蜜芽传媒

It鈥檚 been long known that the Vikings were the first Europeans to sail to North America, arriving to what is now Canadian Newfoundland, but until now historians didn't know exactly when the earliest Viking settlements were established.

But a new analysis of three rough pieces of wood has allowed scientists to precisely date one settlement to 1021 AD - more than 450 years before Christopher Columbus reached the Americas.

Kevin P. Smith, Deputy Director of the Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology at Brown University, wasn't part of the actual study but is a Viking expert who's looked at the findings. He says they're highly significant, but the puzzle remains incomplete.

"It doesn't tell us when the Norse first arrived, it doesn't tell us when they left. It tells us in 1021 AD they were busy doing something with a bunch of wood."

(Photo: Norsemen from an annual Viking festival. Credit: PA)