A previously unknown version of Martin Waldseemüller’s famous world map has been disocvered in the collections of the University Library in Munich.
The genetic and historical linkage between the Old Norwegian Sheep, the Icelandic Sheep and the Navajo Churro
May 19, 2012 By
It may be possible to substitute a readily available double coated sheep fleece from the American Southwest for the original Scandinavian double coated fleece in order to make suitable vadmal fabric for clothing
Research uncovers new details about John Cabot’s voyage to North America
May 9, 2012 By
Evidence that a Florentine merchant house financed the earliest English voyages to North America, has been published on-line in the academic journal Historical Research.
Vikings not alone when they crossed the North Atlantic – mice hitched a ride too
March 20, 2012 By
New research has revealed that when the Vikings sailed across the North Atlantic to places like Iceland, Greenland and Newfoundland, they brought with them the common house mouse.
The Fact and Fiction of Vikings in America
March 1, 2012 By
Adventure stories abound about the marauders of the north seas, the Vikings. Visions of sword-wielding giants of men and great swooping ships come easily to mind, but this is not the whole picture.
More Vinland maps and texts. Discovering the New World in Higden’s Polychronicon
January 12, 2012 By
This present essay seeks to contribute to the debates over the early mapping of America by investigating the possibility that the Vinland Map (regardless of authenticity) is not the sole visual representation of Norse America, and certainly not the earliest. Rather, the earliest surviving maps of America appear to be a series of T–O derivative maps produced roughly 150 years before the voyages of Columbus as illustrations to Ranulf Higden’s Polychronicon.
Skeletons point to Columbus voyage for syphilis origins
December 21, 2011 By
More evidence emerges to support that the progenitor of syphilis came from the New World.
Columbus and the Labyrinth of History
October 10, 2011 By
History has not been the same since Christopher Columbus. Neither has he been the same throughout history.
Elite Revisionists and Popular Beliefs: Christopher Columbus, Hero or Villain?
October 10, 2011 By
Elite Revisionists and Popular Beliefs: Christopher Columbus, Hero or Villain? By Howard Schuman, Barry Schwartz and Hannag D’Arc Public Opinion Quarterly, Vol. 69, No. 1 (2005) Abstract: According to revisionist historians and American Indian activists, Christopher Columbus deserves condemnation for having brought slavery, disease, and death to America’s indigenous peoples. We ask whether the general […]
Scholar finds evidence of links between Vikings and North American natives
September 27, 2011 By
Old Norse sagas such as Saga of Erik the Red and the Saga of the Greenlanders have been long been considered among the most important sources of information about relations between Vikings and Native Americans. But new research suggests that accounts about a mysterious island known as Hvitramannaland are also other descriptions of the New […]
Furs, Fish and Ivory – Medieval Norsemen at the Arctic Fringe
July 22, 2011 By
Furs, Fish and Ivory – Medieval Norsemen at the Arctic Fringe By Christian Keller Journal of the North Atlantic, Vol. 3 (2010) Abstract: Why did the Norse Icelanders colonize Greenland in the late tenth century A.D., and why did they explore the coasts of Labrador and Newfoundland? Was it a desperate search for farmland at […]
Analysing the Vinland Map: A Critical Review of a Critical Review
July 13, 2011 By
Analysing the Vinland Map: A Critical Review of a Critical Review By Kenneth M. Towe, R.J.H Clark and K.A. Seaver Archaeometry, Vol.50:5 (2008) Abstract: In an attempt to validate the Vinland Map as a genuine 15th century work, Garman Harbottle (2008) claims to review critically, and thereby discredit, the archaeometric research undertaken on the Map’s […]
Greenland Norse Knowledge of the North Atlantic Environment
July 2, 2011 By
The aim is to document and discuss Norse knowledge of oceanographic phenomena including tides, non-tidal ocean currents, surface water properties, and sea ice.
