Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga

Abstract

Vikings: the North Atlantic Saga explores the little-known story of the dramatic Viking/Norse expansion across the North Atlantic between 850 and 1000 AD, and their explorations and settlement in Greenland and Northeastern North America. Special emphasis is on fads and fallacies in popular beliefs about Vikings in North America as contrasted with new archaeological evidence from Arctic and Subarctic regions where Norse contacts occurred with Native Americans -both Inuit and Indian. Finally, the lecture addresses the likely causes of failure of the western Norse colonies and implications for future human Arctic endeavours. Dr. Fitzhugh earned his undergraduate degree at Dartmouth, and his doctorate at Harvard. His areas of specialization are the Arctic, Mongolia, Basques, North Pacific, Siberia, Circumpolar. He has done fieldwork in Labrador, Quebec, North American and Russian Arctic, and Mongolia. His main publications are books on Genghis Khan, Maine to Greenland, Vikings, Ainu, Bering Sea Eskimos, and Ancient Eskimo Art. The Archaeological Institute of America extends an invitation to this lecture to Canadian Friends of Iceland, Canadian Nordic Society, Canadian Friends of Finland, Danish Club of Ottawa, Swedish Club in Ottawa and the Arctic Circle. Paterson Hall is one of the original buildings in the quad facing the inner park, facing the Dunton Tower across the quad. Dunton Tower is the tallest building on campus. Parking Lot 1, behind the Library is close. Lot 2 is close as well, but involves a walk up the hill to Paterson Hall. Parking is a flat rate of $3 on weekends. For a map of the campus, click on to this link: http://www.doe.carleton.ca/~cp/radio/map.html