L’Anse aux Meadows: Viking Landing Site or Historical Hoax?

Lina: Welcome to World Heritage Rookies— the podcast where we explore UNESCO World Heritage Sites one episode at a time! We are Lina

Ralf: and Ralf and we will travel alongside you to some of the most stunning sites our world has to offer.

Lina: Each week, we dive into the history, fun facts, and reasons why World Heritage Sites matter for humanity, sharing our own discoveries and travel tips along the way.

Ralf: So, let's dive in and learn about some World Heritage together!

Ralf: Hello and welcome everybody to the fourth episode of World Heritage Rookies. The podcast where we talk about World Heritage sites, one site at a time. If you've already listened to the past three episodes, very happy to see you back. My name is Ralf and I'm here with—

Lina: Lina, and if you're new, welcome. As Ralf said, we talk about tips and things that are all World Heritage sites related. So happy to have you here. I hope it's interesting for you. And today we are actually having a really nice episode, a really interesting one because it's about the thing that men —the second thing that interests men the most, which is Vikings.

Ralf: What's the first thing?

Lina: The Roman Empire.

Ralf: True, yeah, I can confirm it. I think I definitely think more often about the Roman Empire than the Vikings, yes.

Lina: Yeah, but it's the second. Is it still in the top five, let's say?

Ralf: For sure, yeah.

Lina: So before starting, of course our episode today is about L'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site, but before starting, I want to apologize to our French-speaking audience because my French is absolutely nonexistent.

Ralf: I think both of our French is not the best, and I theoretically should be able to speak a little bit of French because I had it for four years in high school. Well, I think we saw in Morocco that I'm not really able to speak proper French anymore, right?

Lina: Yes, yes, it is really sad. We were trying to buy bananas in a local street store and it was the most weird interaction I ever had.

Ralf: But anyway, we're not here to talk about my failure of being able to speak French. Everybody, just so that you know, we apologize for any kind of pronunciation errors that happen in French—

Lina: And in English.

Ralf: And English, but mostly in French, I think in this episode. And yeah, we're mostly here to talk about L'Anse aux Meadows, right?

Lina: Yes. So before starting, as always Ralf, did you know anything about L'Anse aux Meadows?

Ralf: To be honest, just what I learned in the preparation for our overall schedule of episodes. So I know it's a World Heritage site in Canada. I knew, also like what you just said, it's related to the Vikings, but apart from that, not that much to be honest. So like, not really is it just like a place, are there like any kind of structures or buildings or stuff around. So the more specific importance and reason why it's a World Heritage site, no, I do not know.

Lina: Well, you will learn this episode, but anyway, so, this isn't just any archaeological site. It's the only confirmed site where Vikings from Europe came to North America, long before Columbus, outside of Greenland. This is, of course, a place as we mentioned in Canada, on the northern tip of Canada. And it's a really famous place because, as I mentioned, it's the only confirmed place here in the Americas.

Ralf: So that means we might not know if there are more around, but they have like—I guess they might be somewhere suspected, but that's the only one they know for sure.

Lina: I don't know if there is any other suspected site, but probably, the fact is that the materials that Vikings used were a lot of wood and a lot of things that corrode with time. So I will specify why this site kind of was preserved, but it is a possibility. Now, there is also—as I think that we mentioned it out of the recording—they are always finding things, archaeological studies today are booming. So maybe tomorrow's information is gonna be different.

Ralf: Probably. Yeah.

Lina: So, a little bit of history. Long before the Vikings arrived, the site was home to at least five indigenous groups, the oldest one dating back around 6,000 years. The most prominent occupation was by the Dorset people, who lived around 300 years before the Vikings arrived. So it is suspected that they never had any kind of interaction. The people that came to L'Anse aux Meadows were actually the Norse tribe of the Vikings, one of the most famous ones. And this Norse tribe arrived around the year 1000 CE, or Common Era. This was confirmed by carbon dating, but also most precisely by tree-ring dating, and the site was pointed to 1021 to be the year when the Norse activity actually started.

Ralf: So, with tree-ring dating you mean they took the wooden materials or stuff that they found and they were then like—so we're talking about tree-ring dating where you count the rings of the trees to know how old they are?

Lina: Exactly. Because they found the buildings, of course, were not made in cement or like in any kind of stone. I mean, Vikings used wood and iron smithing as their primary materials. So they took samples from this wood that was the remaining part of each of the buildings and yep, they counted the rings.

