ST. JOHN'S, N.L. -- It looks like the Vikings may not have spent time in an area on Newfoundland's south coast, as had been posited by one American researcher.
An archaeological report presented to the provincial government says there are no signs of a Norse presence in the Point Rosee area in the Codroy Valley.
The report on the archaeological work carried out in the area in 2015 and 2016 failed to turn up any signs of Norse occupation, with "no clear evidence" of human occupation before 1800.
Dr. Sarah Parcak of the University of Alabama at Birmingham had identified the Point Rosee site through satellite images, a technology she used to identify previously unknown sites in Egypt by studying indicators in the local topography.
A documentary film crew accompanied her team to the site because of its potential significance.
The idea of another confirmed Norse site, after the internationally famous L'Anse aux Meadows was discovered in northern Newfoundland in 1960, excited locals and made headlines when the research team visited.
But Memorial University archaeology professor Barry Gaulton says that while he and his colleagues have been "quietly awaiting" the final results of the research, they were skeptical of the "scanty evidence" that prompted it.
"We like to give our archaeological colleagues the benefit of the doubt and let them proceed with their research, but we had serious doubts from the start," said Gaulton. "Satellite archaeology is certainly a very great and useful technique, but you know, X for the most part doesn't mark the spot."
Gaulton says he and other Memorial researchers aren't fazed by the lack of Norse findings, given the significance of L'Anse aux Meadows.
"I really don't think it has any negative bearing on tourism," said Gaulton.
L'Anse aux Meadows remains the only confirmed Norse settlement in North America, and stands as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
L'Anse aux Meadows is widely thought to be the Straumford settlement described in Viking texts. Since its discovery, researchers have searched for a second site mentioned in the texts, called Hop.
According to research by archaeologist Birgitta Wallace, author of "Westward Vikings: The Saga of L'Anse Aux Meadows," Hop is "a tidal river estuary protected from the open sea by low sandbar."
Wallace considers the Miramichi River in northern New Brunswick to be a more likely site of Hop, but Parcak and her team pursued Point Rosee based on the satellite research.
While initial results suggested a possible bog ore roasting installation, subsequent examination refuted most of the preliminary indicators for human activity and a Norse presence in the area.
Provincial archaeologist Martha Drake, who oversaw the regulatory side of the research expedition, says she wasn't surprised with the findings based on the early evidence she saw from the field.
The bog iron Parcak's team thought was smelted iron is commonly found across Newfoundland, and the rocky, boggy location would be a difficult place to land a ship.
"With us it just wasn't adding it up," Drake said. "There wasn't one thing that you got to say, 'Oh boy, that's interesting."'
The report submitted to the provincial government states that the 2016 research "found no evidence whatsoever for either a Norse presence or human activity at Point Rosee prior to the historic period," and the findings were not sufficient for the team to return and pursue future studies.
But the report doesn't rule out the possibility of other undiscovered Viking artifacts.
The concluding notes state that "the Codroy Valley region still represents high potential for both pre-contact and early historic (including Norse) sites near the coast," referring to Cape Anguille as one site in particular.
Drake says she sympathized with the team's disappointing results, which she says come hand-in-hand with archaeological work.
"Dead ends in archaeology happen a lot and you just keep on looking."
