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00:00I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
02:00There are pyramids here, chambers, tombs, inscriptions.
02:04They're all over this country.
02:07We're going to investigate these artifacts and sites, and we're going to get to the truth.
02:12Sometimes history isn't what we've been told.
02:31We're going to investigate these artifacts.
02:34We're going to find…
03:38Well, that's going to make it a little dicey for us, is it not?
05:37Well, Carrie, I've had a lot of people contact me and say, you have to check out the Hevener
05:42Stone.
05:43Obviously, that's why I'm here.
05:45But why do you think that people connect this site with the Vikings?
05:49The symbols on the stone are runes that date back to the Norse and the Vikings.
05:56Okay.
05:57Well, I'm anxious to take a look.
06:03Well, there it is.
06:05You know what I just love about this is the runes are so big and they're carved so deep.
06:12I mean, it's like a giant billboard.
06:14It's fantastic.
06:15When was this thing first documented?
06:18I believe the 1830s.
06:21It was the Choctaw Indians that were in the area that started verbalizing that they knew
06:26it was here.
06:27Okay.
06:28So we're going back almost 200 years.
06:31That's a long, long time ago.
06:33When was the first attempt to try to get a translation?
06:36Someone sent it to the Smithsonian Institute sometime during the 1920s.
06:42And trying to see if they could authenticate it.
06:45And what was their reaction to this?
06:48I don't think they were that impressed.
06:50I think they were a little skeptical of it and believed that it was maybe a local Scandinavian
06:55that might have done it.
06:56Well, that's not a surprise.
06:57The Smithsonian Institute has a history of dismissing these mysterious anomalies.
07:09Originally, they thought that it was numerical, that it was possibly a date.
07:14Later, they brought in another linguist.
07:17And at that point, they found that it meant the words Glom Dao.
07:22Which means what?
07:23Glom Valley.
07:25Actually, I've heard that Glom's a formal name of an actual Viking explorer going back
07:31to the nice century.
07:33Okay.
07:33And if he came here, if this is the same Glom, Glom's Valley, what we're looking at here
07:40could be a land claim.
07:41This Huebner runestone could prove that the Vikings came to what is now the United States.
07:53We've got this huge slab of rock which fell off the hill at some point in the past, landed
07:58upright, perfect for carving an inscription.
08:01What I want to do is I want to take a closer look at the carved lines.
08:05This inscription here looks almost essentially the same as the rock.
08:09So I want to see closely, magnify in here and look carefully at these carvings and get
08:15a relative idea of the age.
08:20This Huebner inscription is definitely runic.
08:23Possibly a land claim containing the name of an alleged Viking explorer.
08:28For me, the remaining question is the age of the inscription.
08:33If I can date this carving back to the Viking Age, it would provide strong evidence that the
08:38Vikings were here more than a thousand years ago.
08:41And that would change American history forever.
08:48You know what, Kerry?
08:50It looks like it's a quartzite, which is a metamorphosed sandstone, geologically compressed
08:57over millions of years of heat and pressure, and made this rock very dense, very hard, and
09:04perfect for carving an inscription that's going to last.
09:07The other thing that I see is essentially no change in the color, texture, and weathering
09:13profile of the surface of the rock and the surface of the grooves.
09:18Now, that doesn't tell me that it's a thousand years old, but it tells me that it's not modern.
09:24And the fact that it goes back to at least the 1830s, once you start to go back that far,
09:31you
09:31start to run out of any potential candidates that could possibly have carved this as a joke.
09:37Based on everything I see, the history, the language, the runes, and the geology, all are consistent with this being
09:45authentic.
09:46I have to say, in my opinion, you've got a legitimate Viking Age inscription.
10:11The Vikings were ancient explorers who braved the open ocean to claim new land.
10:17They left their homeland and traveled to Greenland, Iceland, and even made it to Canada.
10:23That is where most people believe the trail of evidence ends, but not me.
10:28It wouldn't have been hard for the Vikings to get to the United States, even inland to Oklahoma.
10:34They could have easily sailed down the east coast of North America, around Florida into the Gulf of Mexico,
10:41and up the Mississippi River, where they would have connected with other rivers to end up in Heavner.
