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New England Antiquities Research Association

More Norse sites claimed to have been found in Newfoundland

Terry J. Deveau

1. L’Anse-aux-Meadows, Épaves Bay

The Norse Greenlanders have left a remarkable set of ruins at L’Anse-aux-Meadows, Newfoundland, dating from roughly 1000 AD. The site is actually in Épaves Bay, but the nearest modern village is L’Anse-aux-Meadows. Helge Ingstad discovered this site in 1960, and his wife Anne Stine Ingstad confirmed it by test excavation in 1961 (Ingstad 1985).

http://www.pc.gc.ca/progs/spm-whs/itm2-/site1_e.asp

2. Sop’s Arm, White Bay

Even before the discovery of the L’Anse-aux-Meadows site by Helge Ingstad there was serious attention given to a completely different site in Newfoundland at Sop’s Arm, about 220 km to the southwest along the east side of the Northern Peninsula, at the head of White Bay. Arlington Mallory investigated the Sop’s Arm area in 1938 (Budden 2004, p. 18) and had the local postmaster, Alf Budden, continue to examine sites there on his behalf (Mallory 1951, pp. xii, 13). Excavations were performed there between 1940 (Mallory 1958, p. 142-3) and 1946 (Mallory 1951, pp. 135, 172-5). Ingstad also investigated the area and considered it to be a favourable site (Ingstad 1985, pp. 277-8, 479). More recently, Kent Budden has continued the investigation into this site (Budden 2004).

http://www.neara.org/MiscReports/07-11-05.htm

http://www.vinlanddiscovery.com/

http://etimage.com/sopsarm/Vikings%20in%20Sops%20Arm,udg.2.pdf

http://tinyurl.com/2acahl

3. St. Paul’s Inlet

Peter H. Martin of Camden, Maine, has been investigating another site on the west coast of the Northern Peninsula. The following article appeared in the Tuesday, February 27, 2007 edition of the Chronicle-Herald, Halifax, NS.

(original page here: http://thechronicleherald.ca/Metro/561432.html )

George Jennings, left, and Peter Martin believe they have discovered a second Viking site in Newfoundland. (Christian Laforce / Staff)

Second Norse site disputed
U.S. man’s claim doesn’t find favour with Viking experts
By KELLY SHIERS Staff Reporter

With the help of a friend, Peter Martin unpacks a 30-kilogram bag, spreading papers and pictures galore on the long table before them, quickly pointing out that this isn’t all there is.

He and George Jennings drove 12 hours from their homes in Camden, Maine to Halifax last week, hoping Mr. Martin can get someone in Atlantic Canada to take seriously his claim that he has discovered a second Norse settlement on Newfoundland’s Northern Peninsula at St. Pauls Inlet.

Mr. Martin, who calls himself a former U.S. army intelligence officer with Scandinavian roots, believes it is the legendary Hop site described in the Viking sagas.

"I’m convinced this is the site, but I don’t expect you to be because you’re not an expert. I took these photos. I found all this stuff. I’m personally convinced, but you don’t have to be," he said in an interview.

"For heaven’s sake you must agree that is has been a pretty good effort. There’s a lot of circumstantial evidence. . . . How are we going to know anything unless we dig?"

Mr. Martin said his curiosity about a possible second settlement was piqued in 1999, as he followed the progress of a project to build a replica Viking ship.

He visited St. Pauls Inlet in 2001 after researching the description of Hop — a Viking name for what was possibly a part of the North American coast — found in the sagas and from analyzing maps. The following year, he went back to the inlet for another look and found, among other items, evidence of turf-wall construction he believes are the remains of Norse buildings. He said he has returned several times.

Birgitta Wallace, Parks Canada’s archeological consultant at L’Anse aux Meadows, site of a Viking settlement that dates to the year 1000, says many people have claimed to have found evidence of other Norse settlements in North America. Last summer, someone claimed to have located a site in Cape Breton, she said.

Ms. Wallace visited the St. Pauls Inlet area in September 2002. She said she found nothing to back the findings. Rather than evidence of early Norse settlement, she said the sod walls are of the kind used in modern times to surround gardens.

In addition, early writings describe the abundance of wild grapes growing around Hop, she said.

"There have never been any grapes in Newfoundland."

Others who have looked at the site came to similar conclusions, she said.

Ms. Wallace said evidence of Viking visits to other spots in North America, likely on Baffin Island or in Labrador, eventually will come to light. And she pointed out that Norse artifacts have been discovered on Canada’s most northern island, Ellesmere.

Still, Mr. Martin, who has gone so far as to mount a camera on a kite to take infrared aerial pictures of the St. Pauls Inlet site, is not swayed. Although he’s afraid of what will happen if steps aren’t taken to protect the area, he believes one day he will be credited with discovering the second Norse site in North America. Then, he said, he’ll write a book about it.

On February 28, 2007, Martin was interviewed by CBC Radio in Newfoundland. The text below is from the CBC website, and includes a link to the audio interview.

(original page here: http://www.cbc.ca/onthego/index.html )

Interview #3 (Aired Wednesday, Feb 28, 2007)
Could an undiscovered Viking settlement, this province's second, be hidden beneath the turf in St. Paul's inlet? Peter Martin certainly thinks so. He's an amateur American archeologist, and he says he's found the outlines of a set of Viking buildings under the sod near the community of St. Paul's, just north of Rocky Harbour, on Newfoundland's west coast. The problem is, no one believes him. Not a leading Viking expert, nor the provincial archeololgist's office. We'll hear from them later; right now, here's Ted's conversation with Peter Martin.
Listen to this audio feature (runs 22:00)

Here is another link to a web site that discusses Mr. Martin’s work.

http://www.nova-scotia-icelanders.ednet.ns.ca/news.html#Hop

4. Bellevue, Trinity Bay

Neils Vinding has reported finding in 1997 what he believes to be a ballast stone from a Norse ship in Bellevue, Trinity Bay, Newfoundland, which is on the south-eastern Atlantic coast.

http://www.geocities.com/netnoaide/ballastst.html

5. St. Lunaire Bay

Helge Ingstad reported finding some incised marks on a large stone in St. Lunaire Bay, which is in the east coast of the Northern Peninsula, very close to L’Anse-aux-Meadows (Ingstad 1985, p. 479)—the reference includes a photo. Ingstad says that they do not appear to be runes, but that their significance is not known.

6. Pistolet Bay

Arlington Mallory identified Pistolet Bay, Newfoundland, (just to the west of L’Anse-aux-Meadows) as a likely site of Norse occupation (Mallory 1951, pp. 59-63, 68, 171-2). Helge Ingstad does not mention any investigation in Pistolet Bay, just that this area adjoining the Épaves Bay area is now more heavily forested (Ingstad 1985, pp. 275, 469).

References

Budden, Kent S. E.; 2004; Vinland Discovery—The Unfinished Story, Vinland Publishing, St. Anthony, Newfoundland.

Mallory, Arlington H.; 1951; Lost America—The Story of the Pre-Columbian Iron Age in America, Overlook Co., Washington, DC.

Mallory, Arlington H.; 1958; “The Pre-Columbian Discovery of America,” American Anthropologist, New Series, Vol. 60, No. 1, Part 1. (Feb., 1958), pp. 141-152.

Ingstad, Helge; 1985; The Norse Discovery of America, Vol. 2, Norwegian University Press, Oslo.

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