Why was L’Anse aux Meadows included on the first UNESCO World Heritage List?

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Ajanta Caves: reclining Buddha — World Heritage site Reclining Buddha statue, Ajanta Caves, north-central Maharashtra state, India.

L’Anse aux Meadows was included on the first UNESCO World Heritage site list in 1978 because it represents the first known European settlement in the New World.1

Established by Norse explorers around the year 1000, the site serves as critical physical evidence of transoceanic contact centuries before the voyages of Christopher Columbus. It is widely believed to correspond to the location of Straumfjord, a base described in the Eiríks saga rauða (Erik the Red’s Saga), and provides unique archaeological insight into the expansion of Norse culture into North America.1