10:47Or they could have come through the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connected with the Great Lakes,
10:51gone down the Mississippi River, connected with the Arkansas River to get to this spot.
10:57And that's where I think they may have left a message in runes on this rock, called the Heavner runestone.
11:07This Heavner runestone could prove that not only the medieval Norse, but the Vikings came to what is now the
11:13United States.
11:14The inscription makes perfect sense. The runes look good. The weathering looks good.
11:19And therefore, I have to say, in my opinion, you've got a legitimate Viking Age inscription.
11:26It's good to know. A lot of people feel that way, too, around here.
11:31I have a good sense of this rock, but I'd like to be able to take a look at the
11:35overall geology
11:36to get a sense of how this piece fits in with that.
12:23I have a good sense of what actually happened in the soup that you were doing in the classroom,
12:23To start out, it's a bit difficult to get up with how this piece fits in with that.
12:24I think it's a big difference when the到了 surface is to be able to build this kind ofuso.
12:26I don't know. I think the surface of a big piece of this piece of detail is to navigate from
12:27this.
12:27This is the plan of urgency. I noticed that it's a bit difficult, but I think it's important to know
12:27what myself is.
12:27I think it's important to know what the things that you've had that più flakied in the night before.
12:27Well, it's very little.
12:43Hey, Kerry.
12:44Hey, Scott. What'd you think?
12:46Well, it looks to me like a big slab of rock
12:49could easily have fallen from up there down the hill.
12:52Everything geologically fits.
12:54The rock up on the hill matches the Hevener Stone,
12:57which I expected that,
12:59but it does add credibility to the whole thing.
13:02Well, I also have some pictures I'd like to show you.
13:05Well, that looks like another rune stone.
13:09This is the Shawnee Stone here,
13:12which was found in Shawnee, Oklahoma.
13:14Okay.
13:15And this is the Poto rune stone
13:17found up on Cavanaugh Hill in Poto.
13:21Are these nearby? Where are these stones?
13:23These are now in the Poto History Museum.
13:26That reminds me of something that I saw.
13:30A woman forwarded an email to me
13:32with a picture of a rune stone that she found.
13:35A few months ago, I received an email
13:38from a woman named Nancy Millwood
13:40who stumbled upon a rune stone as a young girl.
13:43Ever since then,
13:44she has been searching for answers to its meaning.
13:47The inscription on her stone intrigued me.
13:49And after examining the Hevener rune stone,
13:52I think there are similarities in some of the carvings.
13:55This could be even more evidence.
13:57The Vikings were here,
13:58but I won't know until I get it into my lab.
14:01This is incredible.
14:03And these stones together with her stone,
14:05I mean, there could be a connection here.
14:07All of these stones could be Viking Age,
14:10and they're all found right here in the United States.
14:24The Vikings are one of the most adventurous
14:27and brutal groups of explorers in history.
14:31They left the safety and security of their villages in Norway
14:34and braved the open ocean
14:36to conquer Iceland, Greenland, and Canada.
14:40Most experts today believe Canada
14:43is where their explorations ended,
14:45but I think the rune stone trail they left behind
14:47could be evidence that confirms they went farther south.
14:51The Hevener stone I just examined
14:53is one of the artifacts that backs up my theory,
14:56and I'm headed to my lab to examine another one.
15:03This new stone could be one more piece of evidence
15:06that supports a Viking voyage to the United States.
15:11Well, Nancy, thank you so much for coming by
15:14and bringing your stone.
15:15Well, thanks, Scott.
15:16I wanted to tell you about a stone
15:18that I just looked at in Oklahoma
15:20called the Hevener rune stone.
15:21It's an amazing runic inscription
15:23that I think is legitimate
15:25and could provide convincing evidence
15:28that the Vikings not only came to North America,
15:30but to the interior of what is now the United States.
15:34You sent me that picture that had an M
15:36in your inscription,
15:37and it looks vaguely familiar to the M I saw
15:40on the Hevener stone.
15:41There were two other stones found nearby the Hevener stone,
15:44and one of those had an M2
15:46that looked a lot like what I saw on your stone.
