[BRIEF NOTE] Notes on possible pre-Columbian migration to Viking Iceland

[rfmcdpei]

The headline of Traci Watson's National Geographic News article sensationalizes the news a bit--it would have been a one-time migration to Iceland, on medieval Europe's extreme western periphery, and the effects are limited to Iceland--but it's still fascinating to think that there might have been pre-Columbian migration between the two hemispheres

Comments

[bitterlawngnome]

Or a slave carried off during a raid ... not uncommon.

[tavella]

About to say -- Vikings were a slave society, so I don't think there's any big mystery what happened.

[bitterlawngnome]

Also, many North American cultures practised some form of slavery. So it wouldn't have been unknown to them, either.

[creases]

Yeah, that was my thought. Reproduction and violence aren't always separate, especially in the ancient world.