The Vikings came to America a thousand years ago, long before the Spanish

The Vikings traveled great distances in their iconic ships, but the date on which they starred in their first transatlantic adventure was unclear. Now, a team of scientists confirms that these Europeans were already active in the American continent in the year 1021.

This date marks the oldest known time when the Atlantic was crossed; , points out the University of Groningen (Netherlands), responsible for this work published in the journal Nature.

The center explains that the Vikings traveled great distances; to the west, they established settlements in Iceland, Greenland, and eventually

In this work, the scientists, led by Margot Kuitems, show that Europeans were present on the continent

The team has drawn their conclusions from radiocarbon dating of wooden objects discovered at an archaeological site in Newfoundland, which could be

Specifically, they analyzed three pieces of wood, from three different trees, which, according to the scientists, came from archaeologically attributable contexts to the Vikings.

“Each one of them presented clear evidence of cutting and slicing with metal blades, a material that the indigenous population did not produce”, says the statement from the University of Groningen.

The exact date -1021- could be determined because in the year 992 a huge solar storm occurred that caused a clear radiocarbon signal in the tree rings of the following year.

”The increase in radiocarbon production that occurred between 992 and 993 has been detected in the r, says Michael Dee, director of the investigation.

The number of Viking expeditions to America and the length of their stay over the Atlantic remain unknown.

All current data suggest that the cultural and ecological legacy of this early European activity in the Americas is likely to have been small.

However, botanical tests at L’Anse aux Meadows have confirmed that the Vikings explored lands further south of Newfoundland.

The year 1021 is the oldest in which it can be scientifically proven, the university stresses, for which the earlier dates of Viking presence in America have been based largely on Icelandic sagas.

These began, he adds, as oral histories and were only written centuries after the events they describe.

Although contradictory and sometimes fanciful, the sagas also suggest that encounters, both violent and friendly, occurred.

However, little archaeological evidence has been found to confirm these exchanges, the university notes.

Follow us on twitter: