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Book Review: Erikson, Eskimos and Columbus: Medieval European Knowledge of America

from the Mediterranean, or whether the cargoes were transhipped in ports in Portugal and the like. Perhaps Cunliffe might have mentioned that even distant Shetland may have had a role in this system, whatever its scale, since excavations at St. Ninians chapel have uncovered a piece of green marble originating in southern Greece. It must be admitted, though, that the date of the arrival of this tiny piece is uncertain. Around 800 the Vikings opened up northern waters, and Shetland finally lost its position as the most distant outpost of permanent Atlantic settlement; the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Greenland became parts of a larger system of connections. In the Middle Ages commercial sea transport along the western facade of the Atlantic increased dramatically. Yet around 1500 it was from Portuguese, Spanish and later French and British harbours that the final change to the Atlantic and Mediterranean theatre came. From here new lands were explored and colonized. The Mediterranean, so long of central importance, became virtually a backwater, while the Atlantic facade of Europe took on a new role. Once the end of the world, it now came to be seen as the world's starting point. The long story of the Atlantic facade as the world's limit had come to an end, and it is here that this highly recommended book closes its comprehensive and fascinating journey through time. This book will stand as an important work that recapitulates and discusses the historical and archaeological evidence of the westernmost part of maritime Europe.