Compare the Evidence of a Nordic Presence in the Americas Before the Arrival of Columbus with the Evidence of a West African Presence During That Period.
Compare the evidence of a Nordic presence in the Americas before the arrival of Columbus with the evidence of a West African presence during that period. It has been said by historians that the Nordics and the West Africans were in the Americas before Columbus arrived in 1492. Though evidence, such as oral sagas, tracing routes which it was said they took, artifacts, skeletal remains, among others, have been found to prove that they could have been present; there are still debates as to whether or not they actually came to the Americas before Columbus. Some believe that the evidence of the presence of the Nordics is more admissible than that of the West Africans. The Norse (also known as the Vikings) got their name from the language they spoke, ‘Old Norse’. They were originally from Scandinavian countries. It believed that they came to the new world for several reasons such as; the fact that it had a rich supply of salt to preserve their goods, they were explorers, the country they lived in, Greenland, soon became over populated and they experienced a great famine in 975. It is also believed that there was a political unrest between the cans in Northern Europe.
There has been many pieces of evidence to support the theory that the Vikings were, in fact, present in the new world during the pre-columbian era. Some of the settements of the Vikings were found, still standing, such as ‘York’ and ‘Dublin’. There was not much written records on the Viking so most of their history was passed down orally through sagas, through which we first heard of their exploration into Europe and the Americas, there were two sagas which survived; these are the Greenlander’s Saga and The Saga of Erik the Red. The sagas claim that the Vikings interacted and traded with the native people that they found in the Americas. The sagas led to the finding of some substantial evidence such as the archaeological remains found in ‘Newfoundland’ and there it was discovered that there
There has been many pieces of evidence to support the theory that the Vikings were, in fact, present in the new world during the pre-columbian era. Some of the settements of the Vikings were found, still standing, such as ‘York’ and ‘Dublin’. There was not much written records on the Viking so most of their history was passed down orally through sagas, through which we first heard of their exploration into Europe and the Americas, there were two sagas which survived; these are the Greenlander’s Saga and The Saga of Erik the Red. The sagas claim that the Vikings interacted and traded with the native people that they found in the Americas. The sagas led to the finding of some substantial evidence such as the archaeological remains found in ‘Newfoundland’ and there it was discovered that there
Bibliography: Africaspeaks.com Bornblackmag.org Campbell, John and Heather Cateau. History for the Caribbean in the Atlantic World. Ghanaweb.com Shepherd, Verene Liberties Lost. Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom, Worker.org