15:49Nancy, if these are legitimate Scandinavian runes,
15:52and if I can date this back to the Viking Age,
15:54you just might have a piece of evidence here
15:57that proves that the Vikings made it
15:59to what is now the United States.
16:21The Vikings were legendary explorers.
16:24Their incredible voyages are recorded
16:27in books known as the Viking Sagas,
16:29which say they traveled from Norway
16:31all the way to Canada.
16:34I'm investigating where they went next.
16:38I think they came to the United States
16:40and left clues behind,
16:42rune stones for us to uncover.
16:46By the 12th century, the Viking Age was over.
16:50I think their Norse descendants
16:52followed in their footsteps
16:53and left more rune stones,
16:55inscriptions I've studied throughout America,
16:59one in Maine even has a map
17:00that says one of the lands they explored
17:03was here in the United States.
17:05The stone I'm examining now,
17:07uncovered by Nancy Millwood more than 40 years ago,
17:10could be a new clue,
17:12telling us exactly where the Vikings went.
17:25Well, Nancy, I recently looked at a rune stone
17:28called the Huebner rune stone in Oklahoma.
17:31I'm convinced that it's genuine
17:32and does prove that the Vikings came
17:35not only to what is now the eastern seaboard
17:38of the United States,
17:40but to the interior as well.
17:41You sent me that picture that had an M
17:44in your inscription
17:45and it looks vaguely familiar
17:47to the M I saw on the Huebner stone.
17:49If you don't mind,
17:50I'm really ready to see this.
17:52I would love to show you.
17:55Ah.
17:57Well, there's the M
17:59and it came out in two pieces.
18:01Well, tell me the story.
18:02How did you find this?
18:04Well, we were on a church picnic
18:05in Saluter, North Carolina.
18:07I was 11 years old.
18:09We were playing hide and seek.
18:10Okay.
18:11And I walked around
18:12under a great big granite rock
18:14to hide
18:15and actually tripped over the stone itself.
18:17You tripped over it?
18:19Yes, I did.
18:22Showed it to Mom.
18:23She asked me to make samples
18:26of the ruins on onion skin paper
18:28and we took charcoal copies.
18:31I was curious
18:32and we wanted to determine what it was
18:34and I sent samples
18:36to different colleges
18:37around the area
18:38across the United States.
18:40This is a copy of the letter
18:41that I sent
18:42with the copies
18:44of the stone.
18:45So you really made an effort
18:47to try to figure out
18:48what this was.
18:49You reached out
18:49to all these people.
18:51What did they say?
18:52I have no response
18:53except from
18:54the University of North Carolina
18:56Chapel Hill
18:56and that was back
18:57in the early 70s.
18:59So from all these people
19:00that you contacted
19:01there must be a dozen on there
19:03only one got back to you.
19:04Yes, sir.
19:05And what did they say?
19:06They suggested
19:07that I contact
19:08the Smithsonian Institute.
19:13We also sent a copy
19:15of a rubbing
19:16and scraping
19:16of the stone
19:17to the Smithstone
19:18and they asked
19:20if I would donate
19:21the stone
19:22for display.
19:23Okay.
19:24So they wanted you
19:25to give it to them?
19:25Exactly.
19:27And apparently
19:28you didn't give it to them.
19:29How did that play out?
19:30Mom said
19:31it's not going anywhere
19:32or I did a whipping.
19:34Well, your mother
19:35was a wise woman
19:36because I think
19:37that if you had given it to them
19:38I doubt that
19:39it would have been on display.
19:41In fact,
19:41I think that they would have
19:42hidden it immediately
19:43based on
19:44what I'm seeing here.
19:46They would not have liked this.
19:54One of the things
19:55that jumps out at me
19:56right away
19:57are
19:58what look to be
19:59Scandinavian ruins.
20:01I'm seeing dots
20:02but this M
20:04is very interesting
20:06and very telling.
20:07You notice how
20:08these two lines
20:08in the center
20:09cross
20:10forming a little X here?
20:12I'm doing some research
20:13on another project
20:14that this M
20:16might be related to.
