Vinland Blog 2025
Introduction
I have always been interested in the Vikings, especially their visits to North America and the encounters with the natives (Skraelings). As if to spur this on, I was commissioned to build a model of a Viking Longship for our Local Scandinavian Cultural Center. Near the same time I obtained a copy of the book Westviking by Farley Mowat (1965) and after reading it, decided to take a vacation to Newfoundland where L' Anse Aux Meadows, the only verified Norse site in North America is located. What I learned in Newfoundland and the subsequent results of my research is remarkable.
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Probability Factor
PF1. Not likely. Prove to me that it is.
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| Composite of the D'Arcy stone head. Pictures one, two and three are the faces, four is the hole on top and five is Vigfusson's original 1940 photograph. |
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| Stone disks in the Kindersley Museum |
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| Chalked Wyoming County Petroglyph. Credit: Gerald Ratliff |
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| A photo of Jim Cook, curator of the Wyoming County, KY, Historical Museum, standing in front of the Wyoming County Petroglyphs. Photo credit: wvtourism.com |
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| The Calendar Two chamber in South Woodstock, Vermont. (Photo Stone Structures of Antiquity) |
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| The megalith in South Woodstock, Vermont clearly showing the holes. (Photo Stone Structures of Antiquity) |
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| In this picture you can see how the long roof stones span the full 15’ because the walls are not corbeled and are vertical. You can also see the 10”X28” roof opening. (Photo Stone Structures of Antiquity) |
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| A closeup of the entrance to one of the Gungywamp stone chambers. (Ray Bendici / Damned Connecticut) |
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| Gungywamp stone circle (Wikpedia) |
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| Line of standing stones at Gumgywamp. (David K. Leff) |
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| Google satellite image showing ruins in Primorsky, Krai, Russia. |
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| The entrance to the Upton dolmen is 5 feet high and 14 feet long and leads to a perfect beehive-shaped room. Credit: Boston Globe Photo / Tamir Kalifa |
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| A view from the interior of the Upton dolmen. (atlasobscura) |
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| Architectural drawing of the chamber by V. F. Fagan (1944) |
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| The Westford Boat Stone on display at the J. V. Fletcher library. |
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| Celtic faces from Oklahoma (photo author) |
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| Westford Knight Carving(Locations of Lore) |
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| Closer View of the Westford Knight(Locations of Lore) |
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| Raw Image of the Carving(Locations of Lore) |
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| Spectrographic filtered image(Locations of Lore) |
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| Outlined(Locations of Lore) |
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Archive 2020 *** Archive 2024
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January 15
Welcome to a new year and the fourteenth of this blog. To start with we are going to step back a bit and examine something close to home. This is certainly a mystery item or as they are increasingly becoming referred to as an 'out of place' artifact. That it turned up in the middle of Saskatchewan is even more perplexing.
D'Arcy, Saskatchewan
Stone Head sculpture 1935
This triple faced human sized stone head is made of pink sandstone with alternating bands of red and grey. It weighs eighteen pounds. The beginnings of a fourth face are also apparent. A large hole four inches deep is in the top.
It was found by Wesley St. John in 1935 at the edge of a gravel pit, five feet in from the original hillside and ten feet below the surface. It has been extensively examined by numerous experts but still remains a curio. Original examiners stated the carving was made by stone tools but this has been repudiated by others who claim steel tools were used. The stone is not indigent to the area.
Nearby are native sites that have turned up numerous artifacts and there are petroglyphs in the area but no plains peoples have ever been known to create stone works such as this.
Here is an excellent article on this item with many pictures. You should use Firefox as my Google browser would not work with this site.
Some claim this item was traded from the Mayans in the south while others claim it resembles artwork from Siberia and reinforces the Bering Strait theory. Can it have connections to the Megalithic Culture or is it simply a hoax?
The problem with research is more just keeps turning up. While reading the article on this mystery stone and viewing photographs of the other artifacts on display with it, two carved stone discs peaked my interest.One is a plain disk of apparently local material. The other is a carved black stone, probably granite, with a perfectly shaped ring that makes it look like an upside down plate. It is very reminiscent of artifacts from Egypt. But since none of this is Viking related we will go no further.
The stone and plates currently resides in the Kindersley and District Plains Museum.
