One of my favourite photos from my 2004 visit to L'Anse aux Meadows was of multi-coloured wool on a small loom. When I saw a loom in a dark corner of the longhouse I was glad to see it even though all the wool was white. There were bundles of wool hung from the beams so I guess that they still dye wool a variety of colours. A colourful blanket lay on a low bench close by. Since there was wool, maybe the Norse people also brought sheep with them.
Imagine a small boat powered by wind and oars, with people and small animals crossing the northern ocean. Then finding land and looking for a place to live as they continued their exploration. Apparently they did travel further south and possibly up the Gulf of St. Lawrence because archaeologists found butternuts, which do not grow further north than New Brunswick, at the site. There are probably more Viking Settlements in Canada, and maybe in the eastern United States where the Norse peoples set up camp and lived for a while.
The Norsemen came from Iceland and Greenland, crossed the ocean to Labrador and made their way south the northern tip of Newfoundland at L'Anse aux Meadows. If I was living that far north, then found a place that was much warmer, I think I would have moved further south.
Feel free to check out the photos I took at L'Anse aux Meadows last time at: http://www.lanephotography.com/lance%20aux%20meadows/lance%20aux%20meadows%20introduction.htm
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