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Vikings in America
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Program Overview
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Many people believe that Columbus was the first European to arrive in North
America. However, historians and archeologists have discovered evidence
suggesting that Vikings landed in North America in the eleventh century, 500
years before Columbus, and established settlements along the northeastern coast
of the continent. Although the exact routes of the Viking voyages are not known
for certain, scholars have attempted to trace them from Scandinavia to North
America by interpreting the medieval Norse sagas compiled in Iceland that
describe the voyages. This episode of NOVA presents some of the researchers who
are re-creating the Viking voyages and searching for archeological clues along
the North American coastline.
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