Prehistoric settlement

It's widely accepted that humans first arrived by the Beringia Land bridge, some estimates claiming this occurred as early as 43,000 years ago.

Norse colonization

* c. 1000:

Erik the Red Erik Thorvaldsson (), known as Erik the Red, was a Norse explorer, described in medieval and Icelandic saga sources as having founded the first settlement in Greenland. He most likely earned the epithet "the Red" due to the color of his hair a ...

and Leif Ericson, Viking navigators, discovered and settled Greenland, '' Helluland'' (possibly

Baffin Island Baffin Island (formerly Baffin Land), in the Canadian territory of Nunavut, is the largest island in Canada and the fifth-largest island in the world. Its area is , slightly larger than Spain; its population was 13,039 as of the 2021 Canadia ...

), '' Markland'' (now called Labrador), and Vinland (now called

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

). The Greenland colony lasted until the 15th century. * c. 1350: The Norse Western Settlement in Greenland was abandoned. * 1354: King Magnus of Sweden and Norway authorised

Paul Knutson Paul Knutson (Pål Knutsson) was a 14th-century law officer in Bergen, Norway. Biography In the 1340s Pål Knutsson was an ombudsman who owned much of the Tveit farm at Tysnes in Hordaland. By 1348 he had been promoted to judge of the Gulathing ...

to lead an expedition to Greenland which may never have taken place. * c.1450–1480s: The Norse Eastern Settlement in Greenland was abandoned during the opening stages of the

Little Ice Age The Little Ice Age (LIA) was a period of regional cooling, particularly pronounced in the North Atlantic region. It was not a true ice age of global extent. The term was introduced into scientific literature by François E. Matthes in 1939. Ma ...

References

Other sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Timeline of Norse colonization of the Americas Norse colonization of the Americas Archaeology timelines Norse colonization of the Americas Norse colonization of the Americas Norse colonization of the Americas Norse colonization of the Americas Norse colonization of the Americas