Ralf: It's really fascinating. It's like all the ways you can use today in order to, yeah, identify the age of something.

Lina: I know, and the interesting part is that they can exactly point out the year they came, which I found extremely interesting.

Ralf: Yes, really. You said, like, what was it, 1021?

Lina: 1021.

Ralf: Like super specific. Okay.

Lina: Eight buildings were found. Each of the buildings, just for reference, they named from A to H. So, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, just for reference, but they were exactly looking like Viking homes in Greenland and Iceland. These buildings were not only homes or anything like that, they were workshops buildings. The bigget one it's believed it was the ironsmith. And why it was believed it was the ironsmith? Because in these specific remains we found, well, they were found between 100 and 200 nails.

Ralf: Like iron, okay like... just a bunch of ironheads. Like, okay, yep, that has to be a smithy.

Lina: Exactly.

Ralf: Yeah, sort of makes sense. You make ironheads in a smithy.

Lina: Exactly. And of course they found also other tools for this ironsmith. There is also one workshop exclusively for carpentry, where it's believed that they not only repaired wooden things, but also boats.

Ralf: Vikings and boats, yeah, okay, makes sense.

Lina: Yeah. A little bit about the population, the activities, and the duration they were in this settlement. The exact population is not known; nevertheless, the eight buildings could fit around 160 people at a time. It was likely not a permanent village; nevertheless, this is a huge debate today because some archaeologists say that it was only used temporarily for about 20 years, but others say that actually, no, it was used up to 100 years. So there is still a big debate on whether this settlement was permanent or not.

Ralf: If it was not a permanent village, what would it have been then?

Lina: Well, actually it's said that it was just a site for boat repairs, and mainly just a landing zone before they entered a little bit south into deeper territory.

Ralf: Does it mean it is close to the sea actually, or?

Lina: Yes, actually, it's exactly on the border, it's on the seaside.

Ralf: Okay, yeah.

Lina: They also found a lot of remains of animals like caribou, bear, wolf, fish, seals, and even whales, which means that basically they stayed here to maybe eat and grab more things they could use for continued journeys. They also found a lot of seeds from the south of Canada and the north of the United States, which means that they definitely went south and continued their exploration further south.

Ralf: And this could be like—I assume proving the theory about it just being like a sort of base camp where they would return to from their expeditions, I assume, right?

Lina: Exactly, exactly. And that's maybe the reason why this debate of whether it was a permanent settlement is happening. Not only the time, not only that some archaeologists say that the site was used for 20 years and other ones for 100 years. It was also because in 2019, a study suggested that L'Anse aux Meadows may actually not only have males, which were normal for a basic Viking exploration, but also females because they found bone needles and artifacts that only women used in these tribes, which suggested that it was not just a normal expedition the Vikings would do, but a longer period of time—they were going to stay a longer period of time. Of course, there is also evidence against it, which means they didn't find any burials, any tools for farming, any animal pens or things that could suggest that they kept animals on the site, and also many of the tools that they found only suggest that it was a temporary base for boat reparation and a station to continue their travels.

Ralf: Coming a little bit like—obviously in an area where we are not at all qualified to say it, but since you did the majority of the research, what do you think? Do you think it has been a permanent settlement or are you more inclined to the theory that it was really just a base camp over the various times?

Lina: Well, I think that most likely it was—I think that it was not a permanent settlement from what I have read and the research that I have done. I think that maybe it was used in longer periods of time. I mean, we know the traveling from Europe is a long travel, which means these travelers came, maybe with their families, knowing that it's going to be a really long journey. They stayed for quite a while, maybe years at a time, but then they continued. So I think it's in between, right? So it was a kind of permanent settlement for a while, but then they used it also just as a station because they continued their journey afterwards. So maybe that could be a compromise, but of course, it cannot be proved exactly.

Ralf: But that's a good theory because, yeah, it seems the way you're describing it to me, it is not something that was just there for a limited amount of time and then to be forgotten, because well, then we probably wouldn't have found it anymore today. But I assume if it was meant to be like a permanent settlement, then we might have found more than just like some ruins.

