Scientists write about this in the scientific journal Nature.
Exactly a thousand years have passed since Europeans crossed the Atlantic Ocean to set foot on the American continent. As far as is known, this is also the first moment humans first traveled around the planet, say scientists.
Wood
To reach this conclusion, the researchers examined three pieces of wood from different trees that the Vikings felled to build their settlement at the Canadian site of L’Anse aux Meadows.
It now appears that the trees were cut down as early as 1021. The exact year can be determined, according to the University of Groningen, because a massive solar storm occurred in 992, which left a visible radioactive imprint in the following year’s growth rings.
In addition, each piece of wood had visible traces of cutting and slicing with blades made of iron, a material not produced by the indigenous people, according to the scientists.
It is not yet clear how many Vikings expeditions to the American continent and how long the Vikings stayed there.
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