20:18These are definitely runes
20:19and the use of runes
20:21in Scandinavia
20:21goes back to
20:22at least 400 AD
20:25and they were in heavy use
20:26all the way up
20:27until about the 14th century
20:28generally.
20:29The Viking sagas
20:30talk about
20:31the Norse traveling
20:32to these three mythical
20:34land masses.
20:35One's called Heluland,
20:36one is called
20:37Markland,
20:38the other one
20:39is called Vinland.
20:40I believe that
20:41Vinland is in
20:43what is now
20:43the United States.
20:45Scholars believe
20:46that Heluland,
20:47Markland,
20:48and Vinland
20:49are real locations
20:50the Vikings voyage to.
20:52It is accepted
20:53that the Vikings
20:53started in Norway
20:54and sailed west,
20:56traveling to Iceland
20:57and Greenland
20:58and eventually reaching
20:59the shores
20:59of North America.
21:01Heluland is thought
21:02to be the present-day
21:03Baffin Island.
21:05Markland is believed
21:05to be Labrador,
21:06which includes
21:07the island of Newfoundland.
21:10Vinland hasn't
21:10officially been found
21:11and scholars still
21:13debate its location.
21:14But I think Vinland
21:15is in the United States
21:17and Nancy Stone
21:18could be the evidence
21:19I'm looking for.
21:21You know,
21:22I would really like
21:22to get this under
21:23the microscope.
21:24Sure.
21:24Take a look.
21:25Go for it.
21:26Go for it.
21:27Go for it.
21:57Okay, Nancy. A couple things. This does look to be a soapstone. Unfortunately, because of that, it's going to be
22:05very difficult for me to say with any certainty how old the weathering is. So the minerals that it's made
22:12of really don't break down into any new minerals, which is typically what we would do to try to age
22:18date an inscription. So what that does is that puts even more emphasis on what the inscription says.
22:26There are a lot of really interesting things here that I'm seeing. There are some Scandinavian runes here that would
22:32be consistent with the Viking Age.
22:34I have a good friend of mine who's an archaeologist who's well-connected in the Scandinavian rune community who I
22:40think can help us get this translated.
22:43Well, thanks, Scott. I feel like at times I've hit my head up against a brick wall because I have
22:48no answers, and I've already came a lot further today than I was 10 years ago.
22:55So thank you for all your help.
23:27And it could indicate maybe that the Vikings were here in North America.
23:31We need to get this thing translated. Do you think you can help me?
23:34Yeah, definitely.
23:36I mean, if you send me some photos, I'll send it to one of my colleagues.
23:39You know, I had something for you, too.
23:41I had a chance to look at a rune stone myself.
23:44It's under the jurisdiction of the underwater archaeologist in the state of Massachusetts, which is how I heard about it.
23:49Underwater archaeologist? Is this thing underwater?
23:51It's off the coast of No Man's Land Wildlife Refuge, but the island itself is actually off limits.
23:58It used to be a naval testing facility, and it is covered with undetonated bombs.
24:03But here's why I wanted to talk to you about it.
24:06Supposedly, the name Leif Erikson is carved on it.
24:09You know what, Mike?
24:10I've already studied that rock, and it does say Leif Erikson on it.
24:13I wrote about it in my rune stone book, basically trying to understand the geology.
24:18But I could really use the opinion of an archaeologist like you.
24:21Well, the island is dangerous, Scott. I mean, there are bombs everywhere, man.
24:26Well, there are bombs everywhere, but what concerns me most is that that inscription could be erased forever.
24:32I'd love to join you up there, but there's one place I have to visit first.
24:36Oh, yeah? What is that?
24:37The only undisputed Viking settlement in North America.
25:11The only undisputed Viking settlement in North America.
25:22The Vikings are legendary for their epic adventures.
25:26Expeditions that took them to Iceland, Greenland, and the shores of Canada.
25:33Right now, a site called Lonce Meadows in Newfoundland
25:36is the only archaeologically accepted Viking settlement in North America.
25:42The site dates to 1,000 AD, and archaeologists replicated the buildings and structures the Vikings would have lived in.
25:51I'm headed there now, hoping to find something, anything, that could help me in my mission to uncover evidence that
25:57the Vikings came to the United States.
