America Unearthed (2012–…): Season 4, Episode 1 - Vikings in the Desert - full transcript

[ Pigs oinking ]

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[ Food plops ]

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[ Sighs ]

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WOLTER: The history that we were
all taught growing up is wrong.



My name is Scott Wolter,
and I'm a forensic geologist.

There's a hidden history in this
country that nobody knows about.

There are pyramids here,
chambers, tombs, inscriptions.

They're all over this country.

We're gonna investigate
these artifacts and sites,

and we're gonna
get to the truth.

Sometimes history isn't
what we've been told.

AMERICA UNEARTHED - SEASON 4
EP - 1 - Vikings in the Desert

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[ Computer beeps ]

[ Mouse clicks ]

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[ Ringing ]

ATKINS: Hello?

Hello, is this Harry Atkins?

Speaking.

Hi, Harry. This is Scott Wolter.
How are you?

I'm doing great.

Good. Say, I was just
looking at your e-mail,

and these artifacts
are very intriguing.

I've looked at Viking
artifacts before

but never Viking artifacts
found in Arizona.

I'd really be interested
in taking a look at them.

Is that possible?

It sure is.

Great. I look forward
to meeting you in person.

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WOLTER: The Vikings were some
of the fiercest warriors of all time,

hailing from Scandinavia,

a rugged landscape far different
from where I am now.

They earned their reputation
for battle rage and bloodlust

on countless raids
across England

between the 8th
and 11th centuries.

They soon set their sights
on lands further west

from the fjords and forests
they called home,

not to raid,
but for one simple reason...

Overpopulation.

If Harry Atkins' dad really
has authentic Viking artifacts

found in Arizona,

it could be the first step
in figuring out

if this is one place
they settled.

Harry, good to meet you.

Nice to meet you.

Well, you picked
a fantastic place to meet.

I mean, this is
a geologist's paradise.

Chemical conditions caused this
iron oxide to form in the rocks,

and now it's weathering out,
producing beautiful red colors.

You don't see that
too many places.

Speaking of things
you don't see too often...

Viking artifacts
that your father found.

Well, my dad actually
didn't find them.

He owned an antique shop
and an art gallery.

A woman came to him and said,

"Hey, I found these things

out on the desert
around Sedona out hiking,

and you're into old things.

Here. why don't you take them?"

And he was very intrigued,
and she told him,

"Well, I found them
in what looked like

a rotted pair of saddlebags."

He started doing
some Internet research,

and based on some of the designs

on the largest of the artifacts,

he thought that perhaps
they were Viking.

It's not unheard of that people
find things out in the desert,

but Viking artifacts,
that's a whole nother ball game.

So the question is,
"How did they get here?"

That is the question,

and I'm hoping
you can get the answer.

So, your father passed, right?

Yes, he passed in 2017.

He wanted you to look into
these things, so here we are.

I would love to get the answers
for you and your father.

Can we take a look
at the artifacts?

We sure can.

There's a woman named Bonnie
that worked for my dad,

and she's got
the artifacts right now.

Lead the way. All right.

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A Viking find out here
would be unprecedented.

Wow.

The Viking sagas talk
about a place called Vinland.

Vinland has never been
conclusively identified.

They know it's in North America.

Some people think it's
on the northeast coast,

and that does make some sense,

but that doesn't mean
that they're right.

WOLTER: There is a
confirmed Viking settlement

in Newfoundland,
which I've seen,

but one thing
archaeologists agree on

is that it's not Vinland.

They've concentrated
their efforts to find Vinland

on the East Coast
of the United States

because that's where
some intriguing things

have already been found,
including a stone in the sea

off the coast
of Martha's Vineyard

inscribed with the name
of the Viking's

most notorious explorer,
Leif Erikson.

And I think the geology suggests

it could have been carved
at the time of his voyage

across the Atlantic.

But if Harry's artifacts
are authentic,

maybe we should be looking here,
2,500 miles further west.

