Ingstad, Anne-Stine (c. 1918–1997)

Norwegian archaeologist. Name variations: Anne Stine Ingstad. Born Anne-Stine Moe in Lillehammer, Norway, around 1918; died in Oslo, Norway, on November 6, 1997; attended University of Oslo, Norway; married Helge Ingstad (an explorer), in 1941; children; one daughter, Benedicta Ingstad .

Selected writings:

Det nye land med de gronne enger (Oslo, 1975); "The Norse Settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland: A Preliminary Report from the Excavations, 1961–1968," in Acta Archaelogica (Vol. XLI, 1971, pp. 109–154); The Discovery of a Norse Settlement in America (NY, 1977); The Norse Discovery of America, Vol. 1 (Scandinavian University Press, 1986); (with Helge Ingstad) The Norse Discovery of America, Vol. 2 (Scandinavian University Press).

Born in Lillehammer, Norway, around 1918, Anne-Stine Moe studied archaeology at the University of Oslo and, in 1941, married Helge Ingstad, who had abandoned a successful law career in 1926 to live with and study the Native Peoples (Indians and Eskimos) of northern Canada. Following her marriage, Anne-Stine Ingstad became her husband's companion in adventure and his scientific collaborator. In 1961, the couple retracked a Viking voyage along the northern tip of Newfoundland and, on a site known as L'anse aux Meadows, found conclusive evidence that Vikings had preceded Columbus to North America by 500 years. Although Helge is credited with the discovery, it was Anne-Stine Ingstad who supervised the painstaking excavation to uncover the remains of the 1,000-year-old Viking outpost. Her book The Norse Discovery of America, volumes 1 and 2, gives her assessment of the material that came to light during their archaeological expedition. Writes Einar Haugen, professor emeritus of Scandinavian studies at Harvard: "The remarkable discoveries made by Anne-Stine and Helge Ingstad on the northern tip of Newfoundland since 1960 have put an entirely new face on the problem [of the authenticity of the Vinland sagas and the location of Vinland—Newfoundland or New England], which students of the sagas have to take into account."

sources:

Haugen, Einar. "Was Vinland in Newfoundland?," in "Proceedings of the Eighth Viking Congress, Arhus, August 24–31, 1977." Edited by Hans Bekker-Nielsen, Peter Foote, Olaf Olsen. Odense University Press, 1981.

"Obituary," in The Day [New London, Connecticut]. November 10, 1997.

Barbara Morgan , Melrose, Massachusetts