Contact between the Norse Vikings and the Dorset culture in Arctic Canada
July 1, 2011 By
Contact between the Norse Vikings and the Dorset culture in Arctic Canada By Robert Park Antiquity, Vol.82 (2008) Introduction: One the most dramatic encounters in human history took place when the Norse Vikings came into contact with the native North Americans whom they called ‘Skraelings’, completing the longitudinal expansion humanity around the earth. Our knowledge […]
Mapping Medievalism at the Canadian Frontier
July 1, 2011 By
Mapping Medievalism at the Canadian Frontier Edited by Kathryn Brush Museum London, 2010 ISBN: 978-1-897215-30-2 Introduction: Art and cultural historians have traditionally examined the mythology of the Canadian frontier in light of the representation of the “wild” and “untamed” Canadian landscape produced by such artists as Tom Thompson and the Group of Seven in the […]
John Cabot and Christopher Columbus Revisited
May 30, 2011 By
John Cabot and Christopher Columbus Revisited By Francesc Albardaner i Llorens The Northern Mariner, Vol.10, No. 2 (2000) Introduction: The Iberian peninsula is very rich in historical archives, and research in their holdings occasionally unearths new documents about important historical figures. While the most famous archives have been catalogued, and their most important documents studied […]
“Viking” North America: The North American Public’s Understanding of Its Norse Heritage
May 17, 2011 By
“Viking” North America: The North American Public’s Understanding of Its Norse Heritage By Megan Arnott Paper given at the 46th International Congress on Medieval Studies (2011) Arnott’s paper dealt with the public’s perceptions of the Vikings/Norse and their settlement in North America, using both her experience as a worker at the L’Anse aux Meadows site […]
The Westford Knight: Heraldic Evidence of pre-Columbian Scottish Explorers in America
April 17, 2011 By
The Westford Knight: Heraldic Evidence of pre-Columbian Scottish Explorers in America By David B. Appleton Paper given at the 28th International Congress on Genealogical and Heraldic Sciences (2008) Introduction: In the little town of Westford, Massachusetts, situated some 35 miles (56 km) northwest of Boston, by the side of Depot Street, not far from the […]
The Hanseatic League and Hanse Towns in the Early Penetration of the North
March 13, 2011 By
The Hanseatic League and Hanse Towns in the Early Penetration of the North By Klaus Friedland Arctic, Vol.37:4 (1984) Introduction: The North American continent has been “discovered” two times. The first time, the son of an exile followed the route of his banished father, and continued further west. This happened in 1000 A.D., when the […]
Mapping Medievalism at the Canadian Frontier
January 10, 2011 By
Mapping Medievalism at the Canadian Frontier is a project and exhibition that examines the impact of “medievalism” on conceptions and representations of the Canadian frontier in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Directed by Kathryn Brush, Professor of Art History at the University of Western Ontario, the project has been developed by several graduate students […]
Christopher Columbus was the son of a Polish king, historian says
November 29, 2010 By
Christopher Columbus was a royal prince, son of a Portuguese noble lady and exiled Polish King Władysław III, according to Columbus’ new biography, COLON. La Historia Nunca Contada (COLUMBUS. The Untold Story), by Manuel Rosa, just released in Spain. There have been several different theories that suggest Columbus did not come from Genoa, Italy, including that […]
Native American came to Iceland over a thousand years ago, research finds
November 21, 2010 By
New genetic research has uncovered evidence that suggests a Native North American woman came to Iceland in the year 1000, most probably as a captive of Viking marauders. This early contact between medieval Europeans and Native Americans has led to at least 80 Icelanders carrying her genes. The story behind this finding was revealed this […]
Cows, Harp Seals, and Churchbells: Adaptation and Extinction in Norse Greenland
October 6, 2010 By
Cows, Harp Seals, and Churchbells: Adaptation and Extinction in Norse Greenland By Thomas H. McGovern Human Ecology, Vol. 8:3 (1980) Abstract: The extinction of the Norse colony in West Greenland (ca A.D. 985-1500) has intrigued generations of historians, medieval archaeologists, and climatologists. This longstanding interest has generated a considerable body of basic paleoclimatic and paleoecological […]
L’Anse aux Meadows site celebrates 50 years since discovery
July 28, 2010 By
Last week the government of Canada marked the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the Viking remains at the L’Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland. The national historic and World Heritage site was discovered by Helge and Anne Stine Instad, and their guide, local fisherman George Decker, in 1960. Celebrations were held on July 21st at […]
The Matthew of Bristol and the financiers of John Cabot’s 1497 voyage to North America
June 28, 2010 By
The Matthew of Bristol is the vessel in which the Genoese explorer, John Cabot, sailed with his Bristol companions on their 1497 voyage of discovery to North America.
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