New research pinpoints an exact date Vikings from Europe were in North America: 1021 (1000 years ago this year), 430 years before Christopher Columbus was even born. How was this determination possible? Because the Sun erupted in an immense series of storms that altered Earth’s atmosphere, leaving measurable changes in tree rings at the time. A team of scientists looked at wood found at the L’Anse aux Meadows Viking site. In 3 cases the trees had been physically cut down, and moreover, they were clearly cut with metal tools — Vikings had metal implements at the time, but indigenous people did not. The wood was all from different trees (one was fir, and another juniper, for example). The key parts here are that the wood was all from trees that had been alive for many decades, and all had their waney edge intact as well.

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