Not only did the Vikings travel to the Americas hundreds of years before Christopher Columbus, but it appears that they were likely making routine trips to extract natural resources. Researchers believe they now have the proof of this behavior, thanks to a better understanding of trees found in Greenland.

A study published by researchers from the University of Iceland journal Antiquity earlier this year says that Norse colonists in Greenland (from 985—1450 AD) relied on imported timber for shipbuilding and large construction projects. It also claims that elite farms had access to timber imports from Northern Europe and North America.

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That access—and the timing of it all—backs up Viking legends that claimed there was a regular trading route between Greenland and North America about 500 years before Christopher Columbus led his famous voyage west.

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