Mythical or Real? Part 3

 This week, we explore an abandoned Norse settlement in North America and a ‘Lake of Gold’ in South America.

4. L'Anse Aux Meadows (Vinland), Newfoundland – 1000 CE

For a long time, explorers searched for evidence of Vinland, a place described in the 13^th century Greenlanders’ Saga as having lush meadows, teeming salmon and wild grapes. If the legend was true, the site was briefly settled by Leif Erikson and his crew around 1000 CE. That would make it the first place “discovered” by Europeans in the New World. That settlement preceded the arrival of Christopher Columbus by almost 500 years. When they found evidence of Norse-designed sod-walled buildings on the far north coast of Newfoundland in Canada in the 1960s, archaeologists were hopeful that, at long last, Vinland had been found.

Soon, they identified European artifacts; a bronze cloak pin, a spindle whorl, a gilded fragment of brass, and a place for smelting and working iron. Scholars were convinced that they’d stumbled upon the fabled Vinland. They still continue to study the long-held secrets of this site today. It is called the L’Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site, and it includes reconstructions of the original dwellings where Vikings lived (on-and-off) for about twenty years.

 

5. Lake Guatavita (El Dorado), Colombia – 1541 CE

Spanish conquistadors first described a mythical South American kingdom of unfathomable riches ruled by El Rey Dorado in 1541. According to what they said, this chief’s initiation rites included covering himself in gold dust and ceremonially dropping treasure into the center of a sacred lake. In the centuries that followed, explorers searched for the kingdom of “El Dorado” throughout Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana and Brazil, but never found it. Eventually, they gave up.

But that doesn’t mean the story is completely false. Juan Pablo Quintero-Guzman, an archaeologist and the curator at Colombia’s Museum of Gold, says that “All lakes in the Muisca territory were places of offering.” He believes that similar rituals were carried out in some lakes but that Lake Guatavita was, from 600 to 1600 CE, the place where this ritual was performed the most often.

For the past 400 years, numerous artifacts have been pulled from Lake Guatavita. These artifacts include tumbaga (an alloy of gold and copper), emeralds, human-like clay vessels, hair, cotton, and animal skulls. Quintero-Guzman has evidence that rituals were taking place at the water’s edge, possibly at a temple or a ceremonial site intended for making offerings. His findings do not definitively prove that Lake Guatavita was the site spoken of by the conquistadors, but they do not contradict the possibility, either. At least for now, the chiefdom of Guatavita seems to be the most likely origin of the myth.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/tripideas/nine-mythical-places-archaeologists-think-may-have-actually-existed/ar-AA1pZfYc?ocid=mailsignout&pc=U591&cvid=81421580eeb740c9bf0eb1832cd5508b&ei=66

Mythical or Real? Part 2

This week, we have a cave and a castle to explore.

2. Gorham’s Cave (Medusa’s Cave), Gibraltar – 600 BCE

As far as ancient mariners knew, Gorham’s Cave, a natural cavern at the base of the Pillars of Hercules in the Strait of Gibraltar, was the edge of the known world. But a study published in 2021 suggests that the cave may have played an even greater role in Greek mythology. Deep inside the cave, archaeologists found fragments from the head of a large, ceramic Gorgon dating to about the sixth century BCE. According to legends, the Gorgons were three monstrous sisters who terrorized Greek sailors by turning them to stone with a single look. Their lair was supposed to be near the Rock of Gibraltar. It was in their lair that Perseus beheaded the snake-haired Medusa—the most evil of the siblings—while she slept.

Other Medusa figures have been found in the region, but this was the first to be discovered inside a cave. By combining archaeological evidence, historical accounts, geography, and myth, researchers have concluded that Gorham’s Cave was likely the site that early seafarers believed to have been the home of the Gorgons, and the site of Medusa’s defeat. Visitors can examine the cave’s entrance on biweekly summer tours offered at the British territory of Gibraltar’s Gorham’s Cave Complex World Heritage Site, a limestone ridge off the southern tip of Spain.

Now, it’s my understanding that a cave in Gibraltar—possibly Gorham’s Cave—was inhabited by Neanderthals during the last ice age, and that stone tools, human and animal remains had been found in the cave.

 

3. Tintagel Castle (King Arthur’s Castle), England – 1203 CE

Writer Geoffrey of Monmouth described Tintagel Castle as the place of King Arthur’s conception. Since then, the 13^th-century fortress on the rocky coast of Cornwall, England, has been associated with Arthur’s legend. But until recently, no one knew that beneath the ruins of Tintagel Castle lay an even older settlement with features that could correspond to the legendary leader. It appears that the older settlement was an exceptional place, with goods and luxury commodities arriving from the Mediterranean world in great numbers. Although archaeologists can’t say for sure who ruled the earlier site, King Arthur fits the profile.

Whether he was actually there or not, King Arthur has very much become a part of the story that’s been handed down over generations. Tintagel Castle was built around 1203 CE by Richard, the Earl of Cornwall. It had no military value, but was constructed, in part, at least, to draw a connection between his authority and the legendary King Arthur.

Arthur’s myth is not the only one that haunts Tintagel Castle. There’s also a Celtic legend retold in the 12^th century as a story of forbidden love in which the knight Tristan fell in love with Princess Isolde even though she was set to marry King Mark of Cornwall. There are several places around Cornwall that are associated with King Mark, Tristan, and Isolde. Their story was circulating around Europe at the same time as King Arthur’s. But somehow, the ruins of Tintagel Castle became known at King Arthur’s home.