If these Viking artifacts

that your dad came into
are genuine,

maybe Vinland is out here.

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Hi, Bonnie.

Hi. Nice to meet you, Scott.

Apparently,
you're the one that knows

where these artifacts
were found.

Well, we don't know exactly
where they were found...

Just somewhere in this area.

WOLTER: It's too bad we
don't have an exact location

because we might be able to find

even more artifacts
still buried,

something that could bolster
the provenance of this cache

because their
archaeological context

could be studied and proven.

But this is still
an amazing find,

and there are other ways
to explore the possibility

the Vikings left these here
if they appear authentic.

WOLTER: [ Laughing ] Wow!

Incredible.

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They all have a very similar
look to them.

Do you notice
this green material

that's covering pretty much
all of them, it looks like?

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

That's a copper carbonate,

and that's produced
by weathering of the metal,

which tells me that
there's copper in here,

as well as other metals.

When either bronze
or brass oxidizes,

it'll produce this
green coating on here.

It's called a patina.

That's always been the
interesting piece of the bunch.

ATKINS: Have you seen
anything like that before?

You know what? Actually, I have.

Let me show you some pictures.

This is Sweden, Scandinavia,

and that is Gotland,

which is an island in the
middle of the Baltic Sea.

And Viking artifacts

have been found
on the island of Gotland

for literally centuries.

They're all over.

Here's one that's kind of shaped
like this guy right here.

See how the end
comes straight out?

That's very similar.

Now, this one looks
almost [Laughing] exactly

like this guy right here.
Wow. Look at that.

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Now, here's
an interesting artifact.

That is a broach that was worn
by Viking-age women.

That one right there looks
a lot like this one.

You know what?
Actually, it does.

You're right.

Did Vikings bring their women
along on these journeys?

The Viking Sagas
talk about women

coming over here
to the new world.

How do you think they actually
got in this area?

It's far from the sea.

WOLTER:
I explain to Harry and Bonnie

that in ancient times,
much of the arid Southwest

was actually a lake,

and a giant lake at that,

called Lake Cahuilla.

Today, all that's left
is the Salton Sea

in California's
Imperial and Coachella Valleys.

The Vikings, who we know
were sailing west

looking for new lands to settle,

could have gotten
to this part of the country

by coming through
the Northwest Passage,

around Alaska,

down the coast of California,
around Baja,

into the Gulf of California,

and then straight up
into the U.S.

Sedona is still a ways from
the edge of the ancient lake,

but the Vikings could have
traveled here on foot

in search of a place to settle.

WOLTER: I mean,
this would be unprecedented

if they actually did come here
back at that time.

Okay.

WOLTER: There is,
of course, another possibility

of how Bonnie
and Harry's artifacts

ended up here
that I have to point out.

The other possibility

is that these artifacts
were collected

by somebody within
the last 150 years,

and they were brought over
maybe with immigrants

from Scandinavia.

WOLTER: Starting in the 1830s,
millions of Swedes,

Danes and Norwegians,

including some of my ancestors,
moved to the United States.

But it's a fact
that most of them

settled in the Midwest
where I'm from

and where the climate
was similar

to what they left back home,
not the Southwest.

All I know right now is
these things look authentic,

but there are ways
to tell for sure.

WOLTER: As great as this looks,

you have to tap the brakes
just a bit.

There is a black market

where people are making
artifacts like this,

and they're really good
at making them look authentic.

But one of the ways
that we can tell the difference

between something
that is authentic

and something that's modern

is by using something
called an XRF gun.

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WOLTER: XRF stands for
X-ray florescence

and is a critical tool

in assessing
the authenticity of artifacts.

A gun like this can reveal
what metals

objects like these are made of.

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WOLTER: The Vikings used
crude forges.

I expect that we're probably
gonna see copper and zinc,

but it also should have
some secondary elements

like iron, tin, and lead.

Let's start with
this guy right here.

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The suspense
is killing you, right?

[ Both laugh ]

[ Laughing ] Oh!

