April 2016: Basques: the Un-sung Whalers of the Northwest Atlantic

April 24, 2016 at 3pm

Archaeological Institute of America Lecture

Basques: the Un-sung Whalers of the Northwest Atlantic

Dr. William Fitzhugh

The European discoveries and settlement of the Americas is known largely by the historical record. Until the discovery of the L’Anse Aux Meadows site in Newfoundland in 1960, the same could be said of Vikings, whose exploits of ca. AD 1000 had been known only from the Vinland sagas. Another previously unknown chapter of American history—this time a 16^th century Basque story—came to light in the 1970s as a result of excavations at Red Bay, Labrador, including the wreck of a sunken ship, the San Juan. More recently Smithsonian teams working on the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence have discovered a rich trove of archaeological finds documenting the first-known collaboration between Basques whalers and fishermen and the Labrador Inuit.

Unless otherwise noted Lectures are on Sundays at 3pm in Spiro Hall 2, Wagner College,
631 Howard Avenue (1 Campus Road), Grymes Hill, Staten Island, NY 10301

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