The Vikings and the island of Newfoundland – the Vikings called it Vinland - have been linked for years as tales of Vikings walking this land before us were told around campfires and in kitchens.

 

In 1968, archaeologists Helge and Anne Stine recognized that earthen mounds on the island’s northern shore resembled similar structures in Norway. During their dig, they discovered the remnants of long houses and a small cloak pin proving the Vikings were the first Europeans in North America. More than 1,000 years ago, it's believed Leif Erickson and his crew of Viking explorers set foot in Newfoundland at a place called L’Anse aux Meadows.

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The discovery changed world history and redefined first contact.

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Two years ago, rumblings grew over a site on the southwest coast of the island near a tiny little town called Millville. In 2015, archaeologists used satellite images and targeted an area on Point Rosee, a windswept spit of land that juts out into the cold and harsh North Atlantic.

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Archaeologists found the remnants of a hearth and bog iron. Vikings were well known for smelting bog iron and using it for such things as rivets.

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As residents await the findings of archaeologists and the confirmation that this is, in fact, a Viking settlement, the future of the area hangs in the balance. And with conjecture of more Viking settlements in the Codroy Valley, everything could change.