Vikings imported North American timber to Greenland centuries before Columbus.
Norse colonists in Greenland imported timber from both Northern Europe and North America, according to a microscopic analysis of wood taxa conducted by archaeologists from the University of Iceland. The study revealed that 0.27% of the wood was unambiguous imports, including oak, beech, hemlock and Jack pine, which were not present in Northern Europe during the early second millennium AD. The presence of North American timber confirms the Norse sagas, which describe how the explorers brought back timber from Vínland to Greenland.