Shifting Vinland - Tradition and Myth
1970; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 2; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1179/tin.1970.2.1.29
ISSN2040-8706
Autores Tópico(s)Archaeology and ancient environmental studies
ResumoCertain statements regarding artifacts associated with the L'Anse aux Meadows,' Newfoundland, archaeological site in the author's essay Shifting Vinland Tradition and Myth (Terrae Incognitae II (1970), 29-60), have elicited commentary and warrant further clarification on three points of controversy: 1) The circumstances involving the unearthing of the so-called whorl, 2) the cultural identity and the geographical derivation of the migrants and the artifacts (including the site), 3) the assertion that the site represents the recovery of Leifr Eiriksson's Vinland. The author's statement that the spindle at the L'Anse aux Meadows site was found ... not in situ but during 'cleanup work' (p. 56), has been characterized as a misrepresentation of the circumstances of the find and as a challenge to the integrity and professional qualifications of some of the archaeologists associated with excavating the site. Although the specific circumstances surrounding the find of the so-called whorl are inconsequential to the central theme of the author's essay, in the face of the emotional reaction the observation resulted in, as well as for factual accuracy, it is necesssary to explicate the author's interpretation regarding an object whose derivation, function, and location at the time of the find remains obscure.s It is regrettable that a full archaeological account of the L'Anse aux Meadows site has not been published as yet. Most of the available information regarding the site derives from press releases and semipopular literature, wherein the foremost objective seemingly is to assure and reassure the public that the site is Norse, pre-Columbian, and that it is Leiir Eiriksson's Vinland»
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