The Vikings are “appointed” as the discoverers of the continent
The rector of the School of Conservation at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Dr. Rene Larsen, said recently at the XXIII International Conference on the History of Cartography in Copenhagen that the so-called pre-Columbian "Vinland Map" is not a fake. This means that, as expected, the Vikings were the first Europeans to visit North America. As the old Icelandic sagas claim.
"Vinland Map" - a piece of old parchment measuring 28x41 cm, which quite clearly depicts Europe with Africa, Greenland and some other land to the west of it, which, judging by the inscription, is called Vinland, and it looks like it is part North America. Acquaintance of modern historians with the map began in 1957, when the Swiss antiques dealer Enzo Ferrajoli offered the British Museum an old book, between the sheets of which this parchment was hidden. How he fell into the hands of the merchant, he did not want to explain. And the British, considering the card a fake, refused to purchase it. But private collectors became interested in them. And then, after several acts of purchase and sale, the parchment fell into the collection of Yale University (USA). In 1965, the map was first published, and serious research began.
The card is forged …
First, experts examined the chemical composition of the ink on the parchment. It turned out that they contain titanium dioxide, which was used in modern ink only in the 20th century.
No, it is genuine …
But in the 70s-80s of the last century, titanium dioxide was found in the ink of several more ancient manuscripts, the authenticity of which was beyond doubt. It has been suggested that the substance got into the ink through the sand, which was sprinkled with fresh inscriptions, so that they dry quickly. Script?
Still a fake …
After the chemists, the geographers got down to business. The Vinland Map shows Greenland as an island. But for the first time it was proved that it is an island, and not a peninsula in North America, only in 1892 by the polar explorer Robert Peary. Still cheating?
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It looks like a real …
Then came the turn of physicists. Radiocarbon analysis of the parchment showed that the animal from which it was made died about 570 years ago. And the parchment itself, taking into account the accuracy of the method of its production, scientists attributed to the period between 1411 and 1468. If you take the average date, you get about 1440-42 years. And Columbus discovered America only half a century later - in 1492. This is an argument, albeit an indirect one. The fake could have been depicted on old parchment.
Here ecologists also caught on. According to the Icelandic sagas, the Vikings discovered America in about 1000. And at that time the climate was such that the Vikings could safely sail around Greenland and make a map of it.
And I say: "deception" …
After all these disputes, the card was recognized as genuine? Not at all.
Historians entered the arena. In the upper left corner of the book, near the image of Vinland Island, there is the following inscription:
“By the will of the Lord, after a long journey from Greenland to the distant reaches of the Western Ocean, companions Bjarni and Leif Ericsson, sailing south through the ice, discovered a new land that was very rich and even had vines; they named it Vinland Island …”.
"How so?!" - historians were indignant. For all other sagas, it turns out that the contemporaries of Bjarni Herjulfsson and Leif Eriksson, although both visited America, did it separately, each with their own team. The argument is also indirect: if the map is still genuine, then it was drawn more than 400 years after the adventures of the brave Vikings. The cartographer may simply not know the real history of the development of America.
Woodworms put an end to history
So, both supporters and opponents of the authenticity of the card until recently remained unconvinced: both sides had enough arguments. But the other day Danish researcher Rene Larsen presented new evidence in favor of the Viking primacy.
The map was filed into a book - a folder where the manuscript "The Story of Tartary" was kept, telling about the journey of the Franciscan monks to Mongolia at the end of the 13th century. The author is the famous traveler Plano Caprini, who also wrote the famous History of the Mongols. Scientists have no doubts about the authenticity of the "Narrative of Tartary".
And Rene Larsen, having carefully studied both the map and the book itself, discovered that the smallest holes in the parchment made by tree beetles are identical to the holes in the pages of the book. And that seems to mean that at least both things have been kept together for a very long time - perhaps hundreds of years.
Therefore, the scientist said that the possibility of forging a card is excluded. In his opinion, the map was made and filed into a book about Mongolia during the Council of the Catholic Church in Basel (Switzerland), held in 1431-48. It also touched upon the issue of missionary work, the spread of the teachings of Christ. That's why all the available sources about the world around were collected. But here is where it was kept after the Cathedral and how it got into the hands of a small antiques dealer, it seems, we will never know.
Will we believe the learned husband? Or will we wait for representatives of other fields of science to enter the scene?
By the way, before going in search of America, Christopher Columbus visited Iceland. Was it there that he saw a similar map and learned about the mysterious Vinland?