It’s common knowledge that the Pilgrims arrived on Cape Cod for a short visit in 1620, prior to the settlement of Plymouth.

Yet, many don’t realize that many other European explorers also visited the Cape well before the off-course Mayflower anchored in Provincetown Harbor.

Cape Cod was inhabited by native tribes, perhaps as far back as 10,000 years. Visiting explorers may have come ashore here over 1,000 years ago, but here’s a look at who may — or may not — have washed ashore.

* Not all historians are in agreement about Norsemen landing on the Cape, but many writings tell of their visits here over 1,000 years ago. In the 1885 booklet, “Checquocket: The Aboriginal Name of Provincetown,” Herman A. Jennings writes about the stranding of Thorvald Eriksson in 1004.

“In this place he laid the keel of his ship for repairs, and named the place Kilar Ness or Keel Cape,” Jennings wrote.

The short stay in the area now known as Provincetown apparently affected the Norseman deeply. Thorvald later suffered a mortal wound “in an encounter to the northwest,” and requested that he be laid to rest in the area now known as Long Point. “You shall carry me to the place where we repaired our ship, that appeared to be such a goodly place to dwell in,” Jennings wrote.

A masonry wall of squared-off stones, believed to be constructed by Thorvald and company, was unearthed while digging a foundation for a Cottage Street house in Provincetown in 1853. Tales still abound about Viking visits to Eastham (“Wonderstrand” is believed to be a name bestowed on this area by the Vikings), as well as a settlement along Bass River and Follins Pond in Dennis. Local historian Perry Strassburger was just one of many historians who maintained that no concrete proof could be uncovered.

“I’m particularly interested in the Norse lore associated with this continent,” he said in 1948. “I offered a 16-pound ham to anyone who could lead me to a New England authentic Norse relic. No one claimed the ham, so my family and I ate it.”

* There are tales of Portuguese fishermen landing on the Outer Cape a couple of hundred years before the Pilgrims. John Cabot was believed to have, at the very least, sailed close to Cape Cod at the end of the 15th century, followed by Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano about 30 years later. Verrazzano is often credited with discovering Cape Cod Bay; the claim is backed by his 1529 map of the peninsula.

* Bartholomew Gosnold is credited for coining the name “Cape Cod” during his 1602 voyages around the Cape. As Strassburger noted in 1948: “The naming became permanent because of its euphony and because of its salty tang — immortalizing the big and nourishing fish of these waters that is now referred to in the state capital as the ‘sacred cod.’

“Gosnold conferred the name in 1602. He probably exclaimed with relish after eating the good cod of these waters, for it is assumed he had never before tasted the fish. And so he called the peninsula ‘Cape Cod.’ Provincetown was his first landfall.”

It took a while before the Cape Cod name stuck. Strassburger noted, “My research shows that the real pre-Gosnold name of Cape Cod was Cabo de Baxos — which is Castilian Spanish for ‘cape of the shoals.’”

On May 15, 1602, Gosnold’s ship anchored in 15 fathoms of water near the Cape’s end. “Here we saw sculls of herring, mackerel, and other small fish, in great abundance. This is a low sandy shoal, but without danger …” wrote first mate Gabriel Archer.

In 1885, Jennings noted Gosnold said “a native came down to the beach to meet them, and by kind and loving signs tendered them the hospitalities of the place.” Next week, we'll continue our look at Cape visitors prior to the Pilgrims.

Don Wilding, a writer and public speaker on Cape Cod lore, can be reached via email at donwilding@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter at @WildingsCapeCod and on Facebook at @donwildingscapecod. Shore Lore appears weekly.