Physical evidence has been found that the Vikings arrived in the Americas before Christopher Columbus, who is known to have discovered the Americas.



On the 20th local time, foreign media such as the New York Times reported that a research team from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands found traces left by the Vikings 1,000 years ago in a piece of wood found at Lance au Meadows, an ancient ruin on Newfoundland Island, Canada.



Viking means 'people from the fjords' and refers to the Normans who invaded Europe and Russia by sea from the end of the 8th century to the beginning of the 11th century. 



The research team focused on the ring rings of pieces of wood cut from three different trees.

It was noted that high levels of radiocarbon could be identified in the tree rings produced at this time due to a large-scale solar storm that occurred between 992 and 993 AD.



In fact, on three pieces of wood, a tree ring with traces of a solar storm from the year 992 was found.

All of these rings were the 29th ring of the bark.

That means the trees were cut down 29 years after the solar storm.



The researchers concluded that the pieces of wood were cut down in 1021.



The problem is that it has been confirmed that the cutting edge of the piece of wood was cut by a blade made of iron, presumably an axe.



▲ Cross section of a piece of wood confirmed to have been cut by a metal blade (magnified under a microscope)


In the 11th century, Native Americans in North America did not use iron.

Taking this into account, the research team concludes that the person who cut the tree must have been a Viking from across the Atlantic Ocean.



In Lance au Meadows on Newfoundland Island, Canada, where wood carvings were discovered, traces of a residence resembling Greenland's Viking ruins were also found in the 1960s along with Nordic-style copper pins.



Since then, it has been suggested that the Vikings may have arrived in North America via Greenland, but this is the first time that the evidence has been scientifically confirmed.



If the research proves true, the Vikings could be documented as aliens who arrived in America more than 300 years before Columbus, who discovered America in 1492.



The research results of the research team at the University of Groningen were published in the scientific journal Nature published on the 20th.



This is a 'news pick'.



(Photo='University of Groningen')