Knew is a strong word
The norse found it but 500 years is a crazy long time, and they didn’t know it wasn’t just a series of arctic islands
Knew is a strong word
The norse found it but 500 years is a crazy long time, and they didn’t know it wasn’t just a series of arctic islands
Assman@sh.itjust.works 8 months ago
I think it’s reasonable to say they knew. They probably didn’t realize how enormous the Americas were. But it was certainly known that some landmass existed west of Greenland. The Norse settled Greenland around year 1000 and allegedly founded colonies in Newfoundland around that time.
clockwork_octopus@lemmy.world 8 months ago
It’s more than allegedly. They founded settlements here.
Assman@sh.itjust.works 8 months ago
Nice, last I’d heard we were going off of written records. Didn’t know there was physical evidence.
clockwork_octopus@lemmy.world 8 months ago
I think a lot of people don’t know about the settlements. I’ve never been myself, but I’d love to go someday. I want to go walk around it, and see what they saw.