Do you know what we have here?

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WOLTER: Over 10% copper.
Over 10% zinc.

Lead, 3.42%.

Iron and a little bit of silver.

These results are
very consistent

with known Viking-age artifacts,

so I really like
what we're seeing here.

Even though I love
these test results

and they appear to be authentic,

that isn't everything.

I'd really like to sit down
with a professor I know.

She teaches at Oxford
in the U.K.,

one of the top experts
in Viking artifacts,

and she'll know if these
are authentic artifacts or not.

Is it okay if I take them
with me?

Sure. Yeah.

Promise I'll bring them back.

Maybe we'll finally have
an answer

for your dad and for you guys.

Sounds great. Okay, thank you.

Sounds great, thank you.

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WOLTER: Before I go any further
with this investigation

into whether the Vikings
made a trip to the Southwest,

I need to know if
these artifacts are authentic.

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Well, Dr. Kershaw...
Is Jane okay?

That's fine, yeah.

What I want to talk to you
about today

is what you think
of these artifacts.

Does the style
and what you see here

look like they could be Viking?

Yeah, sounds good.

WOLTER: First things
first... I show Jane the data

from the XRF testing
I did in the field.

I find the test results
promising, and she agrees.

Certainly, they look
very consistent.

It's the results we would expect

for early medieval artifacts,

but there's no substitute
for actually having a look

at the items themselves.

And they're not big,
as you can see.

They're always so much smaller
than you think they are.

[ Laughing ] Oh.

♪♪

Okay, interesting.

This is a Viking-age broach.

Really?

Women would have worn these
in pairs on the shoulder...

Right.

...right about here.

They're really distinctive
animal art.

They came into Scandinavia
around about 800.

This is definitely 10th century.

That's incredible.

And so how about this guy here?

This is the bottom plate

of a very particular
type of broach

known as a box broach.

WOLTER:
Viking women wore box broaches

to secure their shawls
at their collars.

♪♪

Well, so far,
you're batting a thousand.

I'm very curious to see
what else there is.

We have several pieces here.

This is a crossbow broach

that was really popular
with the Roman military elites,

so it's not Vikings.

It's a little bit earlier
than that.

So older than Viking?

Definitely older than Viking...
3rd, 4th century A.D.

A.D., okay.

They would have been
trade objects worn by men.

Well, that's interesting.

This is a mix of things
from a wide time period.

WOLTER: Because some of
the artifacts are older than Viking,

it's possible they took them
from lands they raided

to add to their collection,

like souvenirs or trophies,

though there is no way
to know for sure.

One thing that is certain,

Bonnie and Harry do have
some authentic Viking artifacts.

There are some clear
Viking-age pieces.

These ones are Viking-age,
10th century.

So, I'm satisfied with
all of your conclusions,

but the big question
is how did these artifacts

in that saddlebag
get in the desert in Arizona?

It's quite interesting that
it's found in North America

'cause it's quite rare,
really, for that to happen.

It does make me wonder

whether the Scandinavian
migrations

to the Midwest in America

might have something
to do with the story.

If you have kind of
family treasures,

family heirlooms
that get passed down

and then somebody emigrates,

leaves Scandinavia,
ends up in America,

maybe that's a partial
explanation for this.

WOLTER: Dr. Kershaw's theory
is certainly plausible

and one that
I'm already considering,

but I also know Viking voyagers

could have brought
these over themselves

if ancient Lake Cahuilla
was deep enough.

In addition to telling
Bonnie and Harry

that their artifacts are legit,

I'd like to tell them more
definitively how they got there.

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I've come to Travertine Point
in southern California.

Today, this giant rock outcrop

is just a mile away
from the iconic Salton Sea.

Over 1,000 years ago,

it would have been
in the northwest quadrant

of Lake Cahuilla's
2,000 square mile spread.

I'm climbing high
atop this outcrop

to look for a porous rock
called tufa,

which only exists in places
once covered with water.