Geographical location: 51.377,-108.46
PF 2-3
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Here is an updated article on the Horse Creek Petroglyphs covered previously:
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Wyoming County, West Virginia
Ogam Inscription 1964
This inscription, found in 1964 was further examined in 1970. A more detailed examination in 1982 by Pyle, Shields, Powell and Gallagher with transcription by Fell, determined it to be an early Christian calendar. It has also been found the inscription, beginning with the sun symbol, are highlighted by the rising sun on winter solstice.
The above link to the Boone County Petroglyphs also covers this site in detail. In addition I found this quite interesting article for anyone who wants to study this further. There is also a YouTube video here:
Americas First Christmas Cards
Geographical location: 37.732,-81.508
PF 3
February 15
Now let's go back to where we left off in December...
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South Woodstock, Vermont
Dolmen
Megalith
Ogam inscription
A beehive style dolmen called the Calendar 2 Chamber is known to be one of the largest in New England. The entrance has a southeast alignment and a small opening at the back of the chamber for solar and astrological signifcance.
80 meters southwest of the dolmen is a man sized megalith that has been holed numerous times but before commenting further I would need to examine these possible Norse indicators personally. Could they be related to our mooring stone holes or are they meant to mark solar positions?
The Ogam inscription was reported from a different source. No further information is available on this at the time.
There are literally hundreds of these stone structures in the New England area and since these are more Celtic than Norse, we will only list a few of signifcance. Here is an excellent website that looks into dolmens in more detail:
Geographical location: 43.563,-72.540
PF 3
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Irasberg, Vermont
Chain mail 1827
A shirt of chain mail was found here under a tree stump in 1827. This article is from the Independent Standard:
"This curious relic was discovered by Shubael Goodell in the west part of town in 1827. It was rolled together and lying at the foot of a large birch tree, between two considerable roots. Mr. Goodell set down his jug upon this very relic, and that when he again took up his drink, he heard the jingle or saw the chains which, on further examination proved to be a regular shirt of mail, no doubt of European manufacture. The upper part was made of iron or steel, with rings about one fourth of an inch in diameter, and the lower part was made in the same manner, of gilt or brass wire, the shoulders of double thickness....When found it was much corroded with rust, but retained its entire shape, although giving evidence of having lain there a long time.
The last known location was the Peels Museum, Philadelphia. Here is a link:
Geographical location: 44.801, -72.284
PF 3
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Lake Memphremagog, Quebec
Iron Breastplate 1950s
The iron breastplate found here in the early 1950s was apparently etched with a neo-Templar design and dated to the late 14th century. No further information is available at this time.
Geographical location: 45.118, -72.279
PF 2-3
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Willamantic, Conneticutt
Ship Grave 1955
Reported in the Chronicle in 1955. No further information is available at this time.
Geographical location: 41.712,-72.237
PF 2-3
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Groton, Conneticutt
Religious Site
known as Gungywamp, this site shows use from thousands of years ago to colonial times. There is strong suggestion that it was used by Irish monks to escape the Vikings. It features dolmens, stone circles and chi-rho christograms. Here are three good links:
Geographical location: 41.390,-72.064
PF 3
March 15
This is a prime example of how more and more discoveries are being made every day. While using Google Satellite to wander through Russia I chanced upon this interesting site:
Khasansky District-Primorsky Krai, Russia-42.486748, 130.641192
It appears to be the ruins of a settlement with stone building foundations on a ridge above a stream, more ruins in a flat and a very old road that seems to be lined with pillars or stones. The age of this site is unknown. The nearby A189 highway has Google street view but nothing shows close to our mystery ruins.
I would love to personally examine this site but distance and time will probably never allow me there.
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Marrimanport, Maine
Bronze needle 1997
Reported by Fell. No further information is available at present.
Geographical location: 45.132,-72,057
PF 3
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Massachusetts
Glass beads 1997
Bronze axe 1997
Remains of pallisades 1952
The beads and axe were reported by Fell in 1997. Pohl reported the pallisade remains in 1952. No further information is available at present.
PF 3
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Milbury, Massachusetts
Bronze knife 1997
Reported by Fell. No further information is available at present.
Geographical location: 42.191,-71.762
PF 3
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Pepperell, Maine
Bronze knife 1997
Reported by Fell. No further information is available at present.
