题记：过去一直以为是哥伦布首先来到了美洲大陆，读了这篇文字才知道北美这块大陆让维京人捷足先登了！维京人并不只是擅长亦商亦盗，也是善于开发和探险的.............

The first European settlement in the New World

首批定居在新大陆的欧洲人

While driving north along the TransCanada Highway, I was stopped by a moose.

I sat stranded along the stretch of roadway in northern Newfoundland known as the Viking Trail, which leads to L’Anse Aux Meadows National Historic Site, the only authenticated Norse settlement in North America.

在沿横贯加拿大公路向北行驶时，我被一只驼鹿拦住了。

我被困在纽芬兰北部一段被称为维京小径的道路上，这条小路通向北美唯一的诺尔人定居地---L‘Anse aux Meadws国家历史遗址。

As I waited for him to carry on his way, I noticed that the tree branches in the forest lining this section of road all pointed east, angled by the force of the wind blowing inland off the Strait of Belle Isle, the narrow strip of water separating Newfoundland from Labrador.

当我等它继续前行的时候，我注意到这条路上林里的树枝都指向东方，风从贝尔岛海峡内外吹来，风力和角度把纽芬兰与拉布拉多分开，形成一条狭窄的水带。

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L’Anse Aux Meadows in Newfoundland was the site of the first European settlement in the New World (Credit: Interfoto/Alamy)

Twenty minutes later, I continued on my journey; it was another 80km to L’Anse Aux Meadows National Historic Site. Stepping out of the car, my nostrils filled with the crisp, briny sea air carried in by a breeze that rippled across the grassy landscape.

纽芬兰的L'Anse Aux Meadows是新大陆第一个欧洲人定居点的遗址（图片提供：Interfoto / Alamy）

二十分钟后，我继续赶路; 距离L'Anse Aux Meadows国家历史遗址还有80公里。走出车外，大海带来的微风吹过萋萋芳草，我的鼻孔里充满了清新的海水气味。

It is here that a significant moment in human migration and exploration took place

It is here, on the northern tip of Newfoundland, that a significant moment in human migration and exploration took place.

In the year 1000, nearly 500 years before Christopher Columbus set sail, a Viking longboat, skippered by Leif Erikson, brought 90 men and women from Iceland to establish a new settlement – the first European settlement in the New World.

人类迁徙和探索的重要时刻就发生在这里

正是在这里，在纽芬兰的北端，发生了人类迁徙和探索的重要时刻。

在1000年，比克里斯托弗·哥伦布启航早约500年，由Leif Erikson驾驶的维京延船从冰岛带来了90名男女，建立了新的定居点 --- 这是新大陆的第一个欧洲人定居点。

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In the year 1000, a Viking longboat captained by Leif Erikson landed near L’Anse Aux Meadows with 90 men and women (Credit: Parks Canada)

Erikson’s party arrived at low tide and found themselves stranded in the misty shallows of what historians believe was Epaves Bay. When the tide returned, they moved further inland, navigating up Black Duck Brook to the place where they would establish their stronghold in their new-found land.

在1000年，由Leif Erikson担任船长的维京延船靠岸在L'Anse Aux Meadows附近，有90名男女（图片提供：Parks Canada）

埃里克森的同伴在低潮时到达，他们发现自己被困在被历史学家称为Epaves Bay的薄雾中。当潮水回归时，他们进一步向内陆移动，沿着黑鸭溪（Black Duck Brook）航行到了目的地----在此他们即将建立新世界的定居点。

By modern sensibilities, Newfoundland can seem a harsh place, with fierce coastal winds whipping across the remote landscape. But for people who just travelled across the unforgiving North Atlantic in open boats, it would have been perfect. The forests were rich in game; the rivers teemed with salmon larger than the Norse had ever seen; the grasslands provided a bounty of food for livestock; and, in some places, wild grapes grew, prompting the Vikings to name this land ‘Vinland’.

从现代的感觉来看，纽芬兰似乎是一个严酷的地方，猛烈的海风横扫遥远的大地。但对于乘坐裸露的船只、穿越了无情的北大西洋的人来说，这里太完美了。森林里有丰富的野味，河流里有挪威人从未见过的更大鲑鱼，草原为牲畜提供了丰富的食物。除此之外，有一些地方还生长着野葡萄；因此，维京人将这片土地命名为“文兰地”。

The settlement didn’t last long, however; the community abandoned the settlement after less than a decade after repeated clashes with the island’s native tribes, known to the Vikings as ‘Skraelings’.

然而，这个定居点并没有持续太久；在与岛上的土著部落反复发生冲突后不到十年，这个社区就放弃了这个定居点，维京人称之为“斯克拉林斯”(Skraelings)。

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In some places wild grapes grew, prompting the Viking name this area ‘Vinland’ (Credit: Michael Runkel/Alamy)

For more than 100 years, archaeologists in Finland, Denmark and Norway used ancient Norse sagas to guide their search for Erikson’s lost settlement, scouring the coast of North America from Rhode Island to Labrador.

有些地方生长着野生葡萄，维京人称这个地区为'Vinland'（图片来源：Michael Runkel / Alamy）

100多年来，芬兰、丹麦和挪威的考古学家通过古代北欧的传说来指导他们寻找埃里克森失落的定居点，搜寻北美的海岸：从罗德岛到拉布拉多。

We didn’t know anything about the Vikings being here

In 1960, a husband-and-wife team of Norwegian archaeologists, Helge and Anne Stine Ingstad, heard from locals of L’Anse Aux Meadows – the town for which the site was named – speak of what they believed to be an old Indian camp. The initial excavation of the site’s mysterious seaside mounds revealed a layout similar to longhouses found in confirmed Viking settlements in Iceland and Greenland. Then, the discovery of a 1,000-year-old nail indicated that ship building had taken place here, leading them to believe that they had discovered the long lost Vineland settlement.

