donald raab Wrote:
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> And how many of them have been to the site and the
> surrounding area. The wood claim for instance.
> Show me the wood that would have been the cargo.
> Most likely to me this was that repair facility
> and the Norse moved inland down the St. Lawrence.
> Vinland is much more likely further down based
> upon saga descriptions and the would be wood to be
> found.


Take a look at [www.mnsu.edu] and note where L'Anse Aux Meadows was located. Then take a look at the ecological map located at [www.gov.nf.ca]

As you'll note from comparing maps, and following the explanatory links, L'Anse Aux Meadows lies in a "mostly" treeless (nowadays, anyway) area termed the "Strait of La Belle Isle Barrens" ecoregion.... but just TWO MILES inland lies the heavily forested "Northern Peninsula subregion" (also reachable by a few miles sail in either direction around Newfoundland). And just 30 miles across the Strait of Belle Isle is heavily forested Labrador.

So a twenty minute brisk walk would give them ALL the trees they wanted, as would perhaps 20-30 minutes sailing time in either direction.

They could have easily roughcut the timber & TOWED it a few miles by boat back to the settlement, roughcut it and sledged it 2 miles mostly downhill (easy enough, especially during winter), OR had temporary logging camps at various places (wherever there was timber of the various species they wanted most) & stacked the finished lumber for drying right along the shoreline..... for pickup just prior to leaving.

Note: [collections.ic.gc.ca]

"The Ingstads had encountered about 125 artifacts inside or immediately outside the buildings. Of these, about 100 were nails or fragments of nails. The rest of the artifacts were small personal items that had been lost by their owners. Among them were a cloak pin of bronze, a glass bead and three items associated with clothes making: a spindle whorl for spinning wool, flax or hemp, a fragment of a bone needle for "single needle knitting", and a small whetstone for sharpening sewing needles and scissors."

So this "boat repair station" of yours ALSO had sheep & women to spin wool & repair clothing.

"During the Parks excavations an additional 650 Norse items (and many more native objects) were encountered, primarily in the bog. MOST WERE OF WOOD AND CONSISTED OF CARPENTRY DEBRIS thrown out from one of the halls. The wetness and the tannic acid of the bog had preserved them in mint condition. The debris included chips and slivers from shaping wood with a broadaxe. There were also a great number of wooden skewers, pieces of ropes made from spruce roots, a container of birch bark and rolls of the same bark, and a bow for an auger. Most objects were broken and, probably discarded after being replaced with new parts. Among them was a board that resembles a mending patch found in their home county of Viking Dublin used for repairing their ships."

Now, L'Anse Aux Meadows is right in the midst of virtually the only decent pasture land (graze for sheep, cattle, etc) for a LONG ways in any direction, but it's also close to timber that need be transported only a short distance downhill or by water. And it's right on an easily visible headland (albeit on the side sheltered from Atlantic storms), that is distinctive enough to find "by verbal directions", allows easy view of anybody else sailing up towards them, AND lies along a waterway giving immediate access to Labrador & clear sailing into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. So, all in all this really sounds like what started out as an exploration base for Leif, was a promising candidate for regular settlement to Karlsefni, and later fit the needs of Freydis as well. It's a site that would have been attractive to EVERYBODY mentioned in the Sagas as having gone to Vinland.

"From the size of the total floor space in the living quarters one can deduce that the settlement could accommodate about 100 people"

And it's size is a pretty close fit for the two shiploads of people mentioned in the sagas as being brought by Karlsefni, or those broght later by Freydis (especially if they'd wanted a little room to expand in.... as WOULD be the logical thing to do).

So, I assume your "wood" objection is taken care of.

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