It doesn't take me long
to find some,

which proves the water level
was high enough for the Vikings

to have used this lake
to get inland to the Southwest.

And that's good news
because there's a legend

of a Viking ship
doing exactly that.

I've asked a man who's spent
over a decade

researching the fascinating tale
to meet me here.

John? Scott.

Good to meet you.
[ Laughing ] Nice to meet you.

Can I join you?
Sure, have a seat.

[ Grunts ]

So, John, I understand
you're the guy that knows

about this Viking ship
buried in the desert out here?

Yes, I've spent years,
decades even,

chasing down this story.

I just came from looking
at a cache of artifacts

that look authentic.

They also look like
they might be Viking.

In the Southwest you found this?

In Sedona.

Oh, my God!

You see this right here? Mm-hmm.

This is the tufa
that's coating this granite.

Okay.

Take this diluted
hydrochloric acid

and just drop it on the surface.

You see how it reacts?
Oh, wow! The fizzing.

That's the tufa.

That's the secondary deposit
that grew on this granite

when the water level
was up higher.

That proves
it was under water then.

Based on this, there's no
question that the water level,

the lake was absolutely
up this high.

WOLTER: It's possible someone,
like a cowboy,

found Harry Atkins' artifacts

somewhere
in the dried-up lake bed

and put them in his saddlebag,

which is how they were
originally found.

WOLTER: This lake level
would have been high enough

for a Viking ship to have
been able to come in here.

Geologically and geographically,

the pieces are really
coming together.

Well, you know what
I would really like to do?

Find that ship. Me too.

Where do you think the location
of this Viking ship is?

Not far at all

in a town called
Imperial, California,

and the town location

would have been
almost dead center

of the southern part
of Lake Cahuilla.

Okay. Well,
that's gonna be the next stop.

Well, I'd love to tag
along with you,

but there's a stop
to make first.

What's that?

Scott, I want you to hear
from an eyewitness

who actually saw the ship.

An eyewitness? Yes.

♪♪

♪♪

John, you're telling me
there was an eyewitness

who actually saw
this Viking ship?

When did he see it?

In the early 1900s.

The guy's name is Elmer Carver.

He recorded what he saw in 1964,

then he died shortly after.

Primary-source material
is always the golden thread.

So, what did he see?

Around 1907, Elmer Carver
worked for a local farmer

by the name of Niles Jacobsen.

And when he went
to Jacobsen's farm,

the first thing he noticed
that the boards on the hog pen

were really long, really thick,

and were held up
by pegs instead of nails.

So he goes, "Well, that's odd."

And he asked Jacobsen about it,

and Jacobsen says,
"Oh, I get them from ship."

And he goes, "What are you
talking about, a ship?"

Didn't really go into detail
over it right then and there,

but Jacobsen showed him
all the chores he had to do,

then the next day,
Carver went out

and looked at the ship.

That's when he found out
what it was.

So, he actually saw it?

Physically touched the ship.

Nobody has really listened
to the tape

other than the guy
who owns the tape and myself,

but I've been granted
the extreme special permission

to allow you
to listen to the tape.

Well, I sure appreciate that.

The only issue with this

is it's a very old
reel-to-reel recording.

WOLTER:
John only got the tape recently

and hasn't had it transferred
over to a more modern medium.

After you, pal. Thank you.

WOLTER: Good thing we found
Simply At Home Antiques,

and the shop let us use
their reel-to-reel player.

Aha!

♪♪

As we're putting on this reel
with Elmer Carver's testimony,

I can't believe I'm going to be
one of only a couple people

to ever hear it.

I'm really hoping
there are clues

that could lead us to the ship.

♪♪

CARVER: I had gone out and
looked at this... wreck of the boat.

That was a peculiar
looking thing.

About 200 foot...
in back of the house.

WOLTER: About 200 feet.

Well, if we can find out
where the house was...

GRASSON: That's the key.

That's what I've been
searching for for years.

