east, year 1953,
and discovered Europe. Holy Smokes!”

8. Kensington Runestone 10th century runestone , near
Karlevi, southern Sweden
(the runes have been colored red in
modern times to make them easy to see)

9. 10th century runestone , near
Viking cemetery at
Karlevi, southern Sweden
Lindholm, Denmark. (the runes have been colored red in
A.D. 400-1,000. modern times to make them easy to see)

10. Kensington Runestone
says: 8 Goths and 22 Norwegians on an expedition
from Vinland. While we were fishing, ten of our
men were killed. Year 1362.

11. 870 AD

12. Viking ships from the time of exploration
•Vikings ships were designed for
many purposes, including rowing
and sailing.
•The three Vikings ships that are
well -known come from
Norwegian burial mounds that
lie near Oslo Fjord at Gokstad,
Oseberg, and Tune.
•Left above: photo of the
Gokstad ship with oar-rudder
mounted on starboard quarter,
16 oar holes and rotted mask
probably 40 feet high.
•Left bottom: hull of merchant
ship found in Roskilde Fjord.
•Right: Photo of Oseberg ship
found in 1903 illustrates lavish
richness, not designed for the
open sea but instead probably
for pleasure cruising in a
sheltered fjord. Simpson 1969.

13. The Gaia, a replica Viking ship, enters Newfoundland’s water in a reenactment of the voyage
of Leif Eiriksson in 1991. From Ingstad 2001.

14. 870 AD

15. Helluland
(Baffin Island)
870 AD
Markland
(Labrador)
Vinland
(Newfoundland)

16. Let’s use the scientific method:
-We have a hypothesis (the Kensington Runestone was carved in 1362 by Norse)
-What expectation should be met if the hypothesis were correct?
In other words, if the Kensignton Runestone were authentic,
what other information would we expect to find
Think, Pair, Share
1) Think about it
2) “Hi, how are ya?” …introduce yourself to your neighbor and talk about it
3) Tell the class about it

18. 19th century Scandinavian axes

19. Example of a Medieval halberd

20. Example of a Medieval halberd

21. Swords
(sorry, I have no images of Scandinavian swords)

22. Kensington Runestone Chiseling (used on Kensington Pecking
stone) (used by Norse)

23. Newport Tower, Newport, Rhode Island

24. Newport Tower is said to be made by Vikings because:
--Documents suggest the Tower predates the founding of Newport in 1639
These “documents” have been completely misread
--Stylistically similar to pre-1639 buildings
Actually quite similar to a tower near where the
builder (Benedict Arnold) grew up in England
Chesterton
Newport tower mill, England

25. Newport Tower is said to be made by Vikings because:
--Documents suggest the Tower predates the founding of Newport in 1639
These “documents” have been completely misread
--Stylistically similar to pre-1639 buildings
Actually quite similar to a tower near where the
builder (Benedict Arnold) grew up in England
--Built according to a Norse unit of measure: the Rhineland Norse foot
Despite the name, this unit of measure was common in Scotland, rare in Norway
--Newport was a fledgling colony…not enough labor to build it
Rather easy to build (would a few Norse travelers have more manpower than Newport colony
But if it really were Norse, what else would we expect archeologically?
Some Norse artifacts near it!
Excavations (1948-1949, and 2006-2008) show that earliest artifacts were all
British colonial artifacts from the 1600s.

26. The Real Viking Settlement in America:
L’Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland
Utilizing historical
documents such as the
Viking Sagas, researchers
looked for the route to
Vinland, assuming it
must be far south where
grapes would grow.
With the help of maps,
Helge Ingstad (at left
with wife Anne Ingstad)
realized that Vinland
may not be as far south
and began searching
in Newfoundland. At L’Anse aux Meadows,
Instad met George Decker
This included the fishing (above), a fisherman from
village of L’Anse aux who knew where there
Meadows. were some old house
ruins.

27. Helluland
(Baffin Island)
870 AD
Markland
(Labrador)
Vinland
(Newfoundland)

28. •Systematic excavations of the site continued from 1961 to 1968 with seven expeditions
assisted by Sweden, Iceland, Canada, the U.S.A. and Norway. From Ingstad 2001.

29. Eight complete house structures and one fragmentary house structure were uncovered.
From Ingstad 2001.

30. The outlines of the
houses were clearly in
evidence (photo house-
site F) as were
numerous features such
as the cooking pit from
house site B (photo
right top) and the
ember pit in house site
B (photo right bottom-
similar to ember pits on
Greenland).

31. Bronze ring-headed pin
made in Norway, found
at house site A, L’Anse
aux Meadows.
Note archaeological
context!

32. Artifacts recovered from the excavations are, not surprisingly, nearly identical to artifacts
used at the same time in Greenland, such as these spindles whorls for spinning thread.
Artifacts recovered from house site A include
--4 fragmentary iron rivets
--iron nails
--13 fragments of iron
--6 lumps of slag (from a foundry at the site)
The norse were smelting iron and bronze. Native
Americans did not smelt metals.
Other neat stuff found:
A boatshed
2 pieces of red jasper (from Ireland and Greenland),
A pig bone
An arrowhead of the Dorset Eskimo type,

33. Numerous radiocarbon dates (some
from the ember box) at the site from
charcoal, bone and turf from the houses
and features yield a mean date of A.D.
1000 (A.D. 920 ± 30) which agrees with
the Viking Sagas which indicate that
voyages to Vinland occurred at this time.
Note that the settlement did not last very long
(it lasted until 1100 at the latest).
Greenland abandoned around 1400 AD.

34. L’Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

35. Coin minted in Norway, during the reign of King Olaf Kyrre, from 1067 to 1093,
found in a Native American ruin in Maine that dates to 1000 – 1200 AD
what did the Norse get in return for this kind of trade?
Walnuts and butternuts
Wood (to send to Greenland)
Walrus tusks (to send to Norway)
Polar bear fur (to send to Norway)