The Kensington Runestone

The Kensington Runestone is a slab of sandstone with a runic inscription on it. It was found in 1898. The inscription:

8 Geats and 22 Norwegians on [??] acquisition expedition from Vinland far west. We had traps by 2 shelters one day's travel to the north from this stone. We were fishing one day. After we came home, found 10 men red with blood and dead. AVM [Ave Maria] Deliver from evils.

[I] have 10 men at the inland sea to look after our ship 14 days travel from this wealth/property. Year [of our Lord] 1362

The Geats were from what is now southern Sweden. They found some dead dudes and were totally spooked. Oh yeah and Vinland is the Norse name for North America. And the runestone says it was written in 1362. Oh yeah and the runestone was found in Kensington, Minnesota!!

So basically, Vikings made it to Minnesota before Columbus was even born!!

Unfortunately, it's possible it's a hoax. The only witnesses to the unearthing were the family of Olof Öhman when he found it on his land, tangled in the roots of a tree. However, later witnesses say the roots did appear flattened, as if a 200 lb stone had been lying on them.

Linguists both in America and Scandinavia have declared it to be a fraud. Reasons included creation of a "J" rune, the language being a more modern form of Swedish, the lack of cases (accusative, dative, genitive, nominative, present in Old Norse and modern German), the use of umlauts, and the use of numerals.

However, Richard Nielsen, an amateur linguist, has refuted all of the above citing other 14th century examples.

Further, there was no evidence Öhman ever tried to make money from the stone. Tales of his admission of forgery were started by a jealous peer.

In 2000, a physical analysis of the stone was done. Scott Wolter, a geologist, and Barry Hanson, a chemist, presented "indisputable evidence" that the runes were authentic. They showed that the in-ground weathering process took a minimum of about 200 years. Therefore the carvings were made significantly before 1898. It is unclear how long the carvings were exposed to the air before going underground for 200 years. My guess would be about 350 years.

To come: other runestones in the US.