Most people credit Columbus with the quot discovery quot of America However recent evidence suggests that Columbus didn 039 t really discover America but merely opened the doors to America for Europe Today researchers agree that the Vikings actual

The reading and the lecture are both about the theories related to the discovery of America by Vikings. The author of the reading feels that last evidences suggest that Columbus did not discover America, and Vikings are the first people who inhabited in North America’s soil. The lecturer challenges the claims made by the author. He is of the opinion that most of these claims are partial, and these theories have not any scientific or archaeological background. To begin with, the author argues that the Vikings reached North America with the start point from settlements in Greenland. The article mentions that when the Vikings reached the North American soil, they discovered a great, amazing place with wild grapes and called it Vinland. This specific argument is challenged by the lecturer. He claims that there is not actual evidence that Vinland is the same with Newfoundland. Additionally, he says that there are also wild grapes grow in Vikings’ homeland, so that is why they claim Newfoundland as the Vinland. Secondly, the writer suggests that remains of nine Viking houses were found by Norwegian archaeologists in North America. In the article, it is said that these houses were similar to Norse homes, which are made of wooden frames covered with sod, just like homes in Greenland way before. The lecturer, however, rebuts this by mentioning that this claim made by only 2 Norwegian archaeologists. He elaborates on this by bringing up the point that this claim is biased, and based on patriotism, because these archaeologists are from Norway. Finally, the author posits that existence of Vikings in North America has been proven by the runestones, which are covered with runic inscriptions. Moreover, it is also stated that these runic alphabets were used in Scandinavia with almost same bedrocks. In contrast, the lecturer is of the opinion that these runestones authenticity is still unknown. He notes that these claims can not be the evidence for Vikings’ advent to the North America before Columbus.