The only authenticated Viking settlement in North America, it was the site of a multi-year archaeological dig that found dwellings, tools and implements that verified its time frame. The settlement, dating more than 500 years before Christopher Columbus, contains the earliest European structures in North America. Named a World Heritage site by UNESCO, it is believed to be the semi-legendary 'Vinland' settlement of explorer Leifur Eiríksson around 1000 AD.