Potential Vikings site in North America spotted from space
Source: CNN
Potential Vikings site in North America spotted from space
By Jareen Imam, CNN
Updated 2359 GMT (0659 HKT) April 1, 2016
(CNN) - Vikings -- known for their fearsome conquests -- first came to North America a thousand years ago, according to historians. Now scientists may be able to shed more light on that history with satellite images that reveal what may be a Norse site in North America.
It would make it the second Viking site to be unearthed in North America The new potential site is located on the southwest coast of the large Canadian island of Newfoundland, according to scientists.
Infrared images captured from more than 400 miles up in space revealed the possible site. Space archeologist Sarah Parcak at the University of Alabama, who pioneered the use of satellite imaging for archeology, scanned through the images to find signs of discolored soil and changes in vegetation, which are some features that indicate something may be hiding underneath the Earth's surface.
The scans picked up man-made shapes in the region that indicated iron-work -- a key sign of certain cultural activity such as the ability to make certain types of weapons, adornments and tools. This is significant because outside of some instances of Inuits using meteoric iron in the Arctic, there is no evidence that indigenous people in North America had the knowledge or capacity to process iron ore. So it may be
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Read more: http://edition.cnn.com/2016/04/01/world/vikings-site-space-irpt/
Also: An ancient site spotted from space could rewrite the history of Vikings in North America (Washington Post)
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Funniest post I can recall seeing on DU.
(although those of us who aren't from Minnesota may not recognize it right away.)
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