<P> The Norse exploration 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 . Remains of Norse buildings 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 Norse in the North Atlantic . </P> <P> The Norse settlements in Greenland lasted for almost 500 years . The only confirmed Continental North American settlement, L'Anse aux Meadows, was small and did not last as long . 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> <P> Erik the Red (Old Norse: Eiríkr rauði), having been banished from Iceland for manslaughter, explored the uninhabited southwestern coast of Greenland during the three years of his banishment . He made plans to entice settlers to the area, naming it Greenland on the assumption that "people would be more eager to go there because the land had a good name". The inner reaches of one long fjord, named Eiriksfjord after him, was where he eventually established his estate Brattahlid . He issued tracts of land to his followers . </P>

When did the vikings arrive in north america