Greenland Vinland and the Vinland Map part 2

From: I.E_Johansson (inger_e.johansson_at_telia.com)
Date: 03/25/05 

Date: Fri, 25 Mar 2005 02:52:42 GMT

There have been so much misinformation presented in works, articles and
books, about Scandinavia after the Viking Age(ended 1050 AD) that before
details of the real 1300's-1400's situation in Greenland hardly can be
spoken of before all the trades that went to and from Bergen is presented.

As can be seen on this drawn map from Bryggen Museum, Bergen
http://www.uib.no/bmu/utstil/kart.htm
there was a well etablished, since many hundred years when we come to
1300's. What's mostly forgotten is what type of cargo it was.
3000 metric ton of Dried cod was each year shipped from Bergen. Most of the
cod was delivered from Iceland and Greenland but also from northern Norway.
If you take a look at the lists from harbors such as Lynn and London and
compare that with the few ships that in some of the years from mid 1300's
sailed from Iceland you will see that more than been assumed must have come
from Greenland. Why? well those ships had one other valuable Greenlandic
export as their major cargo - ivory and products made from walruse. Many of
those ships were owned by merchandisers from Orkney and the Shetlands.

One other main trade cargo is almost forgotten by scholars today - furs,
coats and skin. If someone had taken time to look closer into what's been
delivered only to English harbors from Greenland - Iceland area via Bergen
of these items they would have known that some of those definitely not could
be found and hunted in either of those two large islands.

some of these facts are mentioned here:
http://www.uib.no/bmu/utstil/middel.htm
others I have with full references in the articles to be published later
this year.

But there still is one thing that needs to be cleared once and for all -
there are a traderoute mentioned in 1520's as well as in 1640's by Natives
telling French Explorers of the old three week long journey up river from
Lake Nippogon area to the salt sea (Hudson Bay) then a week to ten days
voyage up to an area which was on the western side a bit north. It's hard to
understand that no one analyzed the iron moorings found still in their
mooring holes in a creek of Nelson River close to Hudson Bay. moorings found
under more than 2 meters layers of strated clay with some meters soil and
growth above them.....
source: Lower Fort Garry Boat Access Facilities 1997: Archaeological and
Environmental Surveillance Report
Pursuant to Federal Envrionmenal Assessment Index No LFGARRYNHS000007
by Stephen Toews, David Hems and Suzanne Therrien-Richards 1998

Of course the archaeologists there might be correct assuming that the
moorings only 'can' be 200 years old. But given the 5 meters to present
waterlevel and the strata above the moorings and the nails found, nails
which definitely don't look like 1700's or 1800's English or French nails,
it would have been good if there had been some analyzes comparing with
Medieval Norwegian and Swedish alikes, or at least that the piece of wood
found there had been dendrocronologic and/or C-14 dated. It seems a bit odd
not to do such tests given that the area where the natives said the large
ships came and traded the furs on regularbases is known from 1500's document
up to 1640 to have traded with Danish and Swedish harbors. Area called Dania
Nova before Munck was old enough to enter his first ship. Details for this
later parts in my articles.

Before ending this article to the newsgroups I would like to rise a question
as well as give you some urls where you can see for yourself artifacts which
might have been better looking for than the traditional Viking artifacts
which so often been discussed in the past.

It's always good to know what type of tools the Vikings and the Medieval Age
persons had. Many scholars discussing the Greenlanders and their
possibilities to do this and that seem to believe that people up in Northern
Europe couldn't have had good technical knowledge nor that they could have
had good equipment. Thus there are more than one chance that at least one of
all the tool and weapon artifacts found and disputed can have been misjudged
and wrongly dated. In other words if the background knowledge isn't up to
the standard it ought to be, it's more than likely that for example
following tools if found easily could have been believed to be 16th or 17th
century. Such tools looked the same from 900's up to late 19th century...
<http://www.historiska.se/collections/treasures/viking/verktyg.html>
more than one alike collection but with less tools have been found from
Staraja Ladoga down to Novgorod. Maybe elsewhere as well. That I don't know.

And jewellery that the Scandinavians had wasn't far from what other rich
had. This one from 1300's is believed that it might have belonged to King
Magnus Eriksson's wife Bianka/Blanka of Namur. If not it's still one of the
most exclusive from 1300's.
<http://www.historiska.se/collections/treasures/medel/Motalasp.html >

If you for example ask yourself the question how come that Mandan knew how
to make glass beads but aren't said to know how to make iron tools, then you
might be on to something which you missed due to all the mythic stories
which caused archaeologists and historians not to look closer into what
might have been learned from Scandinavian contacts.
During the exploration voyage by Lewis and Clark there is one observation
noted which at least should have caused a lot of questions and probably
studies had this been noted and discussed.
" March 16, 1805 (Mr. Garreau, first white settler in the Dakotas living
among the Mandans and Arikaras, explained and demonstrated to the Captains
the process of making the artistic large beads that the Indians admire.)
 " this Frenchman who has lived many years with the Ricares & Mandans shewed
us the process used by those Indians to make beads. the discovery of this
art these nations are said to have derived from the Snake Indians who had
been taken prisoners by the Ricaras.... The Indians are extreemly fond of
the large beads formed by this process. they use them as pendants to their
years, or hair and sometimes wear them about their necks-"
<http://lewisandclarktrail.com/section2/ndcities/BismarckMandan/history22.ht
m>
Of course a note from 1805 is a late note. Never the less:
if it's true that Mr Garreau was the first known white settler in the
Dakotas;
and
if it's true that none known European learnt the Mandans but no other known
native group how to make glass beads,
then there are two possibilities and neither can be ruled out before being
studied:
1. The Mandans have one way or an other themselves learnt how to make such
glass beads.
2. Some Europeans might before 1805 have learnt the Mandans how to make such
glass beads.

Both options are possible, but dismissing the possibility that for example
the Norse Greenlanders settling down or trading up to first half 1500's when
the last documented direct contact between Greenland and Scandinavia/Papal
Church existed, that definitely aren't a scholarly approach at all. It's
better to start with looking at how Scandinavian glass beads looked like
during Viking Age and Medieval Age.

First a comparing with Bronze Age glass beads: last photo right
<http://www.tjorn.se/misc/vagarbete/v723/>

7th -9th century glass beads
<http://www.lansmuseum.a.se/databas/visabild.cfm?in_bildnr=LD98-0416&in_knnr
=0123>

Viking Age:
<http://www.lansmuseum.a.se/arkeologi/barkarby/bild198.html>

Viking Age - Medieval Age
<http://www.hum.gu.se/ark/anl/andra_material.htm>

There might be or there might not be any alike glass beads among the Mandan
made from 1800's. That's never been studied as far as I know

Inger E