New-York tribune., 1911-10-01
BEFORE COLUMBUS
Mr.. Vignaud's Exposure of the
Minnesota Stone"
Paris. September 80.

Mr.. Henry Vignaud, president of the
| Society Of Americanists of Paris-a
learned association that devotes itself to
the investigation of prc-Columbian
America-has just written an extremely
| interesting book entitled Les Expedi-
tions des Scandinaves en- Amerique. de-
want la Critique: A New False Docu-
ment." Mr. Vignaud deals cXhaustively
with all the evidence upon which the
theory Of a Scandinavian, prc-Colum-
! bian discovery of America rests. He
submits this evidence to thorough criti-
cal examination. The result is that the
| Scandinavian legends. drawn largely
from the ancient Sagas, or written
| household tales Of Iceland, many Of
which date back TO the seventh century,
| do not hold water under his rigid tests.
He examines all the known archaeology
cal and documentary evidence adduced
| by the Swedish historian Rain, who
originally started the Scandinavian leg
end, somewhat hastily accepted by the
American historians Robertson, j. K.
Forster, John Barrow, Washington Irv-
| ing, Wheaton and others. Monuments
or documents familiar to American stu
ients, such as the Dighton Rock, near
Taunton River, Massachusetts; the
Newport milestone the Fall River skel-
eton, the Inscription at Monhegan
| Island. others 1T Yarmouth and at
! GRAY. Creek. Ohio, and the Minnesota
stone. are examined by Mr.. Vignaud,
who has fairly established his PROPOSE
| ton that there is no historic or arch9o-
| logical proof Of the Scandinavian discov-
cry.
This popular legend rests purely upon
conjecture. THE new false document
mentioned by Mr.. Vignaud is the stone
discovered some years ago near the town
Of Kens!ngton, MINI. 1t bears an in
scription in Icelandic language with
runic characters, dated in the year l362,
relating that eight Goths and twenty
| two Norwegans left Vineland for the
west and arrived at a point forty-one
days journey from the sea. This stone
attracted great attention at the time
| and was referred 10 as the sole archeo-
| logical proof Of the sojourn of Scandi-
navians in America. The monument
was sold 70 the Historical Society Of
Minnesota Recent Investigations made
by Professors Curm and Flom, and pro-
nounced conclusive by Professor Starr
w. Cutting and DR.. G. y. Gould, of the
University OF Chicago, prove this in
scription to be the work Of an impostor
or a practical joker Of the Pickwickian
order The pathological investigation Of
George T. Flom, professor Of Scandi-
navian literature at the University or
Illinois, discloses the fact that the words
Of the inscription are modern Swedish
and Norwegian. and that the facetious
author. I'm order TO give his sentences the
peculiar archaic form Of the fourteenth
century, made use Of a few ancient
words, but the imposture is apparent to
experts like Professors Flom and Curm.
Consequently" writes Mr. Vignaud,
"the only archaeological proof Of the
Scandinavian discovery vanishes and the
whole theory rests solely on vague Sagas
legends, and it Is merely guesswork to
identify the 'Vineland' therein men
toned with Martha's Vineyard or any
part OF the New England coast" Thus
II his conclusions are accurate, the
widely accepted theory Of the Scandi-
navian discovery of America In pre-
Columbian days vanishes. The matter
arouses considerable interest In scientific
circles here. I. l. Il.