Lina: Exactly, exactly. And I think that this is a good point because we have to be really clear: there are just the remains of the buildings. There is one building that was rebuilt for educational and entertainment purposes, but most of the site is covered in grass. So just to understand a little bit and enter into the topic of how it was discovered—it was basically a grassy mound, and a local man named George Decker found them a little bit weird, like, "This little hill is a little bit not normal." So he called a Norwegian archaeological couple ,Anne Stine Ingstad and her husband Helge Ingstad. In 1960, they took to some exploration and then they discovered the site. There were in total seven excavations between 1961 and '68, where they discovered these eight buildings and all the Viking artifacts, including bronze fastening pins and tools and so on.

Ralf: So it's actually quite a recent discovery, right?

Lina: It is quite recent, and the reason why it was undiscovered for so long is because it was pretty much a grass hill, maybe with some weird mini hills inside the hill. So that's why it was discovered. That's why I also have the idea that maybe more sites have to be discovered in the future. It's still completely open.

Ralf: Yeah, you might not know what other riches or remains lie under grassy hills around.

Lina: Exactly. And for those of you who are interested, they found completely confirmed eight buildings, but actually there are a possible nine, which means there is one that is still until today not confirmed. That's why most likely they were in conversations with NASA to see if they can use more of this radar kind of analysis, but this is still not confirmed or published. So yeah, basically that's why it's important to mention that for maintaining the site, they covered many of the buildings again with grass so they could be preserved in time. Many of the remains are made of wood, as I mentioned at the beginning, so conditions like weather—and we are talking about really extreme weather in the north of Canada—could actually destroy the site. So it was decided for many of the remains to be covered again.

Ralf: It's then something you have to be aware of when you want to visit. It's not probably the most stunning or awe-inspiring site from what you can see, but it's important because of what its relevance symbolizes, right?

Lina: Exactly, but please do not expect to see standing Viking buildings. They, once again, have many cultural and educational activities—I will mention that in a little bit—but it's still a park and it's more like a park where you can have outside activities. Entering a little bit into the fun facts space—there is a kind of debate, but it's still interesting, a connection between L'Anse aux Meadows and the Vinland Sagas. Ralf, did you know what the Vinland Sagas are?

Ralf: Apart from an anime that we have on our watch list and we still need to watch? No, actually, jokes aside, so I know actually because of the anime that it's based on a Vinland Saga, which is to my knowledge like a collection of tales from—I'm not sure if it was Iceland or Greenland.

Lina: It was Greenland. And yes indeed, it is like a story about the Norse tribe, explorers from Greenland, where they found a new land in the West called Vinland. Basically, that's the whole story. And it is believed by many that L'Anse aux Meadows is linked to these stories. There are two stories where this Vinland is mentioned: the first one is the Saga of the Greenlanders—which, maybe we need to watch the anime to see if they are separated—and the second one is the Saga of Erik the Red. And in these sagas, as I mentioned before, they mentioned that they found a new land in the west and they called it Vinland. And this Vinland that they mentioned could be actually Canada. What is interesting is that they might have even mentioned L'Anse aux Meadows specifically, there are two settlements that they mention in these Vinland Sagas. The first one, and I'm sorry if I'm mispronouncing it, is Leifsbudir, and the other one is Hóp. So they are actually naming the places, and they mentioned two. So, I mean, of course this is highly debated by historic people and archaeologists, so maybe it's a big take, but what an interesting thing, right?

Ralf: I think that is also a good example that both of us could never be archaeologists or historians, because we would be like, "Oh, it must mean this. We would already jump to conclusions" and probably say, like, "Yeah, L'Anse aux Meadows has been mentioned in the Vinland Sagas, so..."

Lina: Yeah, this is a big take. It's a big take, and you have to be really careful in the educational community to say these kinds of things because it's impossible to prove.

Ralf: Yeah, yeah. To be pragmatic and just really look at what is the evidence of what you can prove. We would be too excitable, I assume, yeah.

Lina: I don't think we could be able to work in the academy. I think we are too jumpy, let's say. Some information that is really interesting about the sagas: the sagas mention fights between the Norse tribe and the local indigenous people. And well, it's believed that these conflicts may have caused the Norse tribe to actually leave Vinland, but this is not part of the saga itself. Something also really interesting I found: Vinland means "wine land", which of course means that there were wild grapes in the places that they found. And of course, L'Anse aux Meadows has a lot of grape-growing regions further south around, so this is one of, like, the pro statements of why maybe the Vinland Sagas may be referring to Canada. But of course, this is also a big take because there are wild grapes in a lot of places. So yeah, this is pretty much one of the most interesting facts. Some other important facts: the name L'Anse aux Meadows most likely means "Grassland Bay" in French-English, or it could be also L'Anse à la Médée (Medea Cove). Or L'Anse aux Meadows referring to "meadows" in English, which refers to an open, grassy landscape.

