Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2007, Page 54

Arne Espelund
Material Period Site Type Origin
Meteoritic 12th-14th c Inuit Lancehead, Washington Land Cape York
■ 13th-14th c Norse, West s. Arrowhead, Nipaatsoq •
Bloomery iron 13th-14th c Inuit Knife, Nuulit, Thule district Norway
Fined wrought iron 11th-13th c. Norse, East s. Iron bar, Abel’s farm Sweden
Bloomery iron 11 th-13th c ■ Iron, " Norway
■ 11th-14th c. Norse, West s. Nail, farm beneath the Sand "
Telluric iron 14th-16th c. Inuit Ulo, Uummannauq Disko
Walloon iron 17th ■ Adze, Kangaamiut Belgium
17th - 18th ■ Arrowhead, Uumannaaq "
» 1721 Danish Nails, Haabets Colonie "
Puddled wrought 19th Exped. Debris Nails, Hatherton Bay USA/England
Table 1. Samples of iron studied by the slag analytical method. After Buchwald (2001:86).
slags, such as one found at Sandnes with
three from production sites in Norway and
Iceland. The Sandnes slag is heterogene-
ous and the chemical analysis expresses
a much lower Si02/Fe0-ratio than normal
production slags. Buchwald concluded
that the samples of slag studied by Nielsen
were small and very heterogeneous, with
inclusions of foreign particles, such as
quartz and even bones. They seem to rep-
resent plano-convex purification slags,
typical for smithing, and definitely not
the residue from production of the metal.
Judging from available literature and
recent professional studies, it is therefore
argued that no iron production took place
in Greenland.
L’Anse aux Meadows as a historical site
The fairy-tale like story about Vinland
as a settlement in the New World around
year 1000 AD was around 1960 turned
into a reality by the finds near the village
L’Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland
by the explorer Helge Ingstad. During the
archaeological excavations that followed,
led by his wife Anne Stine in the years
1961-68, certain house grounds, fire-
places, objects such as a spinning whorl
of steatite and a ringed pin ascertained
that it had been a settlement of Norse-
men (Ingstad 1977/85). The site has cre-
ated a lot of attention among the general
public because of its Viking aífiliation,
and among archaeologists, ethnologists,
historians etc. because of its scientific
value. It is now declared a National His-
toric Site of Canada and a Unesco World
Heritage Site. An updated summary of its
history and interpretation was presented
in Norwegian in 2001 (Hagland & al.
2001). Archaeological investigation has
since the 1970s continued under the lead-
ership of Swedish-bom Bengt Schönback
and Birgitta Wallace. The latter has ever
since continued her studies and taken an
active part in the development of the site.
She recently published a comprehensive
book with the title “Westward Vikings,
The Saga of L’Anse aux Meadows” (Wal-
lace 2006). The site is shown in figure 3
and figure 4.
In contrast to recent, revised
impressions of Greenland, the question
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