174 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



points of resemblance between these and Icelandic ruins, and in their 

 reports by request wrote everything they could think of in opposition 

 to, as well as in favor of, their being of Norse origin. 



When these gentlemen left Cambridge the characteristic features of 

 the early post-Columbian ruins on this coast had not been ascertained, 

 and these researches were not finished satisfactorily until a year and a 

 half after the Icelanders returned to Europe. 



From Dr. Gudmundsson' s Report. 



The next place into which we dug was a depression or hollow in the 

 hillside in a northerly direction from the above-mentioned place. Here 

 we found unquestionable remains of a house which had been dug into 

 the hillside, with walls constructed of stones, and layers of earth between 

 the single rows of stones. The foundation and the lower parts of the 

 two side walls were solid and well preserved, but the whole back wall, 

 ■with the exception of a single roM' (the foundation), had fallen down. 

 The stones from this and the upper parts of the side walls covered the 

 whole bottom, so that they at the first glance seemed to form a pave- 

 ment. When carefully examined, it was evident, however, that most of 

 the stones which covered the bottom belonged to the walls, though some 

 might have rolled down from the hill above the house. Thus it could 

 clearly be seen how some of the stones had fallen down from the walls 

 and some were just sliding down, without having as yet reached to the 

 bottom, as some stones underneath had hindered them from gliding far- 

 ther. The front wall of the house was wanting, and must either have 

 heen of wood or — which seems most likely — have been spoiled when the 

 road which runs close past the house was made. When the bottom was 

 cleared of the stones which had fallen in it proved to consist of a level 

 black floor. 



The construction and situation of this house are quite Scandinavian, 

 built in the same way as houses in Iceland and Greenland. I would 

 therefore not have had the least hesitation to declare it to be a ruin of 

 a house built by Scandinavians in the pre-Columbian period if between 

 and under the stones which covered the bottom we had. not found some 

 pieces of glazed pottery and bricks, of which some small pieces were 

 found trodden down even into the floor itself. This seems to indicate 

 that the house must be post-Columbian, or at least have been occupied 

 by the first English or French colonists. As in the meantime several 

 American scholars, with whom I have had an opportunity to discuss this 

 matter, positively declare that the post-Columbian colonists never would 

 have built such walls of stones without mortar, and it must be regarded 

 as quite certain that Indian people could not have built it, there seems 

 to be no other explanation possible than that this ruin must be Scandi- 

 navian, and, having been found by some of the first post-Columbian colo- 

 nists (e. g., some fishermen), had been repaired and occupied by them for a 

 shorter or longer time. If it can be proved that such a building as this 

 could not have been built by the post-Columbian colonists nor by Indians, 

 it can hardly bo anything else than Scandinavian. This, however, must 

 be left to American scholars, who have sufficient knowledge in these mat- 

 ters. But so long as this is not proved, the pieces of pottery and bricks 

 which were found in it rather seem to speak for its post-Columbian ori- 

 gin, as those pieces must have been there when the house fell down, and 



