in Oslo In 1960, he discovered the remains of what later proved to be a
Viking settlement at
L'Anse aux Meadows at the northernmost tip of
Newfoundland in
Canada. It is the only known site of a Norse or Viking village in Canada, and in North America outside of
Greenland. Dating to the year 1021 CE, L'Anse aux Meadows remains the only widely accepted instance of pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact and is notable for its possible connection with the attempted colony of
Vinland established by
Leif Ericson around the same time period or, more broadly, with
Norse exploration of the Americas. Helge Ingstad stated that in 1960, when he first saw L'Anse aux Meadows, : I felt as if I had hooked a large salmon,” Ingstad wrote in “Westward to Vinland,” the 1969 account of his explorations. “It was not only that L’Anse aux Meadows was situated on the north coast, but I also remembered that when we sailed past it I had noticed the open, inviting verdant countryside. And I thought of ‘Meadows,’ which is the same as ‘grasslands’ or the old Norse vin, just what the Norsemen were looking for. Ingstad saw the remains of "very old sod huts, barely visible under the tall grasses and wild berry bushes" and decided to excavate there at this site for the next seven years under the leadership of his wife Anne Stine Ingstad. The remains of eight buildings were located. They are believed to have been constructed of
sod placed over a wooden frame. Based on associated artifacts, the buildings were variously identified as dwellings or workshops. The largest dwelling measured and consisted of several rooms. Workshops were identified as an
iron smithy containing a
forge and iron
slag, a carpentry workshop, which generated wood debris, and a specialized boat repair area containing worn
rivets. Besides those related to iron working, carpentry, and boat repair, other artifacts found at the site consisted of common everyday Norse items, including a stone oil lamp, a
whetstone, a bronze fastening pin, a bone knitting needle, and part of a spindle. The presence of the spindle and needle suggests that women were present as well as men. Food remains included
butternuts, which are significant because they do not grow naturally north of
New Brunswick, and their presence probably indicates the Norse inhabitants travelled farther south to obtain them. Archaeologists concluded that the site was inhabited by the Norse for a relatively short period of time. == Named features ==