Ralf: Ah, okay, so the meadow in it could actually be like the English word.

Lina: Meadow. So it is a combination between both of them, and I think that is a really appealing thing because we are talking about Canada. Archaeologists also mentioned that this place could be a hoax because it is, how to say, a big take to say that there are Vikings. But it is important to understand that the discovery actually confirms not only that the timing matches when Vikings were in Greenland and in Iceland, but also the artifacts and the iron pins that they found are pretty much correlated to the ones found in Europe. So the methods of building and creating these artifacts pretty much were the same.

Ralf: Do you know what was the reason for some archaeologists to call it a hoax? Just because like, "Yeah, no, it cannot be that Vikings were around there," or was there something else? Because that seems like a really elaborate hoax, right, to build any kind of ruin.

Lina: I mean, it is always the case that many—I think that archaeologists need to be completely sure, and many think that the things that they found are too small to believe that this is a confirmed site. Nevertheless, I mean, I will say that it's a debate between the scholars, but there are some that do not believe that this is a true place. The problem is the remains are not grand, and this was not a city. This was not a—as I mentioned it before, it is considered not a permanent settlement, so of course there are not as many remains to completely confirm the connection. Nevertheless, the Viking journey to L'Anse aux Meadows represents what was called the completion of the cycle of the full circumnavigation of the globe of human history. We know that humans traveled from Africa to Asia, then from Asia across Europe, and then with this confirmation also into the Americas. So even before Columbus, this navigation was already completed. So yeah, exactly. So I think that now we can close the historical part, and we go to maybe what we are more interested in, and that is why L'Anse aux Meadows is a World Heritage site. I think that you have some ideas already, but how many criteria do you think that L'Anse aux Meadows gets to be a World Heritage site?

Ralf: So, I think from what you told me, it's clearly going to be a cultural World Heritage site. In the beginning, I wasn't sure, is it natural or is it cultural, but from what you told me, it's clearly a cultural site. I'm going with what I have the feeling is like a sort of a safe bet, and that it's meeting two criteria.

Lina: Well, yeah, many site have two criteria, but unfortunately this one only has one, which is criterion number six: living traditions and ideas. L'Anse aux Meadows is linked to important events and beliefs and traditions, including of course the spread of Viking culture across the globe. It's not only because of course it's the only known Viking site in the Americas, but also because it's the representation of actual people that traveled from Europe, or the first people that traveled from Europe across the ocean to North America. So this makes it especially interesting.

Ralf: Yeah, when you think about it by today's standards, yeah, traveling from Europe to North America, you take an airplane and then you're there within a few hours. But what you mentioned, it has been more than 1,000 years ago that this happened and the trip was difficult. Even if they might have started from Iceland or Greenland, that's still like really, really difficult, and you have to account for all the weather conditions. Since you mentioned it's in the north of Canada, it's like really pretty cold, I would assume, and you have very harsh weather conditions in there. So it's really what it symbolizes, right? The achievement in a way, like what humans were capable of doing.

Lina: Exactly. And maybe I will come back to this topic about the weather and how harsh the conditions are in L'Anse aux Meadows, but before that, I wanted also to mention the recognition that this historical site has. It became a National Historic Site in 1968, and it became a World Heritage Site in 1978 as one of the first ones that Canada had. Also, this site covers around 8,000 hectares, which is about 31 square miles of land and sea. It's protected, of course, by Parks Canada, as I mentioned before, and the department maintains in good condition all the remaining buildings by, of course, studying them frequently. Yeah, basically that, as you mentioned, it is really a harsh environment, so the site is only open from the 1st of June to the 3rd of October, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. This may change from year to year, so always check the official site or the official site of the park. The weather is cold, rainy and foggy, even in summer, so please dress warmly. And the site not only has the remaining buildings, they also have other historic programs including a living history of the Vikings, so you can interact with interpreters and actors in Viking outfits, ask questions, and they will do some activities so you can see how blacksmiths worked in the past, where they did their activities. Some storytelling is happening also, myths around the fire, so it's a really interactive environment. So please plan around three hours minimum to stay at the site. It is a national park, so there are around three kilometers of trails, so you can also have a nice hike seeing the coastal views, which sometimes can allow you to see icebergs. Because I mean, we know that the site is really close to Greenland, so please remember that you can maybe even see icebergs.

