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Canada Grass Patch Helps Date Norse Settlement to AD 1021, Rewriting Europe’s Columbus Timeline
Science
Published on 4 May 2026
Dating methods pinned the wood to a year Columbus never knew
Archaeologists have precisely dated the Norse settlement at L’Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland to AD 1021, making it the earliest confirmed European presence in North America. Using radiocarbon analysis alongside solar-event dating of wooden artifacts, researchers say the site’s faint remains had been overlooked for years—now reshaping Atlantic history long before Columbus.
- Norse settlement at L’Anse aux Meadows is dated to AD 1021
- Radiocarbon plus solar-event dating used on wooden artifacts
- Earliest known European presence in North America, centuries before Columbus
- Previously subtle site remains were hidden and now clarified
Read the full story at The Economic Times
This summarization was done by Beige for a story published on 
The Economic Times