the Vinland Map (again)

[Mark]

Vinland Map of America no forgery, expert says
Fri Jul 17, 2009 12:09pm EDT

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By John Acher

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - The 15th century Vinland Map, the first known map to show part of America before explorer Christopher Columbus landed on the continent, is almost certainly genuine, a Danish expert said Friday.

Controversy has swirled around the map since it came to light in the 1950s, many scholars suspecting it was a hoax meant to prove that Vikings were the first Europeans to land in North America -- a claim confirmed by a 1960 archaeological find.

Doubts about the map lingered even after the use of carbon dating as a way of establishing the age of an object.

"All the tests that we have done over the past five years -- on the materials and other aspects -- do not show any signs of forgery," Rene Larsen, rector of the School of Conservation under the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, told Reuters.


rest at

http://www.reuters.com/article/scien...56G58320090717

[Michael]

Wow. I had believed that controversy laid to rest years ago. If the map is genuine, then it certainly opens up discussion on some of the other controversial pre-Columbian topics that the scientific community has tried not to take very seriously.

It doesn't PROVE anything about those other controversies, but it suggests we should apply more recent investigative techniques to understanding those mysterious finds better.

[august]

Yep, I too had thought that controversy had been settled (in favor of the Vikings, as in the 1960 find referenced) long ago. Michael, we're about the same age - do you recall a Leif Ericson stamp that was issued sometime in the late 60's or early 70's? (I think it may have just been a rendition of a statue of him.) I seem to recall that it signified the acceptance by all concerned parties of all the Vinland stuff.....

Or is the controversy just relating to whether or not the map itself was fake?

[Michael]

I don't recall the stamp issue -- at least not off the top of my head.

But I have been under the impression that the map was dismissed, though it could be I was thinking of that rune stone found in Minnesota. I think it was called the Kensington Stone, if I recall correctly.