“Romans discovered America, not Icelanders”

The theory that Icelandic explorer Leif Erikson was the first non-indigenous American to set foot on the continent has been disputed by a new group of researchers who claim that the Romans beat them to it by 1,000 years.

There is documentary evidence that Erikson and the Vikings discovered Vinland (Newfoundland) around 1000 AD, some 500 years before Columbus’ famous voyage.

But – as reported by UK news website Daily Mail – a supposed Roman sword found on Oak Island, off Nova Scotia, is evidence to some that it was in fact the Romans who first ‘discovered America’.

A sword with metallic properties matching ancient Roman artefacts, carvings of ‘legionnaires’, and gold coins from Carthage found in the area – now part of modern-day Canada – are part of the body of evidence presented by the team to prove that Leif Erikson was not the first European in America.

According to Jovan Hutton Pulitzer, who has led the research, the sword found is from the wreck of a Roman ship that visited North America no later than the first century AD.

“Mainstream historians usually say such finds are inaccurate as artefacts such as this can be dropped by collectors in modern times,” writes the Daily Mail.

A full report on this new theory is due out early next year.

Oak Island, Nova Scotia. Photo: Wikipedia/NormanEinstein