Geographical location: 42.665,-71.630
PF 3
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Upton, Massachusetts
Dolmen 1944
This beehive style chamber was discovered in 1944, another of the many suggested Celtic burial mounds. Of special note is that this one has been carbon dated to CE 1200-1500. Here is a detailed link on the site:
Geographical location: 42.175,-71.602
PF 3
April 15
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It is with sad news that we report the passing of Tom Lewicki. Tom was an important member of the Viking Schoolkids Program, an avid Norse enthusiast and blog follower as well as contributing several great links over the years.
We'll miss you Tom. Save a spot for me in the Mead Hall.
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Were the Celts Cannibals?
At this point I think it is important to take a short look at the Celtic presence in North America. Their connections to the Norse will become apparent as we progress with this blog.
In a nutshell, the Celts are known as far back as 700 BCE in middle Europe. Over the years they gradually expanded westward across Europe and into Italy, Spain and France. By 200 BCE they had encountered the Romans and many tribes were involved in the Punic Wars on the side of the Carthaginians.
Roman conquest kept pushing the Celts westward and created divisions among the Celts themselves. Many surviving Hiberno-Celtic tribes would have fled southwest with what was left of the Carthaginians. We see evidence of them emigrating to the South and North Americas where they can be traced to the American midwest.
Others sects would have been pushed northward, into Gaul and Britain where continued Roman persecution sent them to Ireland and Scotland. Along the way, Christianity took its roots and the Celts spread north and west into Iceland and North America. Sutherland's work in the north shows Celtic evidence in trade centers at CE 500.
But were they cannibals?
One well known trait of the Celts was the taking of enemy heads as war prizes and this certainly does not rule out the use of other body parts in other ways. Perhaps certain tribes were indeed man eaters.
If we turn to the legends of native American tribes in the south west, primarily the Paiute, we hear of a race of giant, red haired cannibals that are eventually chased across the American midwest and have their days ended in Lovelock Caves.
In the Ohio Valley we find more rumors of giants and red haired individuals, sans the cannibalism. The times between CE 500 and CE 1500 are quite culturally impactful in this area.
As we move eastward, Celtic footprints become much more apparent, but so does Christianity related signs. There is little report of cannibalism, wars or extermination but one must wonder if Christian rituals to do with the 'consumption of the blood and body of Christ' may have been misunderstood by the locals.
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Westford, Massachusetts
Stone Carving 1932
The Westford Boat Stone was found in 1932 by William Wyman along route 40 near Graniteville. This 300 pound granite slab displays an arrow, a sailing vessel and three numbers (184) in a pecking technique. The numbers appear only partially complete.
Some have suggested this was a directional marker for Prince Henry Sinclair during his visit to North America (1398-1402). It was carved to point the way back to his ship.
Although I agree it is a directional marker, I believe it is for a much later date. The ship displays gun ports, a single sail and a masthead pendant typical for ships in the 1840s.
The stone is currently displayed at the J. V. Fletcher library in Westford.
Geographical location: 42.604,-71.498
PF 1
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North Kingstown, Rhode Island
Foot Petrosomatoglyph
Foot, hand and face carvings were quite common with the Celts. Although quite extensive throughout Europe, Celtic petrosomatoglyphs are not common in North America, mainly appearing in the northeast and south midwest.
No further information is available on this one at the time.
Geographical location: 41.537,-71.441
PF 3
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Westford, Massachusetts
Stone Carving 1873
Known as the 'Westford Knight', this pecked image on a flat slab of stone was first documented in 1873. Heavily covered in growth, it was originally thought to be of native origin. This stone was rediscovered in 1954 by Frank Glynn 2 miles from the boat stone mentioned above.
The image displays a standing knight with sword posed in front and shield at the side. Since being uncovered however, the image has deteriorated badly. Frank Glynn actually noted this in 1959, the reason he chalked the image. Wolter claims the deterioration is contemporary to that of European grave markers of similar date having been buried and uncovered. Only the pecked sword is visible now but previous study combined with modern technology claim to identify the Sinclair coat of arms on the shield.
Locations of Lore-The Westford Knight is a good website that looks at this subject in detail.
I have not found any information about the depth of the slab and this makes me wonder what is underneath it. Playing with heavy stones seems to be quite common in this neck of the woods. Could this be the capstone of a buried dolmen?
Geographical location: 42.587,-71.437
PF 4
....to be continued.