Vinci produces some compelling pieces of evidence. In his 1995 book Omero nel Baltico (translated as The Baltic Origins of Homer’s Epics), he points to:
o numerous climate anomalies in Homer’s works, for example cool, foggy weather and snow dusting the shields of the warriors
o various geographic discrepancies, such as references to the “wide Hellespont,” which would fit better with the broad Gulf of Finland
o several topographic correspondences — for example, Troy could be the southern Finnish town of Toijala, Chios the Estonian island of Hiiumaa, and Pylene the northern German town of Plön
reports of fighting at night, which would be possible thanks to long summer days in northern latitudes
the boats in the Odyssey having two prows so they can be pointed in either direction, just like typical Viking longships
From these fragments, Vinci extrapolates a grand narrative, which goes something like this: During the Holocene Climate Optimum, from roughly 7500 to 5500 BC, northern Europe was much warmer than it is now, generated rich harvests, and hosted a vibrant, proto-Greek Bronze Age civilization.