Thomas McKeon age 10, of Allentowna lsenna., for his question:

Can we prove the Norsemen visited America?

Most experts are quite sure that the hold Vikings visited America. They came first about 500 years before Columbus discovered the New World. There are accounts in the Norse sagas that describe the visits in great detail. They tell of the routes taken and record what the Vikings saw and did. Some people doubted these sagas because they were not actually written down until about 100 years after the events.

Then, in 1931, came proof to back up the old tiles. Rusted weapons were unearthed at Beardmore, near Lake Nipigon in Ontario. There wore a sword, a, shield and an axe. These: weapons, said the experts, definitely belonged to a Viking. They were made between 900 and 1,000 years ago,

The Beardmore Viking is believed to have perished on one of the Norsemen's visits to what is now Canada. His friends buried him there with his weapons as was the Viking custom. The Vikings made many trips to America over a 350 year period. But not until Columbus did people from Europe come to settle the New World.