There was a bow of the boat
all just stuck up

about six foot
out of the ground.

The stern post... that stuck up

about maybe four feet
above the ground.

And then along each were
the ribs of the boat,

so it looked like a skeleton.

But some of the ribs
were missing.

Also on that hog pen was
some kind of looked like metal,

and I've always wondered
where he got that metal.

But I think that was some of
the sheathing off of that ship.

Metal could have been on the
front of the ship, on the bow,

when they were going through
the Northwest Passage.

Didn't even think about that.

Protect it from ice.

WOLTER: Elmer's account of
the ship goes on for 45 minutes.

It sounds like the ship
was 50 to 60 feet long

and was broken apart
by Niles the farmer,

who used its wood and metal
for the hog pen

and other things
on his property.

Over time, the ship
was simply forgotten...

♪♪

...more legend
than anything else.

♪♪

Well, Elmer is a very
interesting firsthand witness.

I mean, he definitely
saw the ship.

That is critical,
and for the most part,

I thought he sounded
really credible.

He provides a lot of details.

I mean, you know,
the bow was sticking up

six feet above the ground
after the storm uncovered it.

I liked the fact

that he said that there was
a mound before.

It was uncovered.

He saw the ribs of the ship.

He said it's 200 feet
behind the house.

I mean, we've got a lot of
details here to follow up on.

Absolutely.

I also like
he mentioned the metal.

I mean, if it was all wood,
that's one type of a search,

but if there's metal involved,

well, that opens up
a whole bunch of other things

like metal detecting.

And if that ship
is truly a Viking ship

that came here 1,000 years ago,

that rewrites
the whole history book.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

WOLTER: John and I
picked up plat maps

at the local property
records department

and together try to figure out

exactly where Niles Jacobsen's
property was located

to narrow down an area
where the ship might be.

This is a 1908 survey map,

and this shows all
the farm and ranch areas

that were east of Imperial.

Jacobsen owned one,
two, three, four,

five, and six properties. Okay.

But you have to match that up

with what Carver said
on the tape, as well...

What year, what time...

'cause he didn't buy all this
property at the same time,

and that leads us to tract 164.

So, you think this is the tract

where he saw the ship 200
feet behind the house? Yes.

So, you know what we have
to do now?

What's that?
We have to figure out

who owns that property today.

♪♪

♪♪

After making a few calls,
John and I learned

that the Jacobsen house
that used to be there

isn't standing anymore.

But we know where
it would have been,

and we find out
a family of dairy farmers,

the Schaffners,
own the farm today.

♪♪

Hello.
How can I help you gentlemen?

You look like a guy
with an open mind.

Uh, I don't know.

[ Laughs ] Well,
I'm a forensic geologist,

and I investigate mysteries
all over the United States.

We're investigating this
whole possibility

that maybe Vikings
could have come

into the Southwest area here,

as you know,
living in this area,

that there was a giant lake
here at one time.

That is true.

Have you ever heard the legend
of a Viking ship

buried in the desert
somewhere around here?

I actually have.

We think it might be
on your property.

You think it's on our property?

Well, we're pretty convinced
that it is.

♪♪

Here's the tract...
Number 164...

Where we think that this
Viking ship could be.

Is that your property?

Yeah, it is.

Well, John and I
just listened to a recording

where we heard
a firsthand witness tell us

that there was a residence here,
and 200 feet north,

he said he saw a Viking ship.

Really?

What do you think?

Well, I've heard
the legend before,

but I never thought in a million
years it would be on our farm.

Here's what we'd like to do.

We'd like to bring
in a geophysicist

with a magnetometer,

and he would scan the property
in our area of interest,

and if we do find some
anomalies, we'd like to dig.

You want to help us
find a Viking ship?

SCHAFFNER: Well,
I got a backhoe.

I'd be more than happy to play
in the dirt with you guys.

♪♪

♪♪

WOLTER: I'm going to need help
scanning below the ground

for anything unusual
to find a good spot to dig,

so I reached out to
geophysicist Patrick Lehrmann,

who has tools
to detect anomalies

that suggests
things deeply buried.