Ralf: I'm curious about what you mentioned also here now with the sort of recreation or living experience, because there have now been multiple World Heritage sites or areas we have visited where it is done. What is generally your take on this? I think I never asked it, but do you think this is something interesting? Do you think this is something fun? Because it's very often the balance that you have to find between what is the historical value in it or is it just like more like a show or a fairyland? What do you think about that?

Lina: Well, I do think that it's sometimes necessary. I mean, maybe our listeners and our audience are like really interested in the meaning of these World Heritage sites, but that's not always the case, especially for families and children. So in order to motivate families and parents to visit these places, they need more activities, and I think the historical part is really there and it's always going to be there, but some educational parts are necessary as well. So I think that it is necessary. I actually like it a lot, especially when you get these activities. I think that we did it when we were in Trier—we will mention it when we get to that specific episode. This interactive kind of tour was really interesting, so I think that it is nice to have. And I know that sometimes massive tourism is a problem, but I think that these specific interactive activities are really nice and many times are really well done.

Ralf: It's definitely true, and like I said, there might be people who are just fascinated by the pure history by itself. But when you are able to get people who might not be just pure history enthusiasts or historians or archaeologists and get them sort of hooked with more of the experience, this is also a good strategy, I fully agree.

Lina: Also, I think that it's, I mean, important because this is the most interesting part of why people visit a Viking site—to know about the Vikings. And the fact that you can see how they dressed, what they did in their daily lives, what they ate, ask questions, maybe hear some storytelling, is really interesting. Even for me, I will happily see the actors and interpreters, and I would like to ask some questions. Another activity that you can do in the park is that they have a museum with all the real artifacts that were found in many of these investigations.

Ralf: Also the 100 iron nails?

Lina: Haha, I don't know if you can find the 100 nails there, but I'm pretty sure some of them. Maybe if we someday get to go, I can take a photo and maybe update you guys to see how many nails you can find.

Ralf: Or if we find it, until we're releasing also the notes to this episode on our Instagram at @worldheritagerookies, perhaps we can include a picture of the iron nails if we find any of those as marketing time—marketing time, check out our Instagram.

Lina: Yeah, but if you actually know or have visited, please let us know. Actually, that would be amazing to know exactly how many nails you can find. There is also a film you can watch about how they did this and how they do the preservation of the site today. How to get there? Well, I'm not going to lie to you guys. It's on the northernmost tip, closest to Greenland, so it's a little bit high up. Nevertheless, you can have the closest airport, which is St. Anthony Airport, one hour or one hour and a half away by car. So the easiest way to arrive at the place is actually by car, but please always check out the times that the park is open because as I mentioned, it's only open during the day. And that's it. Of course, there are also nearby attractions that you can also check. There are other National Historic Sites of Canada, including the Red Bay National Historic Site close by, and the Gros Morne National Park, and Port au Choix National Historic Site. Maybe you will not understand the names, but you will find this information in the description. That's it. I think that L'Anse aux Meadows is a really specific and really nice place. I really would like to go one day and see the only place that is confirmed to have been visited by Vikings, at least visited. I mean, again, until we have more information, it's not confirmed they actually lived for a longer period of time there, but yeah.

Ralf: So first, thank you very much, Lina, for all this information and the fun facts you shared. I am not sure when we will, or if we will even reach that site, because I have the feeling a lot of the sites in Canada can sometimes be tricky to reach. I mean, it's a huge, huge country.

Lina: Yes, really huge and really far apart. Even though I mentioned these three sites, most likely they are not as close.

Ralf: Yeah, so, but I mean, if we manage to go there one time, I'm very curious about how it turns out. But no, thank you. Thank you very much for explaining to me and our audience what we should know about L'Anse aux Meadows. I actually can give a bit of a spoiler that also in our next episode, we will stay in Canada. We also will talk about something that is, yeah, unique in its very own way. I mean, yeah, surprise, it's a World Heritage site that we're talking about there, but that was a really cool episode. Thank you so much.

Lina: Yes, join us next time as we will explore another site in Canada, as Ralf mentioned it. And yes, thank you very much for listening.

Ralf: Thank you very much.