The Vinland map

In 1960, a Norse settlement was found at L’Anse aux Meadows, which is located on the northern tip of the island of Newfoundland, in what is now the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The discovery provided evidence that the Vikings had entered sections of North America 500 years before Christopher Columbus. According to the Sagas of Icelanders, the great explorer Leif Ericson established a Norse settlement on North America named Vinland around the year 1000. Vinland is mentioned in the work of Adam of Bremen c. 1075 and in the Book of Icelanders compiled c. 1122 by Ari the Wise. According to the books, North America was sighted around 986 by Bjarni Herjolfsson, who was blown off course on a trip from Iceland to Greenland. His stories lured Leif Ericson to the area.

In 1957, news of the Vinland map was released to the world. The map is claimed to be a 15th-century world map that holds unique information about the Norse exploration of
America. In addition to showing Africa, Asia, and Europe, the map depicts a landmass south-west of Greenland in the Atlantic Ocean labeled as Vinland. The discovery shocked historians who looked to explain the origin of the map. The parchment of the Vinland map shows a representative date of somewhere between 1423 and 1445. Since the map was found, some people have labeled it a forgery, while others have identified it as real.

In the late 1960s, it was announced that a chemical analyses of the map showed ink ingredients from the 20th-century. More specifically, the presence of anatase, which is a synthetic pigment used since the 1920s, however, natural anatase has been demonstrated in various Mediaeval manuscripts. The situation was made worse by the fact that the map was coated with an unknown substance in the 1950s, possibly created by nuclear tests on the document. To support claims for the map, it has been discovered that the wormholes match a medieval copy of volume 3 of Vincent of Beauvais’s encyclopedic Speculum historiale (“Historical Mirror”), which suggests that it may have been located in the book.

In a bizarre occurrence, the Vinland map depicts Greenland as an island with a remarkably close representation of the correct shape and orientation of the land. However, the depiction of Norway is wildly inaccurate. The map also shows an area that may represent Japan. It seems to not only show Honshu, but also Hokkaido and Sakhalin, which were omitted even from Oriental maps in the 15th century.

Many historians feel that the map might be a copy of one developed by Italian mariner Andrea Bianco in the 1430s. Some have placed the land of Vinland as far south as New England or Rhode Island. To date, the map is said to be real by its current owner, Yale University. Regardless of the controversy over its authenticity, the Vinland map has been valued at over $25,000,000. It might be the first map to show North America.


Linkback:

You are not allowed to view links.
Please Register or Login

http://www.thunting.com/smf/index.php/topic,37685.msg232357.html#msg232357

Hello Seldom

Thank you for the interesting and well balanced article.

It has posed some very interesting questions. Would Yale ever admit a they had Been the victim of fraud? the ramifications of such an institution would be enormous. And yet both sides of the debate makes a fairly sound case. It has been said that at least 10-15% of artifacts and paintings in Museums around the world are forgeries. It is only in advent of modern forensic technology some of these better forgeries are being exposed leaving many mueaums and experts red faced.

Here is smaller version of the Map in question and a later map dated 1579. If you are interested enough you can copy the names and details and translate them in a Latin translator which will give you a better understanding of what was being said about early America in 1579.

As for the vineland map I tend to sit on the fence for now.

hardluck

Linkback:

You are not allowed to view links.
Please Register or Login

http://www.thunting.com/smf/index.php/topic,37685.msg232874.html#msg232874

		Quote:			Posted by seldom
	Would Yale ever admit a they had Been the victim of fraud? the ramifications of such an institution would be enormous. No not in our life anyway

Sort of liking asking if Joe Paterno would ever fall from grace at Penn State.



Oh wait, that did happen, didn't it?     

Linkback:

You are not allowed to view links.
Please Register or Login

http://www.thunting.com/smf/index.php/topic,37685.msg232978.html#msg232978

		Quote:			Posted by homefire
	Not to throw this off subject but wasn't there a Spear Point found not long ago that Put the Vikings here way before any of this?

Not really....even the article you cite puts the vikings here around 1000 AD give or take a wee bit which fits just fine with both the current accepted archeology and the Vinland maps theories.   The only thing your article says is they may have traveled a bit further than originally thought, but given how far they traveled in and around Europe (i.e settling Russia, ruling Sicily, France (remember the Normans?), etc) it shouldn't be surprising that they would have also traveled far from their "base" of operations here in the new world either.   And the Norse were as much or more traders as they were raiders......so, as the article stated, the spear could have made at least part of the trip as a result of a series of trades first between the Norse and native Americans and then between various groups of native Americans.

BA

Linkback:

You are not allowed to view links.
Please Register or Login

http://www.thunting.com/smf/index.php/topic,37685.msg232993.html#msg232993