Springtime in L’Anse aux Meadows, NL
Watercolour and oil pastel
©2019 Charlene Brown
Dating to about 1000 CE, L’Anse aux Meadows
is the only confirmed Norse site in North America. It is located on the
northernmost tip of the Great Northern Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland.
It was discovered in the 1960s and named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978.
Reconstructions of the original sod
buildings can be seen in about the centre of this painting, to the left of the
grassy mounds protecting the actual location of what's left of the eight
structures that have been found – leaving this area accessible for continued
archeological digs. Evidence has been found indicating the largest of the original
buildings may have been occupied by Leif Erikson.
Lush new grass and the tiny flowers of
early spring (in mid-June) were everywhere from just below the still-melting
snow on the ridge along the stream to the Norse settlement.
