First Americans 'Reached Europe Five Centuries Before Columbus Voyages'
Scientists tracing the genetic origins of an Icelandic family believe the first American arrived in Europe around the 10th century, a full five hundred years before Columbus set off on his first voyage of discovery in 1492.Norse sagas suggest the Vikings discovered the Americas centuries before Columbus and the latest data seems to support the hypothesis that they may have brought American Indians back with them to northern Europe.
Source & Full Story
Need Help?
To learn how to use GeneaNet, please read the "GeneaNet First Steps" pages.
First StepsTo ask for help on any topic related to the GeneaNet website, to report a bug and to make a suggestion, please go to our forum.
ForumQuestions not related to blog notes will not be answered here. Many thanks for your comprehension.
Comments
Re: Americans in Europe 500 years before Columbus. It is completely wrong and misleading to refer to those native Americans as "Indians". The Icelanders certainly were not trying to reach India and would would have no reason to use such a term. It is bad enough that people in this enlightened age still refer to North American aboriginals as Indians.
Methinks thou doth protest too much. And why are you called a white man when you are pinkish?
No one means an insult, it was an honest mistake based on hope. Aboriginal is such a broad term, simply applied to any people who were living in a place before recorded history. The tribal names would be better,but that would be impractical. Why not see what the native American would prefer to be called, as an entire group.
Also, doesn't the writer of this blog know discoveries have been made beyond the 1940s reliance on sagas - there have been discoveries of actual Viking habitation and stone tablets Newfoundland. And Columbus visited Iceland to interview people there about particulars of "Vinland". So he knew it was there, and about the latitude, but didn't realize the coast would swing toward the west as it went southward. So the sagas were accurate, backed up by hard evidence. Start reading books for a change.