No Vikings on N.L. south coast
It looks like the Vikings may not have spent time in an area on Newfoundland’s south coast, as had been posited by one American researcher.
An archaeological report presented to the provincial government says there are no signs of a Norse presence in the Point Rosee area in the Codroy Valley.
The report on the archaeological work carried out in the area in 2015 and 2016 failed to turn up any signs of Norse occupation, with “no clear evidence’’ of human occupation before 1800.
Dr. Sarah Parcak of the University of Alabama at Birmingham had identified the Point Rosee site through satellite images, a technology she used to identify previously unknown sites in Egypt by studying indicators in the local topography.
A documentary film crew accompanied her team to the site because of its potential significance.
The idea of another confirmed Norse site, after the internationally famous L’Anse aux Meadows was discovered in northern Newfoundland in 1960, excited locals and made headlines when the research team visited.
But Memorial University archaeology professor Barry Gaulton says that while he and his colleagues have been “quietly awaiting’’ the final results of the research, they were skeptical of the “scanty evidence’’ that prompted the research.
“We like to give our archaeological colleagues the benefit of the doubt and let them proceed with their research, but we had serious doubts from the start,’’ said Gaulton. “Satellite archaeology is certainly a very great and useful technique, but you know, X for the most part doesn’t mark the spot.’’
Gaulton says he and other Memorial researchers aren’t phased by the lack of Norse findings, given the significance of L’Anse aux Meadows.
“I really don’t think it has any negative bearing on tourism,’’ said Gaulton.
L’Anse aux Meadows remains the only confirmed Norse settlement in North America and stands as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
L’Anse aux Meadows is widely thought to be the Straumford settlement described in written Viking texts. Since its discovery, researchers have searched for a second site mentioned in the texts, called Hop.