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January 05, 2004

Erik the Red

A recent find by archaeologists put the first north Asians in North America 30,000 years ago. The weird thing is that they used weapons made of ivory - in Siberia. There used to be wooly rhinoceroses up there, you know.

The main European influx came after 1492, but most know of the Vikings centuries earlier.
It's interesting to actually read the sagas of Erik the Red.

The standard telling describes the 'Skraelings' they found in 'Vinland' (perhaps named because the new world was supposedly rich with wild grape) as "They were small, ill favoured men, and had ugly hair on their heads. They had big eyes and were broad in the cheeks"

Apparently the locals (whether Thule, Algonquin, or other isn't clear) were just too successful in fighting off the norsemen. One tactic was to hurl rotting animal carcases into the Viking camps.

Who knows whether this map is a fake.



Maybe it's another Edward Kelley hoax.

There's plenty of evidence for the vikings being active in the Mediterranean a thousand years ago, though. The history of Russia is basically that the Vikings set up towns along the rivers in Eastern Europe in order to have trade routes with Persia. Russia happened when the outposts, now full cities, united.

There's loads more info here
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Posted by mslaybau at January 5, 2004 01:58 AM

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Posted by: Mike Flacklestein at July 26, 2006 09:45 PM

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