Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact theories

Claims of pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact relate to visits to, the discovery of or interaction with the Americas and/or indigenous peoples of the Americas by people from Africa, Asia, Europe, or Oceania prior to the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the Caribbean in 1492.

Two classical cases of pre-Columbian contact have widespread support amongst the scientific and scholarly mainstream. There is considerable evidence in support of successful explorations which led to Norse settlement of Greenland and the L'Anse aux Meadows settlement in Newfoundland some 500 years prior to Columbus.

The scientific and scholarly responses to other pre-Columbian contact claims have varied. Some such contact claims are examined in reputable peer-reviewed sources. Other contact claims, typically based on circumstantial and ambiguous interpretations of archaeological finds, cultural comparisons, comments in historical documents, and narrative accounts, have been dismissed as fringe science or pseudoarcheology.

Norse journeys to Greenland and Canada are supported by historical and archaeological evidence. A Norse colony in Greenland was established in the late 10th century, and lasted until the mid 15th century, with court and parliament assemblies (þing) taking place at Brattahlíð and a bishop located at Garðar. The remains of a Norse settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland, Canada, were discovered in 1960 and are dated to around the year 1000 (carbon dating estimate 990–1050 CE), L'Anse aux Meadows is the only site widely accepted as evidence of pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact. It was named a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1978. It is also notable for its possible connection with the attempted colony of Vinland established by Leif Erikson around the same period or, more broadly, with Norse exploration of the Americas.

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