Although L’Anse aux Meadows is unquestionably Norse and of an early eleventh-
century date (the date is based on architectural evidence, artefacts and fifty-eight radio-
carbon dates), the only site in the Norse world to which it corresponds in structure,
function, social organisation and size is Straumfjo ̨rðr of ES and, in part, Leifsbúðir of GS.
What sets L’Anse aux Meadows apart from all other Norse sites is its location, the lack of
structures for livestock and its size. The site is much more exposed than usual for an
Icelandic or Greenland site. This is in spite of the fact that more sheltered coves and
protected harbours could be found short distances to the east and south. Access to the
Strait of Belle Isle was definitely the deciding factor for the location of the site. The
buildings are almost exclusively dwellings. They are solid, roofed-over dwellings, built
for year-round use, not seasonal búðir. There are no barns and byres, or any structures
associated with domestic animals otherwise so prominent on all west Norse living sites.
If domestic animals were present, they would have been left outside in the winter or
consumed before then. The dwellings exhibit the same range in size and type as those
found on large estates in Iceland and Greenland, mirroring the full spectrum of social
classes in Norse society. Present are two large chieftain’s halls (A and F), of which F is
larger and more complex than the other, a more modest hall (D), a smaller one-roomed
Figure 44. 1 Map of Vinland. (Drawing: Vis-à-Vis Graphics, St. John’s.)–– chapter 44 : The discovery of Vinland––