<Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> The Norse colonization of North America began in the late 10th century AD when Norsemen explored and settled areas of the North Atlantic including the northeastern fringes of North America . Viking houses were found at L'Anse aux Meadows near the northern tip of Newfoundland in 1960 . This discovery aided the reignition of archaeological exploration for the Vikings in the north Atlantic . </P> <P> The Norse colony in Greenland lasted for almost 500 years . Continental North American settlements were small and did not develop into permanent colonies . While voyages, for example to collect timber, are likely to have occurred for some time, there is no evidence of any lasting Norse settlements on mainland North America . </P> <P> According to the Sagas of Icelanders, Norsemen from Iceland first settled Greenland in the 980s . There is no special reason to doubt the authority of the information that the sagas supply regarding the very beginning of the settlement, but they cannot be treated as primary evidence for the history of Norse Greenland because they embody the literary preoccupations of writers and audiences in medieval Iceland that are not always reliable . </P>

How long were the vikings present in north america