I've updated him on
everything we've learned so far.

Hey, Patrick.

WOLTER: And it didn't take
a lot of persuading

to get him out here to help.

Now, remember, we're talking
about a wooden ship,

and there were two kinds
of Viking ships

back about 1,000 years ago.

There was a knarr,
and then the long boat style

that had the dragon on the front
that everybody is familiar with.

Viking long ships were
the enviable vessels of the sea

between the 8th
and 11th centuries.

Designed with a shallow hull,

they were capable of
reaching speeds of 15 knots

or 17 miles per hour.

These sleek ships were both
sturdy enough

to navigate rough seas,

but light enough to be carried
over portages as needed.

And knarrs
were sturdy cargo ships

capable of carrying
the spoils of Viking raids

up to 75 miles per day.

There was a piece of metal

reportedly found
along with the wood.

We're thinking there was copper
or brass or bronze sheets

that were put on the front of
the ship to protect it from ice.

So you might encounter wood,
metal, who knows what else.

LEHRMANN: I brought a number
of different pieces of equipment,

but I think that we should
start with the magnetometer.

We can cover a lot of ground
with that fairly quickly.

I think our first stage
should be to look

for any anomalies
we see over a larger area,

and then when we find
some targets,

we should then focus on those

with a couple of other
instruments, including the GPR.

Well, Patrick,
let's get after it.

♪♪

We're covering six acres
with the magnetometer,

which can detect metals,

and using the GPS
in the exact spot

where Elmer Carver
said he saw this ship.

[ Equipment beeping ]

I hear plenty of beeping,

but we won't know
what might be underground

until we download the data
to Patrick's computer,

which takes just a few minutes.

LEHRMANN:
Finished processing the data,

and I made a map
of what I found.

The bright colors, the reds
and the fuchsia and yellow,

those are anomalies.

It's in the Southwest corner

where you thought
the farmhouse would be

and potentially
where the buried ship

was supposed to be, as well.

So, basically,
this little rectangle here

is this strip right here.

Yeah, it's about 200 feet long
and extends 200 feet

from where we started over here.

This almost looks like
the ribs of the ship.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

[ Birds chirping ]

Look at how it's got these...
They look like ribs of a ship.

Possibly.

But then right in the middle,

which could be the keel
of our Viking ship,

it looks like we got a hot spot.

Maybe that's where the metal
was close to the keel.

This is incredible.

I mean, do you really expect
to find something like this?

I mean, this is absolutely cool.

Hell, yes, I expected
to find something.

Okay, so now this is
getting scary. [ Laughs ]

No, now it's getting fun.

I mean, this is just like
we heard on the tape,

exactly like Elmer said
on the reel-to-reel.

I'm gonna get on the phone,

get Chase out here
with that backhoe.

♪♪

WOLTER: One of the challenges
with scans like these

is that sometimes
very small solid objects

appear much larger on screen,

but I'm hoping
for a very big find.

♪♪

Yeah, just clean it out,
and then we're good.

♪♪

We should just dig through here
and see what we find,

if there's anything that
might create that anomaly.

We might take the instrument out

and see if we have
any responses here.

♪♪

[ Metal detector chirping ]

♪♪

♪♪

WOLTER: It's important to
go through the piles of dirt

that Chase is dumping to ensure
that nothing gets by us.

What the hell is that?

Do you think it's wood?

You know what? This is not wood.

This is clay.

You see on the side,
those little pieces there?

Let's go in and look at that.

Well, this is material that was
at the bottom of the lake.

Do you see how
it's got those lines?

Yeah.

They look like varves
that you see in old lakes.

WOLTER: The fact that
we're finding these varves

means the lake came this far
into Imperial, California.

But what about the ship?

This is the lake bottom right
here going all the way down.

This is hardpan clay.

If the ship was here, okay,

it would be probably
in this zone here

sitting on top of the mud.

