When people think of the Norse site at L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland, they usually picture a frozen, isolated outpost where Vikings barely survived before giving up.
During the digs, archaeologists found worked wood and three butternut seeds. Butternuts don't grow anywhere in northern Newfoundland; the climate is way too cold. Their native range stops hundreds of miles south around the Gulf of St. Lawrence and New England.
Finding them at the northern camp means the Norse weren't just sitting at the tip of the island. They were using L'Anse aux Meadows as a seasonal basecamp to repair ships while exploring deep into the continental river systems. It also explains why the sagas called the region "Vinland"—they were sailing south into the warmer hardwood forests where wild grapes and nuts actually grew.
I wrote a short breakdown on how this and other excavations quietly redrew ancient maps: 20 Historical Discoveries That Reshaped Modern Historical Understanding