Discovery of the New World
Vikings
Later European Explorers
Vikings in America
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The Saga of the Greenlanders, ca. A.D. 1200
Erik Thorvaldsson- “Erik the Red”
A.D. 982, sailed west from Iceland, arrived in
Greenland 3 years later.
A.D. 986, persuaded 25 shiploads of settlers
to settle in Greenland
Bjarni Herjolfsson sets out to Greenland and
gets lost, lands on east facing, forested coast,
so turns north and east and goes to
Greenland.
http://www.mnh.si.edu/vikings/start.html
Leif Eriksson
A.D. 990, Leif Eriksson, son of Erik the red
explores to the west finds and names several
new areas:
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Slabrock Land-Baffin Island
Forest Land-Labrador and Newfoundland
Wineland-Northern Maine/New Brunswick.
Came into contact with “wild groups” of
people.
His brother, Thorvald, was killed by natives
and buried near the Bay of Fundy.
L’anse aux Meadows-Newfoundland
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Excavations of site dating to A.D. 1000
8 sod walled structures, Norse artifacts
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spindle whorl
needle hone
work shed
boat sheds
smithy
http://members.aol.com/bakken1/viking/vikingnw.gif
L’Anse Aux Meadows
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/nfld7317.jpg
L’anse Aux Meadows
http://collections.ic.gc.ca/vikings/phtogal1.htm
L’anse Aux Meadows:
Sod house
http://collections.ic.gc.ca/vikings/phtogal1.htm
L’Anse Aux Meadows Reconstructed
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/nfld1455.jpg
Reconstruction Enhanced
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/nfld7371.jpg
Smithy Excavations
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/smithy7343.jpg
Smithy Reconstructed
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/smithy7347.jpg
Reconstructed house interior
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/nfld1459.jpg
Artifacts
Ship Fittings
http://collections.ic.gc.ca/vikings/phtogal1.htm
Drawing of
Viking Ship
http://vikingships.tripod.com/images
Viking Ship:
replica of ship, christened as Edda, sailing
in Heroy fjord in 1988
www.heorot.dk/beo-guide.html
Pin
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/pin7331.jpg
Artifacts Continued
Stone lamp
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/nfld7361.jpg
Trade
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Trade between Norse and Inuit natives
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copper and iron
Norwegian penny found in Maine, dating to
A.D. 1065-1080.
woolen cloth
chain mail
carpenters tools
Norse Departure
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Norse never settled N. America, stayed in
Greenland until A.D. 1500.
Later European Explorers-15th c
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Oct 12, 1492-Columbus lands at San
Salvador, Bahamas.
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Search for western route to Indies.
Soon followed by other explorers to “serve
God and get rich”
Other 15th Century Explorers
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A.D. 1497-John Cabot travels north
Scholars debate exactly where he landed
and explored
Cabot’s ship “Matthew”
http://www.heritage.nf.ca/exploration/cabot1497.html#matthew
16th Century
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A.D. 1506, de Balboa traveled across Central
America to Pacific.
A.D. 1584, Amadas and Barlow, sailing for
Walter Raleigh, set out to settle can colonize
the New World.
One year later, Grenville followed, colony was
a failure, but had scientists on board who
sketched natives (Powhatan).
Hariot’s Briefe and True Report of the new
Found Land of Virginia, 1588.
A.D. 1524, de Verrazano-landed at Cape Fear, NC to Maine
De Verrazzano
(http://www.italianhistorical.org/verrazzano.htm)
Jacques Cartier
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A.D. 1534, Jacques Cartier, sailed the Gulf
of St. Lawrence.
He used Indian guides for his voyages,
two of which he later brought back to
France.
Jacques Cartier’s Route 1
http://www.civilization.ca/vmnf/explor/carti_em.html
Cartier Route 2
http://www.civilization.ca/vmnf/explor/cart2_em.html
Southern Explorers
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A.D. 1513 Ponce de Leon in Florida
A.D. 1519 de Pineda-Mississippi River
Navarez followed Pineda, landing in
Tampa Bay, set out to march west with
260 men
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Only five men survived (Navarez one of
them)
Others (de Niza, de Coronado, de
Alvarado) tried and failed to find the
“Seven lost cities of Cibola”, a place
teaming with gold.
De Soto
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A.D. 1539 Hernando de Soto
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descriptions of Florida’s inhabitants.
Went west in search of gold to Mississippi,
then into Oklahoma.
Realized that the southeast had no gold, de
Soto died of fever.
De Soto’s Trail
http://www.floridahistory.com/inset44.html#Chroniclers
Native American villages
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De Soto and his man recorded the Indian
villages they came across:
http://www.floridahistory.com/de-bryplates/
Prehistoric Occupants
Explorers reports of the “Indians” spawned
speculation about them.
Much diversity and differences between the
Indians that were brought back to the noble
courts of Europe for display.
Theories
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Ancient Carthaginian migrations
Ten Lost Tribes of Israel
Indians related to Tartars, Scythians and biblical
Hebrews.
Next Time
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The nature of North American
archaeology.