26:03Well, Brigitte, I think it's amazing that the Vikings made it all the way here, I mean, 1,300 miles
26:09from Greenland, 500 years before Christopher Columbus.
26:13But I want to find out if they traveled farther south, and even made it into what is now the
26:19United States.
26:20This is the one site that everybody accepts as a known Viking site.
26:24How was it first discovered?
26:25It was discovered in 1960 by the Norwegian explorer and writer Helge Ingstad.
26:32So 1960 was the first time the world knew that the Vikings had come to North America and made a
26:38settlement here.
26:40When Lonce Meadows was first discovered, it was instantly dismissed by academics.
26:46Scholars refused to believe that an authentic Viking site existed in North America.
26:53Archaeologists worked hard to uncover evidence buried beneath the surface,
26:56and today it is considered proof that Viking voyagers made it to Canada.
27:02It is a discovery that truly changed history.
27:06What did the archaeologists find specifically here at the site that told them this was a Viking site?
27:12They found buildings for the type of architecture used in 11th century Iceland.
27:18And the artifacts that went with the buildings were Norse, also dating from the late Viking period.
27:27Some wood artifacts had marks that they had been made with metal tools,
27:33and the native population did not use metal tools at this point.
27:40Away from these buildings is a little hut where people smelted and manufactured iron for the first time in the
27:50New World, as far as we know.
27:52Well, that is pretty significant.
27:54So the iron would have been for, what, nails and tools and weapons, maybe?
27:59Our theory is it was probably just to produce some nails.
28:03So would this have been maybe a wintering over type thing if they came down and winter over, repair the
28:09boats,
28:10and then in the spring take off and either go back or somewhere else?
28:15What the artifacts in general tell us is that this is a gateway for further explorations.
28:31How far south do you think the Vikings made it from here, and what evidence do we have that supports
28:37that?
28:37Very often on an archaeological site, it's small, insignificant things that become the most interesting part of it.
28:46And here, it really was three little butternuts.
28:53Butternut trees are not native to Newfoundland, but they are native to the northeastern United States.
29:00In fact, they can't grow much farther north than Maine.
29:04The fact that archaeologists uncovered butternuts at the Lonson Meadows site means the Vikings must have traveled farther south.
29:11The interesting thing with the butternuts is they actually grow in the same areas as wild grapes.
29:20And the sagas talk about grape trees.
29:22Whoever picked those butternuts and brought them here had also been in areas where there were wild grapes.
29:29You have to go all the way down to New England to find wild grapes.
29:45Uncovering two key pieces of evidence bolsters my case that the Vikings ventured farther south.
29:52The wild grapes and butternuts are essential clues in solving the mystery of where they went after Lonson Meadows.
30:01One of the few places where both can be found is Martha's Vineyard on the east coast of the United
30:07States.
30:09This is the same place where a runestone was discovered etched with the name Leif Erikson, one of the most
30:15famous Vikings to ever live.
30:33Now I'm headed to examine that stone.
30:35If it is an authentic Viking Age inscription, it could be just the piece of evidence I need to determine
30:42if the Vikings made it to America.
31:04The stone with Leif Erikson's name on it that I'm hoping to see, I've actually seen before.
31:09But when I visited No Man's Land Island a decade ago, it was in danger of being permanently engulfed by
31:15the sea.
31:24The last time I was here, I couldn't get an archaeologist's opinion on it.
31:28So heading out here with Mike is really important in determining whether it's a real Viking artifact or a hoax.
31:38There are a few things here that we absolutely know.
31:41Lonson Meadows proves that the Vikings came here 500 years before Christopher Columbus.
31:46We know the Vikings had the capability and the fortitude to travel incredible distances.
31:52And the distance between Lonson Meadows and Greenland skirting the coast is about 1,300 miles.
31:57And the distance from Lonson Meadows to No Man's Island is about 1,200 miles.
32:02So it's actually within a range that we know they were capable of traveling.
32:07Of course, the question is, did they do it?
32:10We need to find an artifact that is unequivocally Viking.
32:15And here's what I want to show you.
