What Happened to Greenland's Norse Colonists?

Viking settlers in Greenland arrived about 1000 AD, flourished for several hundred years, then vanished from the land.  Why?  Did the Norse colony die out, or did the Viking descendants gradually move away from the island until, at the last, no one was left?  An article in World Archaeology dated 25 Jan 2013 presents evidence that the "mystery of what happened to Greenland's Norse population is one step closer to being solved."  What is this new evidence?  Follow the logo link below to find out.

Science Fiction:  When Researchers Make Stuff Up

Columnist Bruce Ramsey recounts events surrounding the strange case of the Piltdown man, "the grossest fraud of 20th-century science," to set the stage for his thoughtful commentary about the continuing problems of fraud and intellectual misconduct in scientific research. Some scientists and researchers are "making stuff up," following the lead of the con man who crafted the jawbone of an orangutan, the teeth of a chimpanzee, and human cranium fragments from the Middle Ages into a skull purported to be a million years old. To read Mr. Ramsey's commentary, just click and go.

Where Are the Pseudohistory Wars?

Historian Michael D. Gordin asks the question, "Why don't we hear about 'pseudohistory' more often?" Do you wonder how he answers? If so, follow the link embedded in the History News Network link below to read Professor Gordin's thoughtful little essay, which focuses sharply on the cosmic catastrophist theories of Immanuel Velikovsky.

A L E R T :
Attention students enrolled in Hist 433 for the Spring Semester of 2013:
You are advised to visit this page often. New links and notes related to your studies will be arrive here weekly. Some might appear on a quiz or two. I encourage you to send links to stories and interesting websites you discover during your studies.