Vikings visited Canadian Arctic, research suggests

Artifacts suggest Norse settlement in Nunavut

One of Canada's top Arctic archeologists says the remnants of a stone-and-sod wall unearthed on southern Baffin Island may be traces of a shelter built more than 700 years ago by Norse seafarers, a stunning find that would be just the second location in the New World with evidence of a Viking-built structure.

The tantalizing signs of a possible medieval Norse presence in Nunavut were found at the previously examined Nanook archeological site, about 200 kilometres southwest of Iqaluit, where people of the now-extinct Dorset culture once occupied a stretch of Hudson Strait shoreline.

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Archaeologists to investigate city’s past

Excavations for the new metro train system will allow archaeologists to make new discoveries about early city life

Copenhagen City Museum is looking for 65 archaeologists to take part in excavations in the areas where the new Metro City Ring will be built, reports MetroXpress newspaper.

Museum officials hope that relics up to 1000 years old could be among the possible treasures hidden under the city.

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Study unlocks history of the seas

Medieval fishermen first took to the open seas in about AD1,000 as a result of a sharp decline in large freshwater fish, scientists have suggested.

They say the decline was probably the result of rising population and pollution levels.

The study forms part of a series that examines the impact of humans on life beneath the waves throughout history.

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Viking ship found in Swedish lake

For the first time in Sweden’s long history, marine archaeologists have uncovered the wreck of a Viking ship lying in the mud at the bottom of Sweden’s biggest lake. The Swedish coastguard had a group of 50 scuba divers surveying Lake Vanern’s bottom, when they stumbled across the 20-metre long wreck.

“Never before has a Viking shipwreck been found in Swedish waters,” marine archaeologist Roland Peterson from the Vanern Museum told The Local newspaper. He explained that several Viking boats had been unearthed in Sweden before, but all of them had been on dry land.

Divers took wood and iron samples from the ship, as well as a sword and spear found within the shell of the vessel, which is covered in sediment one metre thick. Experts will now test the specimens to confirm that it is a Viking ship.

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'Viking ship' discovered in Sweden's largest lake

Marine archaeologists in Sweden have discovered what they believe to be the wreck of a Viking ship at the bottom the country's largest lake.

A team of 50 divers from the Swedish coastguard happened upon the 20-metre long wreck by chance on Wednesday afternoon.

"Never before has a Viking shipwreck been found in Swedish waters," marine archaeologist Roland Peterson from the Vänern Museum told The Local.

A few Viking boats have previously been discovered in Sweden, but earlier finds were made on dry land, Peterson explained.

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