我们一点也不知道维京人来过这里

1960年，挪威的一对夫妻考古学家Helge和Anne Stine Ingstad从当地人那里听说了L‘Anse aux Meadws---以小镇命名的遗址；他们认为这是一个古老的印第安营地。但最初发掘该遗址神秘的海滨土墩时，发现了长屋，其布局类似于冰岛和格陵兰岛维京人定居点中的长屋。后来，发现了一枚有1000年历史的钉子，表明在这里曾经造过船，这使他们确信他们发现了长期失落的维兰定居点。

“As kids we played on the curious mounds,” said Clayton Colbourne, a former Parks Canada guide at L’Anse Aux Meadows. “We didn’t know anything about the Vikings being here.”

曾经担任L’Anse Aux Meadows公园的加拿大导游克莱顿·科尔伯恩(Clayton Colborne)说， “小时候，我们在奇怪的土堆上玩耍，” “我们一点也不知道维京人来过这里。”

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In 1960, two Norwegian archaeologists discovered that what was thought to be an old native village was the Viking settlement (Credit: Parks Canada)

1960年，两位挪威考古学家发现，被认为是一个古老的土著村庄是维京人的聚居地(图片提供：加拿大公园)。

From the entrance of the L’Anse Aux Meadows National Historic Site, a narrow path crosses a landscape that has changed very little over the centuries. Mossy partridgeberry and bakeapple vines cover a boggy shelf along the rocky shoreline. Cow parsnip stands as tall as centuries-old dwarf trees, its clusters of tiny, white flowers blooming at shoulder level. The only noticeable sounds are the cry of seabirds, the rustling of grass in the wind, and the slapping of waves on the pebble-strewn shore. In the shallows, rows of jagged rocks jut out of the calm, clear water like teeth waiting to bite a boat’s bottom.

从L‘Anse aux Meadws国家历史遗址入口处起，一条狭窄的小径穿过了一道自然风景，数世纪以来没有太大的变化。青苔般的蔓虎刺和云霉藤蔓覆盖在沼泽的沙洲上，一直通向岩石的海岸线。母牛像几个世纪前的矮树一样高，它的肩上有一簇白色的小花。能引起人们注意的有海鸟的叫声、草中的沙沙声，以及波涛拍打着岸边的鹅卵石之声。在浅滩上，一排排锯齿状的岩石伸出平静而清澈的水面，就像等待着咬住船底的牙齿。

The path leads to the grassy outlines of the settlement’s original three large lodges and five workshops. Parks Canada has recreated a sod lodge and two more workshops near the original mounds. There, guides and animators dressed as Vikings explain the Norse architecture and lifestyle and demonstrate ancient crafts. The recreated lodge is entered through a Hobbit-high doorway built into 6ft-thick walls. Thanks to the sturdiness of the construction, the winds may howl outside, but inside is silent. If L’Anse Aux Meadows is indeed where Erikson’s party settled, it would have been in one of these huts that Erikson’s nephew, Snorri, became the first European baby born in the New World.

有一条小路通向草丛，其轮廓就是该定居点最初的三个大的居住室和五个工作间。加拿大公园（Parks Canada）在原始土墩附近重建了一个草皮小屋和另外两个工作间。在这里，穿着维京人的导游和动画师解释了北欧的建筑和生活方式，并展示了古代工艺品。在6英尺厚的墙壁上有一扇霍比特—高的门，由此进入重建的小屋。由于施工的坚固性，风可以在外面嚎叫，但里面却是安静的。 如果L'Anse Aux Meadows确实是Erikson同伴们定居的地方，那么Erikson的侄子Snorri就会成为第一个出生在新世界的欧洲婴儿。

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Costumed reenactors illustrate Viking life at L’Anse Aux Meadows (Credit: Parks Canada)

化妆的演员们展示了维京人在L‘Anse aux Meadws的生活(图片提供：加拿大公园)

Nearly 1,000 years later, this unassuming collection of mounds experienced another first. In 1978, Unesco announced the creation of the now lauded World Heritage List; L’Anse Aux Meadows was the first cultural site in the world to receive Unesco World Heritage status.

将近1000年之后，这个不起眼的土墩体验了另一种的第一次。1978年，联合国教科文组织宣布创建世界遗产名录; 而L'Anse Aux Meadows是世界上第一个获得联合国教科文组织世界遗产身份的文化遗址。

L’Anse Aux Meadows was the first cultural site in the world to receive Unesco World Heritage status

I spent two hours at L’Anse Aux Meadows, listening to the costumed reenactors and studying exhibits in the visitors centre. Before I left, I lingered on the shore washed in salty breezes that had travelled thousands of kilometres across the same seas that Erikson and his party did.

L‘Anse aux Meadws是世界上第一个获得联合国教科文组织世界遗产身份的文化遗址

我在L’Anse aux Meadws度过了两个小时，聆听身穿盛装演员们的讲解，并在游客中心研究展品。在我离开之前，我来到岸边徘徊；咸咸的海风吹洗着海岸，而这海风与埃里克森和他的团队一样，都是来自数千公里之外的那片海。

Leaving the Viking site was a type of instant, extreme time travel. I drove my rental car south along rocky coast, then inland towards the small St Anthony airport all the while keeping my eyes out for wandering moose.

离开维京遗址，这是一种即时、极端的时间之旅。我沿着岩石海岸向南驾驶着我租来的车，然后向内陆的小圣安东尼机场开车 ，而一路上我一直盯着徘徊的驼鹿。