It doesn't make any sense
to go deeper

because this would have been
pretty hard mud,

and if the ship was sticking up
out of the ground...

It wouldn't have been
any further down.

Well, it certainly wouldn't
be deeper than this.

Yeah.

Well, you're convinced
that the anomaly

that you got is metal,
and it's here somewhere.

Yeah, it has to be.

Why don't you take
the metal detector.

Let's do the piles.
Go through them carefully.

Sounds great.

[ Metal detector
chirping lightly ]

♪♪

[ Chirping intensifies ]

Hey [Laughing] Scott.

I got something here.

[ Chirping continues ]

♪♪

Here, hand me that shovel.

[ Chirping continues ]

[ Strained ] All right. Yep.

[ Grunts ]

[ Chirping intensifies ]

♪♪

That felt like metal.

Yep, there's something there.

Wait, what is that? Listen.

[ Shovel thuds ]

Did you hear that?

What is it?

[ Laughing ] Oh!

♪♪

♪♪

That's a piece of rebar.

So you're confident this was
our anomaly that we hit here?

I'm sure this is what
we were seeing.

It's disappointing.
We had good data.

WOLTER: So,
how did a small piece of rebar show up

as such a huge reading
on Patrick's magnetometer?

Turns out, the answer is simple,

but it's also over our heads.

It's power lines.

They can sometimes
cause interference

in geophysical data.

In this case,
I think the magnetometer

picked up the electricity
coursing through these lines,

leading us to believe we'd be
finding something much larger.

Hey, Chase.

Thanks for letting me put
some holes in your property.

I appreciate it.
No problem. It was fun.

Maybe next time,
we'll find a Viking ship.

Yeah, next time.

♪♪

WOLTER: Well, John [Sighs]
we gave it our best effort,

and as you can see...
no Viking ship.

I'm happy that we're here.

I'm happy
that you gave it a shot.

Only thing I can say
is it's just not here.

It doesn't mean it's not here.

It's just not here.

And I'm very happy
with what you've done.

Thank you very much.

Well, you're quite welcome,

and I'm not gonna give up
on this story

just because
we didn't find a ship.

I'm not done yet.

♪♪

♪♪

I'm crossing the Mexican border
into Baja California

where the Seri Indians
have a legend of a longboat

arriving on their shores

carrying strange tall people
with yellow hair.

And the front of their boat
was shaped like a dragon.

The Seris even
immortalized the legend

by carving
what they saw in stone.

I've only ever seen a picture
of the petroglyph,

but I've called
a local historian

to lead me to it
so I can try to date it.

If it's old enough,
then maybe the Seri Indians

witnessed a band of Vikings
that could have carried

Harry Atkins' artifacts
into the desert.

This petroglyph that we're gonna
look at is so important,

and I'm really anxious
to see it.

So, tell me
a little bit more about it.

What it shows is
that the native people,

from over 1,000 years ago
perhaps,

saw this ship go by,
and it moved them so much

that they had
to inscribe it into rock.

Well, this wouldn't be
the first petroglyph of a ship

that looked to be European

carved by Native Americans
that I've seen.

There's actually one right
near the shore of Lake Superior

up in the U.P. of Michigan.

WOLTER: The ship carving has
the same square-shaped sail

as the petroglyph I'm about
to check out in Baja.

In the past, I've also
considered whether that ship

was Minoan,
a Mediterranean culture

that used a sail
similar to the Vikings.

But I think both carvings
could be evidence that not one,

but multiple Viking voyages

ended far into the lands
of the new world.

♪♪

Look at the size of that thing.

Yeah. And they get bigger.

♪♪

Watch your footing.

I'll take a bullet
if there's a rattlesnake.

♪♪

♪♪

Oh [Laughing] there it is.

♪♪

This sticks out
like a sore thumb.

I see a ship,
I see the curved bow,

and it looks like
it could be a Viking ship.

