Kensington Rune Stone

Related Category: Archaeology: General

much-disputed stone found (1898) on a farm near Kensington, Minn., SW of Alexandria. Inscribed on the stone in runes is an account of a party of Norse explorers, 14 days' journey from the sea, who camped nearby in 1362 and lost 10 of their men, presumably to Native Americans. Archaeological and philological disputes have been waged over the authenticity of the stone. Most scholars argue that the stone is a hoax, i.e., that it is of more recent origin than the 14th cent., though some accept it with the corroborative archaeological evidence. See Vinland.

See E. Wahlgren, The Kensington Rune Stone: A Mystery Solved (1958); H. R. Holand, Norse Discoveries and Explorations in America, 982–1362 (1940, repr. 1969); T. C. Blegen, The Kensington Rune Stone (1968).