(October 10, 2017 at 12:47 am)Minimalist Wrote: I wonder if there was contact at all. The Norse were certainly not immune to European diseases and we know that after 1492 when there was documented contact the Indians died in droves from contracting those diseases. In fact, Charles Mann in his book 1491 makes the point that most Indians died of European diseases without ever having seen a European. The diseases were carried along internal trade routes and devastated the local population long before Europeans ever landed on the mainland and followed those trails.
If there was contact why is there no evidence either of disease spreading or surviving populations having some degree of immunity? Would make for an interesting discussion.
It may have been a timing thing. A lot of diseases came after the mongols opened the silk road and the crusades brought back some nasties so it may have been that the Vikings that went across were relatively disease free.
You can fix ignorance, you can't fix stupid.
Tinkety Tonk and down with the Nazis.
