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Replica of Grænlendingar clothing Christian gravestone from the Eastern Settlement. The first tangible evidence of Icelandic settlements in Greenland - in addition to the well-known written evidence - is probably the discovery of the English captain John Davis, who found a gravestone with a Christian cross in the eastern settlement in 1586.
The Eastern Settlement (Old Norse: Eystribygð [ˈœystreˌbyɣð]) was the first and by far the larger of the two main areas of Norse Greenland, settled c. AD 985 – c. AD 1000 by Norsemen from Iceland. At its peak, it contained approximately 4,000 inhabitants.
1. From 700 to 750 people belonging to the Late Dorset Culture move into the area around Smith Sound, Ellesmere Island and Greenland north of Thule. 2. Norse settlement of Iceland starts in the second half of the 9th century. 3. Norse settlement of Greenland starts just before the year 1000. 4. Thule Inuit move into northern Greenland in the ...
Erik Thorvaldsson [a] (c. 950 – c. 1003), known as Erik the Red, was a Norse explorer, described in medieval and Icelandic saga sources as having founded the first European settlement in Greenland. Erik most likely earned the epithet "the Red" due to the color of his hair and beard.
978: Snæbjörn galti Hólmsteinsson becomes the first Norseman to intentionally navigate to Greenland. 982: The Norwegian-Icelandic viking known as Eric the Red is banished from Iceland. He sails off and sights the island. He decides to name it Greenland to make the island appear more attractive. 986: Norse Settlement of Greenland begins.
Norse Greenland consisted of two settlements. The Eastern was at the southwestern tip of Greenland, while the Western Settlement was about 500 km up the west coast, inland from present-day Nuuk. A smaller settlement near the Eastern Settlement is sometimes considered the Middle Settlement. The combined population was around 2,000–3,000. [12]
c. 1350: The Norse Western Settlement in Greenland was abandoned. 1354: King Magnus of Sweden and Norway authorised Paul Knutson to lead an expedition to Greenland which may never have taken place. c.1450–1480s: [2] The Norse Eastern Settlement in Greenland was abandoned during the opening stages of the Little Ice Age.
Hvalsey ("Whale Island"; Greenlandic Qaqortukulooq) is located near Qaqortoq, Greenland and is the site of Greenland's largest, best-preserved Norse ruins in the area known as the Eastern Settlement (Eystribyggð). In 2017, it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List and part of the Kujataa Greenland site.