L'Anse aux Meadows is located in the northwestern part of the province. Some scientists poked around the land along the coastline for a while, asking residents if there was any land that had been altered a little too neatly to be nature's work. After quite a search, someone in L'Anse aux Meadows said, why yes, he knew of such a spot.
The digging began, and soon remains were found. For example, a metal shirt pin was discovered that was only manufactured by the Norse around the year 1,000. There were other such stories from the refuse as well. Yes, this was the first settlement of the European group on the last south and west of Greenland in North America.
Think about that for a moment. Mankind came out of Africa and started spreading around the globe. Some went north and west, some went east. A few crossed a land bridge between what is now Russian and Alaska and started to settle "The New World." When the Norse (Vikings actually is the term for the army, which does not apply here) met with the First Nation population in Newfoundland, if only briefly, it meant the circle was completed.
In other words, this is a very cool place to stand.
The area has a nice visitors center, and a good path to the area close to the water where the settlements took place. There's a statue on that path (shown here) that depicts that completing of the circle. The place has been re-landscaped now that the archeology is done, so there's not much that's visually interesting. In fact, it sort of looks like a links golf course. There are some recreations of buildings from the period that have staff members available.
The scientists have figured out what went where in the complex, including where the furnace was. That's really impressive to the non-scientific crowd like me.
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