A team of historians have claimed that an island off the coast of Canada has artifacts dating back to a time when the Roman Empire still ruled Europe and the Mediterranean. 

According to Jovan Hutton Pulitzer, lead historian on the research project, a treasure trove of Roman-era artifacts, including a head sculpture, a fragment of a shield, a handful of golden coins from ancient Carthage, a legionnaire’s whistle, and a Roman sword, was found in the wreck of a ship off the coastline of Oak Island, which itself sits off the southern shores of Nova Scotia. The historian spoke to The Express newspaper, claiming that his new find constitutes “the single most important discovery” when it comes to the Western Hemisphere’s archaeological record, adding that it could result in history books being re-written completely.

North America was indeed visited much earlier than most people consider it to have been, as it has been established with relative certainty that Norse settlers led by Eric the Red inhabited a colony in what is known as Greenland today for several hundred years prior to Christopher Columbus’ 1492 voyage on behalf of the Spanish crown. However, the idea that the Romans – whose mariners were not known for vessels that strayed far from the sight of shore – would have been able to make a transatlantic voyage has left many archaeologists questioning the validity of this new find.