But how did Christopher Columbus’s voyages exemplify the ignorance of his time? And how did his voyages spark the Scientific Revolution? Ĭlearly, ignorance played a role in Christopher Columbus’s “discovery” of America: He thought he had landed at what would later be known as the Indonesian archipelago, for one, and he also thought he was the first European to land there (the first was probably Viking Leif Eriksson). Like this article? Sign up for a free trial here. Shortform has the world's best summaries of books you should be reading. ![]() Additionally, relations with the Indigenous peoples were not very friendly.” In any case, these latest discoveries highlight a new version of history that no longer makes Christopher Columbus the first settler in North America.This article is an excerpt from the Shortform summary of "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari. According to the national media Radio Canada, “the soil was not very fertile. However, it was a short-lived migration since the Vikings only remained established in Canada for a few decades. Scientists are now trying to determine the reasons that would have led the Vikings to leave Greenland to discover land “further west.” According to Anders Winroth, a professor at the University of Oslo, the need for raw materials, and wood particularly, would have been their motivation. These discoveries have pushed researchers and historians to review the version presented in the history books. But we didn’t really know when,” says Michael Dee in National Geographic. “We already knew, thanks to the archaeological remains, that the Vikings had arrived in the Americas. Technological advances have made it possible to refine the data collected by the couple, and to give us a precise date. The site is located on the island of Newfoundland and contains “eight timber-framed turf structures built in the same style as those found in Norse Greenland and Iceland from the same period,” according to UNESCO. It was by going directly to L’Anse aux Meadows that the two Norwegian archaeologists verified the statements of these famous sagas and shed light on the tangible legacy of Nordic peoples’ passage to North America as early as 1021. It is therefore likely that they contain fantastic elements, but also realistic and accurate information,” adds the professor. The two sagas on the Americas do not even agree with each other. “The accuracy or inaccuracy of the details contained in the sagas remain a source of debate. Viking sagas and what they recount are still a source of discussion in the scientific community. Specifically, they mention Helluland, “country of stone,” Markland, “country of forest,” and Vinland, “country of wine,” explains Michael Dee, professor and co-author of a study that helped date the Vikings’ arrival on American soil. The sagas mention the names that the Vikings gave to these territories of present-day Canada. They both tell the story of people from the Viking colonies of Greenland who headed west toward the Americas. Two of the main sagas describe trips to North America: The Saga of Erik the Red and the Saga of the Greenlanders. ![]() “These are texts written mainly in Iceland, about two centuries after the arrival of the Vikings in America. This is certainly the case for Anne Stine and Helge Ingstad, two Norwegian archaeologists who studied Viking sagas, and more specifically those concerning the L’Anse aux Meadows site in Canada. Yet, in recent years, many have raised their voices to contradict this version of history. It is a story told a thousand times, which has inspired several books and films. History books have always told how Christopher Columbus “discovered” America in 1492. Next The Vikings explored America 500 years before Christopher Columbus
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