General Discussion

Denmark - maybe?

My bet is on the Portuguese/Iberian fisherman, though...there's a theory that they were fishing off the Outer Banks back during the Roman Era/early middle ages and would land in Massachusetts or Long Island to salt and pack their catch before heading back to Iberia.

They were fishermen - weren't set up as traders, and wouldn't need a permanent settlement, just an agreement with the local tribes to camp out for a few weeks and reprovision in the late summer while they prepped their catch.

Evidence is that the type of preserved cod found in shipwrecks from the period is genetically similar to the cod off the Outer Banks.