In the middle of the last century, a myth appeared related to the discovery of America. A map of Vinland was found, which excited the minds of scientists, and traces of this myth fell into the present century. The map contains the outlines of North America, and it was made even 500 years before this continent was discovered by Christopher Columbus. However, a separate part of the scientific community did not recognize the existence of this mysterious map. But this does not change anything, since Columbus will still have the palm.
What is this card? This is a piece of parchment measuring 28x41 cm, which clearly shows the applied image of the coast of North America with two straits: St. Lawretius and Hudson's. Also on the map there are outlines of Africa, Asia and Europe. The northern part of the European continent contains images of the three islands of Greenland, Iceland and Vinland. The map bears the inscription “Vinilanda Insula a Byarno reperta et leipho sociis” - “Vinland Island discovered by the moons Bjarni and Leife”.
In the upper corner of the map there is an entry in Latin explaining the purpose of the voyage of the travelers. It says that, according to God's will, having spent a long and exhausting voyage to the southern part of the island of Greenland, through the riot of the ocean and thick ice, Leif, Bjarni and his comrades reached the dangerous western regions of the ocean and found a new land, which they called Vinland. There were many vineyards in these parts. It goes on to say that Henryk (Eric), who served as Bishop of the Holy See of Greenland and neighboring countries, was very pleased to learn about this land. He gave his blessing to the ship's crew for further success. After the unexpected discovery of these lands, the bishop returned to his homeland.
Experts have carefully studied this unique document, having come to the conclusion that it dates back to 999 AD, that is, 493 years before the discovery of new lands by Christopher Columbus. Thus, the new continent was first discovered by two Scandinavian sailors - Leif and Bjarni. It is likely that Christopher Columbus, setting off on his voyage around the world, could study this map. An interesting fact is that the information on the map surprisingly intersects with Icelandic sagas and other ancient sources. Some chronicles contain interesting facts about the Bishop of Greenland, Eric, who actually made a trip to Vinland in 1121. Also in the text there are references to Pope Paschal II, who occupied the throne from August 1099 to January 1118.
The first time the map "surfaced" in 1957, in Barcelona. It was put up for sale by a certain bookseller along with a copy of the book of the Middle Ages "History of the Tatars", which described the journey of the Franciscan missionary monk Johann de Plano Carpini to Mongolia. The missionary visited Mongolia sometime in 1245-47. Unique antiques were bought by American Lawrence Whitten, a Connecticut resident. The map and book cost him only $ 3,500.
In 1959, he resold the map and book to an anonymous buyer for a whopping $ 250,000 at the time. As it turned out later, this anonymous person was a Yale University graduate, philanthropist, powerful patron of the arts, American businessman Paul Mellon. The entrepreneur was not only the editor of one of the oldest student newspapers, Yale Daily News, but also a member of the famous secret society Scroll. Manuscript. Key.
Paul Mellon also attracted research specialists from the British Museum, but until 1965, few people knew that these rare documents existed. Then, a great interest in this topic appeared in the scientific community, which has not subsided for several decades. In 1995, the card was insured for a whopping $ 25 million.
Experts conducted a thorough analysis of the map. As it turned out, the ink contained particles of one of the forms of titanium dioxide - a rather rare mineral anatase. According to experts, anatase cannot be part of carbon ink. But soon one of the researchers was able to prove that anatase could appear from the ilmenite minerals, which contain titanium. This metal was used in ancient times to produce paints.
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And the rector of the School of Conservation at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Dr. Rene Larsen, managed to prove that ordinary sand was involved in the emergence of anatase. He shared his data at the 23rd International Conference on the History of Cartography, which was held in Copenhagen. According to him, in ancient times, special sand was used to make the manuscripts dry quickly. Larsen said that he and his team have conducted research that suggests that the ancient document is not a forgery. Small holes found in the book and parchment suggest that they were made by tree beetles. And since the documents were stored in one place, the bugs damaged them at the same time.
But if, nevertheless, there is irrefutable evidence that Vinland was discovered by Scandinavian navigators, then Columbus will still have the palm. After all, he did much more for the New World than the Scandinavian seafarers.