32:17Look at this inscription.
32:18That is unbelievable.
32:19Unbelievable.
32:20Ten years ago when I was here, the stone was underwater, but the top was sticking out about a foot.
32:27Now, this was taken in the 1920s.
32:29This stone, this is probably low tide, is high and dry.
32:32Right, right.
32:33You can clearly see that's a runic L, Leif Erikson.
32:37That M is a Roman number for 1,000.
32:40There's a one after it, so 1,001.
32:43That's consistent with the sagas.
32:45It's like Leif Erikson was here.
32:46You know, from Lonsa Meadows, they talked about traveling to a place that had a warmer climate.
32:51There's only one direction you can go to get a warmer climate, and that's south.
32:54I have investigated runestones all over this country.
32:58I believe some may be Viking inscriptions, but I think a few unique stones were actually left by Norse explorers
33:05in the post-Viking Age.
33:06The Spirit Pond runestones in Maine are one example.
33:09The medieval Norse carved these inscriptions, which include a map that points south and says Vinland takes two days.
33:18I think the Norse carved this map to mark the voyage their Viking ancestors made hundreds of years before.
33:26The sagas clearly indicate that they went south, a place where grapes grew.
33:30This place is called Martha's Vineyard, a vineyard.
33:33Grapes, okay?
33:35So the climate fits.
33:36We have a stone that says Leif Erikson, 1001.
33:41It all fits.
33:42I Say Vinland is right here.
34:03The Viking sagas tell of seafaring voyagers who cross dangerous waters to conquer new lands.
34:11So far, Lonca Meadows is the only undisputed Viking site in North America.
34:16But I'm on a quest to find out the truth about where they went next.
34:22I think they went south all the way into what is now the United States.
34:26They left clues behind that support this theory, a breadcrumb trail of runestones.
34:32The Huebner runestone and Nancy Millwood stone could be two of these clues.
34:54Now, I'm on my way to examine another runestone that just happens to say the name of possibly the most
35:01famous Viking explorer, Leif Erikson.
35:05The expedition could be dicey because of where the stone is located.
35:09But I always say, no risk, no reward.
35:13So, Mike, as you know, I'm trying to get to the bottom of this question.
35:16Did the Vikings make it all the way down here to Martha's Vineyard area and specifically to No Man's Land
35:22Island?
35:24And the evidence likely to convince a lot of people is the No Man's Land Island runestone.
35:30And I was here 10 years ago, but I got beat up pretty bad in the water.
35:34And I'm hoping that we can, you know, get out to the inscription and take a look at it, you
35:38especially being an archaeologist.
35:40But this thing is a dangerous spot.
35:42Yeah, I mean, it's a big but.
35:44No Man's Land was used as an aerial gunnery range for years, from 42 to 96, and the Navy was
35:51dropping bombs all over the place.
35:52It's actually now a national wildlife refuge, but nobody is permitted on the island.
35:57And there's still a pretty good chance that there's unexploded ordnance, not just on the island, but in the water
36:04around the island.
36:06Even though there's a danger that we could hit something, I think it's worth the risk.
36:11Because the inscription supposedly says, Leif Erikson, with Roman letters that say M and a 1, which would be 1001.
36:21That is consistent with the Viking sagas.
36:23We know the Vikings made it to Launson Meadows around the year 1000.
36:27That's an undisputed fact in archaeology, in history.
36:30We know that happened.
36:31And No Man's Land is basically the last body of land you get if you're coming south and you're heading
36:39into this incredibly protected series of natural harbors and bays.
36:46So if you wanted to leave a marker that said, hey, this is a good entranceway, No Man's Land, that
36:53would be a good place to leave a marker.
36:54Sure. We have a potentially important historical artifact.
37:01It needs to be preserved. I don't even know if it's still there.
37:04If this is Vinland, and if there is some kind of a settlement in association with the stone up on
37:10the bluff, then there would be artifacts in association with it.
37:14But the military blew the hell out of the island.
37:17Well, that's going to make it a little dicey for us, is it not?
37:38Well, Mike, the stone is over there. It's the second one, the second big one over there.
37:43Hey, Scott, can you get us any closer here?
