BEFORE COLUMBUS: THE VIKING INVASION скачать в хорошем качестве

BEFORE COLUMBUS: THE VIKING INVASION

BEFORE COLUMBUS: THE VIKING INVASION For centuries, history taught that Christopher Columbus was the first European to reach the shores of the New World in 1492. But this story is incomplete. Nearly five hundred years before Columbus, warriors and sailors from the far North had already crossed the Atlantic Ocean. They were the Vikings. Driven by harsh climates, limited land, and an unmatched mastery of the sea, the Vikings transformed the North Atlantic into a network of routes rather than a barrier. From Scandinavia, they expanded westward—first to the Faroe Islands, then Iceland, then Greenland. And from there, they sailed even farther. Around the year 1000, Viking longships reached the shores of North America, a land they called Vinland. Archaeological evidence at L’Anse aux Meadows confirms what medieval sagas described: the Vikings were the first Europeans to set foot in the New World. These were not accidental drifters. They were organized explorers and warriors, traveling in disciplined groups, armed with axes, shields, and iron will. They built shelters, repaired ships, harvested resources, and encountered indigenous peoples centuries before transatlantic empires existed. Yet the Viking presence in America was brief. Distance, resistance, and isolation eventually forced them to abandon Vinland. Their discovery faded into legend—while the ocean waited. When Columbus crossed the Atlantic centuries later, he did not arrive at an unknown world. He followed a path that had already been proven possible by the North. The Vikings came before Columbus. History simply forgot.