Indigenous occupation Before the Norse arrived in Newfoundland, there is evidence of occupations by five
Indigenous groups at the site of L'Anse aux Meadows, the oldest dated to roughly 6,000 years ago. None were contemporaneous with the Norse occupation. The most prominent earlier occupation was by the
Dorset people, who occupied the site about 300 years before the Norse. Radiocarbon date ranges for these groups are for the
Maritime Archaic tradition, for the
Groswater tradition, for the Middle Dorset, for the
Cow Head Group and Beaches traditions, and (after the Norse) for the Little Passage tradition. an assessment that tallies with the relative dating of artifact and structure types. Anthropologist John Steinberg has suggested the site may have been "occupied at least sporadically for perhaps 20 years" by the Norse. suggests the site was not a permanent settlement but a temporary boat repair facility. She notes there are no findings of burials, tools, agriculture or animal pens—suggesting the inhabitants abandoned the site in an orderly fashion. According to a 2019
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America study, there may have been Norse activity in L'Anse aux Meadows for as long as a century. There is no way to know the site's population at any given time, though the dwellings could accommodate 30 to 160 people. The entire population of Greenland at the time was about 2,500, meaning that the L'Anse aux Meadows site was less than 10 percent of the Norse settlement on Greenland. Today, the area mostly consists of open, grassy lands, but, 1000 years ago, there were forests that were convenient for boatbuilding, housebuilding and iron extraction. The remains of eight buildings (labelled from A–J) were found. They are believed to have been constructed of
sod placed over a wooden frame. Based on associated artifacts, the buildings were identified as dwellings or workshops. The largest dwelling (F) measured and consisted of several rooms. Three small buildings (B, C, G) may have been workshops or living quarters for lower-status crew or slaves. Workshops were identified as an
iron smithy (building J) containing a
forge and iron
slag, Stone weights, which were found in building G, may have been part of a
loom. The presence of the spindle and needle suggests that women as well as men inhabited the settlement. There is evidence that the Norse hunted caribou, wolf, fox, bear, lynx, marten, many types of birds and fish, seal, whale and walrus. Harsh winters and ice cover force the
game either to hibernate or venture south, and the lack of game must have made over-winter occupation difficult for the Norse. The common hypothesis before the Ingstads was that Vinland could not be north of the
Massachusetts coast, the northern limit of wild
grapes, The Ingstads doubted this hypothesis, believing the Norse would not have felt secure settling along the American Atlantic coast. Based on an
alternative pronunciation, they proposed "that the name Vinland probably means land of meadows...and includes a peninsula." Helge and Anne Ingstad carried out seven archaeological excavations there from 1961 to 1968, finding the remains of eight buildings and perhaps a ninth. and represents the farthest known extent of European exploration and settlement of the
New World before the voyages of
Christopher Columbus almost 500 years later. Historians have speculated that there were other Norse sites in the Canadian Arctic, or at least trade contacts between Norse and Native Americans. In 2012, possible Norse outposts were identified in
Nanook at
Tanfield Valley on
Baffin Island, as well as
Nunguvik,
Willows Island and the
Avayalik Islands. In 2015 and 2016,
Point Rosee in southwestern Newfoundland was excavated with no discoveries of a Norse presence.
National historic site (1968–present) longhouse, north of the archaeological site In November 1968, the
Government of Canada named the archaeological site a
National Historic Site of Canada. The site was also named a
World Heritage Site in 1978 by
UNESCO. After L'Anse aux Meadows was named a national historic site, the area, and its related tourist programs, have been managed by Parks Canada. After the first excavation was completed, two more excavations of the site were ordered by Parks Canada. The excavations fell under the direction of Bengt Schonbach from 1973 to 1975 and
Birgitta Wallace, in 1976. Following each period of excavation, the site was reburied to protect and conserve the cultural resources. The remains of seven Norse buildings are on display at the national historic site. North of the Norse remains are reconstructed buildings, built in the late 20th century, as a part of an
interpretive display for the national historic site. The remains of an aboriginal hunting camp are also located at the site, southwest of the Norse remains. Other amenities at the site includes picnic areas, and a
visitor centre. ==Connection with literary sources==