Scientists: Columbus was not the first European to visit America

Tomorrow—October 10—is a holiday in the United States due to Columbus Day. However, his contribution to the discovery of America is greatly overestimated. The continent was discovered long before him. 1021 AD is the earliest date that a European presence in the Americas can be scientifically proven, according to a new study. Who visited there before Christopher Columbus, the publication said Independent.

Explorer Christopher Columbus has long been considered the first European to reach America in 1492. But historians are convinced that the northern peoples reached the mainland almost 500 years earlier.

Leif Erikson, an Icelandic explorer and the second of three sons of Erik the Red, is considered the first ever visitor to North America.

An analysis by a team of international researchers suggests that the exact date is 1021.

Tree cuttings at L'Anse aux Meadows, a site in Newfoundland, Canada, that was associated with Erickson, date back to 1021 AD, the researchers say.

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The study says that all three wood fragments studied from three different trees came from contexts archaeologically associated with the Vikings.

Each piece of wood bore "clear evidence" of felling and cutting with metal blades - tools not used by indigenous people.

The exact year could be determined because in 992 AD there was a powerful solar storm that left a distinct radiocarbon footprint in the tree rings.

Research Director Associate Professor Michael Dee of the University of Groningen in Holland said: "The distinct rise in radiocarbon production that occurred between 992 and 993 AD was found in tree ring archives from around the world."

He said that each of the three wooden objects displays 29 growth rings in front of the edge of the bark.

The study's first author, Dr. Margo Quitems, also from the University of Groningen, said: "The detection of a signal from a solar storm of 29 tree rings in the crust allowed us to conclude that the cutting was in 1021 AD."

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

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Currently available evidence suggests that all endeavors were “somewhat short-lived,” and the cultural and environmental legacy of the first European visit to America was likely short-lived.

However, botanical data from L'Anse aux Meadows confirmed that the Vikings did indeed explore the lands south of Newfoundland.

Dr. Quithams is convinced: “1021 AD is the earliest year in which a European presence in America can be scientifically proven. Previous dates for the presence of Vikings in the Americas were largely based on the Icelandic sagas. However, they began as oral histories and were not written down until centuries after the events they describe. Although the sagas are contradictory and at times fantastical, they suggest that there were both violent clashes and friendly relations between the Europeans and the indigenous peoples of the region.”

“However, little archaeological evidence has been found to support such speculation. There are other medieval accounts that imply that prominent figures in mainland Europe were told that the Vikings had made landfall across the Atlantic,” she added.

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