At the northern tip of Newfoundland, a set of low sod mounds beside a shallow brook is all that remains of the only confirmed Norse settlement in North America. Dated to around 1000 AD and attributed to Leif Erikson's expedition from Greenland, the site was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978 — the first property inscribed under the World Heritage Convention.
Parks Canada runs the interpretive centre here year-round from mid-June to mid-October. The museum lays out the archaeological evidence clearly and honestly: the Norse built three large dwelling complexes and several smaller work structures, likely used the site as a base camp for further exploration to the south and west, and then abandoned it after a few years — possibly because of conflict with the Indigenous peoples they called Skraelings. Outside, the reconstructed sod buildings are staffed in summer by costumed interpreters who demonstrate ironworking, woodworking, and the daily routines of a Viking Age outpost. Wandering through the low turf rooms in the Arctic light, you get a visceral sense of how extraordinary the Norse achievement was.