Mystical Viking settlement - home to wild grapes and lots of salmon - is in Canada's New Brunswick, claims top archaeologist
- According to legends, Vikings settled at a place called Hop in North America
- Based on Viking descriptions, three key things identify this mystical settlement
- It had an abundance of grapes, salmon and canoes made from animal hide
- Now, one archaeologist claims the only place that matches this description is the Miramichi-Chaleur bay area in northeastern New Brunswick
A long lost Viking settlement known as 'Hop' is located in Canada, a prominent archaeologist has revealed.
Seafaring Scandinavians built a settlement in North America more than 1,000 years ago, 500 years before Christopher Columbus, it is claimed.
Three key things identify this mystical settlement - an abundance of grapes, salmon and canoes made from animal hide - according to legend.
Now, one expert claims the only place that matches this description is the Miramichi-Chaleur bay area in northeastern New Brunswick in Canada.
This would be the third Viking settlement claimed to have been found in North America, although it could be hard to conclusively prove the new theory.
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A lost viking settlement known as 'Hop' that was home to wild grapes and canoes from animal hides has been finally located, a prominent archaeologist has claimed (stock image)
Dr Birgitta Wallace, a senior archaeologist emerita with Parks Canada told Live Science that the illusive Hop may have referred to several seasonal settlements.
In theories spanning several decades, researchers have suggested it could have been located in Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and New York - among other places.
Dr Wallace has pinpointed the location using descriptions from Viking voyages as well as archaeological work carried out at L'Anse aux Meadows, which was the first Viking settlement found in North America in the 1960s.
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The second, a site built between 800AD and 1300AD that was uncovered in Newfoundland in 2016, is the second, though scientists are yet to confirm it is of Viking origin.
'New Brunswick is the northern limit of grapes, which are not native either to Prince Edward Island or Nova Scotia,' said Dr Wallace.
Wild salmon were also so abundant in New Brunswick that the Mi'kmaq people used them as their totem.
They were not found in other pre-Columbian sites such as Maine or New England, which were also believed to be potential locations for the settlement.
Canoes made of animal hide were also used by the Mi'kmaq people in the area, which again matches the fabled description.
Now, one archaeologist claims the only place that matches this description is the Miramichi-Chaleur bay area in northeastern New Brunswick in Canada. The first Viking site discovered in North America was L'Anse aux Meadows
Dr Wallace has pinpointed the location using descriptions from Viking voyages as well as archaeological work carried out at L'Anse aux Meadows (pictured), which was the first Viking settlement found in North America in the 1960s
Excavations from Viking site L'Anse aux Meadows revealed remains of wood from a butternut tree that is native to New Brunswick.
Ash, beech, eastern hemlock and white elm - which could all be found in New Brunswick - were also present at the site.
Although Dr Wallace is confident she has found the general area of the site, researchers may never be able to confirm the findings.
The settlement may well have just been a summer camp, meaning buildings could have only been used for a few months.
According to oral history and legends, Vikings settled at a place called Hop, meaning 'tidal lagoon', in North America more than 1,000 years ago, 500 years before Christopher Columbus (artist's impression)
The main Viking base was Greenland at the time and remains of anyone who died are likely to have been brought back there.
Additionally, experts say Vikings at Hop probably would have focused on gathering food and wood - which doesn't bode well for archaeologists looking for remains.
'I hope that all archaeologists working in this area keep their eyes open just in case they should run across something not fitting the cultural patterns they set out to explore,' Dr Wallace said.
DID THE VIKINGS DISCOVER NORTH AMERICA?
Some experts believe the Vikings may have discovered North America nearly 500 years before Christopher Columbus made his famous journey to the New World.
L'Anse aux Meadows was the first Viking settlement believed to have been found in North America in the 1960s.
In 2016, scientists claimed to have uncovered another Viking settlement in Newfoundland that was built between 800 AD and 1300 AD.
Some experts believe the Vikings may have discovered North America nearly 500 years before Christopher Columbus made his famous journey to the New World
The site, discovered in an area called Point Rosee in southern Newfoundland, is 400 miles (643km) south west of a Viking settlement found in L'Anse aux Meadows during the 1960s.
Now, one expert claims to have found a mysterious location known as 'Hop'.
Based on Viking descriptions, three key things identify this mystical settlement - an abundance of grapes, salmon and canoes made from animal hide.
An archaeologist claims the only place that matches this description is the Miramichi-Chaleur bay area in northeastern New Brunswick in Canada.
This would be the third Viking settlement claimed to have been found in North America, although it could be hard to ever prove it for once and for all.
It is thought the Vikings first discovered America by accident in the autumn of 986 AD, according to one historical source, the Saga of the Greenlanders.
It tells how Bjarni Herjolfsson stumbled across North America after being blown off course as he attempted to sail from Norway to Greenland, but he did not go ashore.
Inspired by his tales, however, another Viking Leif Ericsson then mounted his own expedition and found North America in 1002.
Finding it a fertile land, rich in grapes and berries, he named it Vinland.
Eriksson also named two further 'lands' on the North American coast - one with flat stones, which he called Helluland, and one that was flat and wooded, named Markland.
In 2016, scientists claimed to have uncovered a Viking settlement in Newfoundland that was built between 800AD and 1300AD.
The site, discovered in an area called Point Rosee, is 400 miles (643km) south west of a Viking settlement found in L'Anse aux Meadows during the 1960s.
Dr Sarah Parcak, an archaeologist at the University of Alabama, Birmingham, explained: 'This new site could unravel more secrets about the Vikings, whether they were the first Europeans to 'occupy' briefly in North America and reveal that the Vikings dared to explore much further into the New World than we ever thought.
'Typically in archaeology, you only ever get to write a footnote in the history books, but what we seem to have at Point Rosee may be the beginning of an entirely new chapter.'
The Vikings are well known to have been adept seafarers, using the sun and the stars to help pick their way across open stretches of ocean away from the coastline.
The archaeologists discovered around 28lbs of slag in a hearth that they believe was used to roast iron ore before it was smelted in a furnace at Point Rosee in southern Newfoundland
Over time the structures have altered the soil and the way it retains moisture, changing the vegetation that grows above, making it possible to see the outline of the structures in satellite images.
These helped them identify intriguing patterns in Point Rosee, which indicated there were some man-made features and the possible outline of a longhouse similar to those used by the Vikings.
During excavations of the site, the team uncovered evidence suggesting possible bog iron ore processing.
The archaeologists discovered around 28lbs (13kg) of slag in a hearth that they believe was used to roast iron ore before it was smelted in a furnace.
Blackened stones, scorched by the extreme heat in this process, were also unearthed at the site.
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