It seems like Native American women may have made a cross-Atlantic voyage about 500 years before Columbus set sail on his now famous adventure. When planning your next adventure travel trip, head to Iceland and learn a little bit more about the early explorations of Vikings and Native Americans.
According to National Geographic, new DNA evidence shows that a Native American woman may have traveled to Europe with Vikings. The DNA that they were looking at is only passed from mother to child and is present in more than 80 percent of Icelanders. That same gene is also expressed in many Native Americans.
The study reviewed historical accounts and archaeological evidence that point to the possibility of a Viking-American Indian child being born around 1000 A.D. They claim that the Icelandic Vikings reached Greenland just before 1000 A.D., and then arrived in Canada. From their research, they believe that the North American woman sailed back to Iceland during the settlement and exploration period.
"We know that Vikings sailed to the Americas," Agnar Helgason of deCODE Genetics and the University of Iceland, who co-wrote the study students and colleuges, said to the news source. "So all you have to do is assume … that they met some people and ended up taking at least one female back with them."
The best way to explore Iceland in the 21st century is with a small group of adventure travelers.
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