Appearance
Vinland
The name Norse explorers gave to parts of coastal North America around 1000 AD, most likely referring to areas near the Gulf of Saint Lawrence where wild grapes grew.
Evidence
The only undisputed pre-Columbian European site in North America is L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland, excavated in the 1960s by Helge and Anne Stine Ingstad. Archaeological finds include Norse-style sod buildings, Norse artifacts, and butternuts sourced farther south than Newfoundland, which implies voyages into what is now New Brunswick.
Attempted Settlement
Sagas describe several expeditions by Leif Erikson, Thorfinn Karlsefni, and Freydis Eriksdottir. Trade with Indigenous peoples broke down into skirmishes. Norse numbers were tiny compared with local populations, and Greenland as a whole had only a few hundred people to draw on.