You've got what looks
like a sail

standing on a vertical mast

right in the middle that
has upturned front end

and an upturned back end.

Just look at the detail
that went into the sail,

and something definitely
stood out

with these people
on what they saw.

That almost looks like a tongue,

or water coming out of the mouth
of a dragon, or a snake.

♪♪

Take a look at this.

You can see the bow of the ship.

There's your rectangular sail,
a single mast.

You've got the dragon
on the front.

It looks very, very similar.

WOLTER: What I'm most
interested in is this petroglyph's age.

The Vikings were exploring
around the year 1,000 A.D.

If this petroglyph is as old as
that, it could be a connection.

WOLTER: Obviously, scholars and
academics have looked at this.

How old do they say this is?

They've dated it approximately
1,000 to 1,500 A.D.

Well [Laughing] that's
right in our wheelhouse

for the Vikings.

I'm gonna take a closer look
at this with my hand lens.

♪♪

This is granite.

Looks like some quartz,

micas, and organics
built up on the surface.

They're also starting to build
up again within the lines,

so this has been here a while.

As far as how old it is,
you know, 1,000 to 1,500...

This petroglyph could prove

that the Vikings did come
to the Southwest,

and if that all pans out,

we're talking about
a huge historical rewrite.

♪♪

♪♪

WOLTER: Back in Minneapolis,
it's time to give Harry Atkins a call.

Delivering good news is
the best part of my job,

but it doesn't happen
all the time.

The reality is, it's rare for
authentic ancient artifacts

to be found in this country
that aren't Native American.

I can't wait to tell Harry

what he and Bonnie
have their hands on.

♪♪

Hey, Harry. How you doing?

I'm doing good, sir.

Are you ready for the results?

I am. I'm more than ready.

I'm excited to hear
what you have to say.

I had been looking
for almost 20 years

for real Viking artifacts
that were found here

in the United States.

And guess what?

You have them!

Wow!

They are real.

They are genuine
Viking artifacts,

and I don't know
if I'm more excited than you.

I think it might be me.

But let's ask the question

that everybody's
gonna ask, right?

How did they get there?

Exactly.

Now, the possibilities,
realistically, are two.

The first is that we had
an immigrant from Scandinavia

that brought
these artifacts with them,

but let's take a look at it
from the other possibility.

What if it was Vikings
that brought these artifacts

that they collected
and then brought them over here.

Right.

Probably the most compelling
evidence... down in Baja,

I saw a petroglyph,
and in my opinion,

it looked like a Viking ship.

Wow.

There is a Native American
legend with the Seri tribe

that is right there near
where this petroglyph

was that talks about a ship
that had blond-haired,

blue-eyed people
that was sailing to the north,

and this fits in perfect
with the thesis that we have

that the Vikings could have made
it across the Northwest Passage,

came around Alaska,
the West Coast around Baja,

up the Gulf of California
into the Salton Sea,

and then maybe just
a little bit beyond to Sedona.

[ Laughs ] Oh, I'm excited.
That's really cool to hear.

You got to be thinking
about your dad.

I mean, what would he say

if he could be part
of this conversation?

He would say this is, you know,
this is so cool that,

you know,
these items were found.

They're brought here.

You followed where they
came from,

but not only that, it adds
a new possibility, or page,

to what is given history,
so to speak.

It may have taken a while.

Unfortunately,
he didn't live to see it,

but there's a part of me
that thinks he's watching this,

and he knows.

Me too. Me too.

♪♪

WOLTER: The quest
for the truth in this case

has been a Viking saga
of the modern age.

There's no question
Bonnie and Harry

have authentic Viking artifacts
over 1,000 years old,

and whether they were
brought here on a ship

in 1,000 A.D.

or found their way
here some other way,

this is a fantastic story
no matter what.

In ancient history, the legend
of the Vikings loom large,

but I think their real journeys
are even more amazing

and are adventures we're only
beginning to understand.

If you have
a mysterious artifact

or site I need to see,
I want to know about it.