37:45No, we're already pretty shallow. There's a lot of big rocks in here, and I don't want to lose the
37:50keel.
37:51Well, what are we going to do? We've got to get over to that rock.
37:54I can radio ashore and see if I can get somebody to come out with a smaller boat to get
37:58you in there.
37:59Well, Mike, we're going to need a smaller boat.
38:04Push it up.
38:07It's the second rock. See those two that are staggered there?
38:19You're okay here. There's one right here.
38:29Got it. Perfect.
38:46As soon as we get close to the stone's location, I knew we were in trouble.
38:51My worst fears had come true.
38:54Even though I know the stone that says Leif Erikson is here, there's no way we're going to see it
39:00today.
39:01Well, Mike, can you see that rock just to the right of the big boulder? It's underwater.
39:08Yeah, it just submerged there.
39:09If you watch the wave, you can see the stone. It's right there.
39:12There's no way we can do any research on that underwater.
39:15Even though the stone is right offshore in only five feet of water, it's too dangerous to go any closer.
39:22There are too many unexploded bombs on the shore and in the water surrounding the stone.
39:27Now, why do you think it would be deeper underwater now than it was when you were here last time?
39:33It's a geologic process that's ongoing.
39:36This is glacial sediments.
39:37The waves are pulling this down.
39:40I mean, you can see it's eroding right now.
39:42That rock, at one time, this bluff was up here.
39:46And it was probably sitting at the top of the bluff.
39:49It had to be exposed. They carved on it, right?
39:50It's all right.
39:51So, over time, it's eroded the bank. It's slid down. In the 1920s, it was on the beach.
39:57When I came here ten years ago, it was a foot higher than it is now. So, it's sinking.
40:02It's literally sinking into the sea.
40:05We have this potentially incredible historical artifact, a thousand years old, documenting a trip of Leif Erikson to Vinland.
40:14This is Vinland right here. And it's sinking into the sea. Why don't the archaeologists want to preserve it?
40:21As an archaeologist, what I would say is that context is critical.
40:28You don't want to remove an artifact from its original location unless you have to.
40:34Now, there could be an argument to be made here that it is now at risk of vanishing forever.
40:41And so, therefore, it needs to be removed. It needs to be preserved up on land.
40:47Okay. And I can appreciate that.
40:49But it's not so much that it's going to sink and be gone, although that is a concern.
40:54But the continued wave action, for all we know, may have destroyed the inscription already.
40:59I mean, we have to get it out.
41:01But it's not going to happen today.
41:02Okay. We're going to have to go.
41:05All right.
41:14I know that runestone says the name Leif Erikson.
41:18That tells me the Vikings came to the United States.
41:22All the evidence I have uncovered in my investigation points to this location as the Vinland from the sagas.
41:30The Hedner runestone in Oklahoma is essentially a Viking land claim.
41:36The stone Nancy found has similar runes.
41:39And the evidence of wild grapes and butternuts found at the Viking settlement in Newfoundland points to the Vikings coming
41:45here to the United States.
41:49Seeing that the runestone was almost submerged was a real disappointment.
41:53And the unexploded bombs along the coastline make it too dangerous to navigate underwater.
41:59Now, it's inches away from being erased from America's history forever.
42:10The Viking sagas tell amazing stories of a courageous, brutal, seafaring people making a landfall on this continent long before
42:19Columbus.
42:22Even though Lonsa Meadows is the only universally accepted Viking settlement in North America, I believe they made it further
42:29south to the United States.
42:33Mike did get me a translation for Nancy Millwood's runestone, but it was inconclusive.
42:44In fact, I believe many rune stones found across the United States make up the final unwritten chapter of the
42:51Viking sagas.
42:55Clues have been left here that will tell us the truth about the Vikings, but it is up to us
43:00to find them.
43:03In the end, it may not be an archaeologist that uncovers the truth.
43:08People just like Nancy Millwood stumble across artifacts all the time.
43:15And these artifacts are the key to unlocking the past, revealing the real history of the United States.
43:28If you have a mysterious artifact or sight I need to see, I want to know about it.
43:33Go to history.com slash unearthed.
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