The Vinland Map: 15th Century Artifact or 20th Century Forgery? Essay e

The Vinland Map: 15th Century Artifact or 20th Century Forgery? Throughout history, the discovery of an ancient artifact has always brought with it much excitement. The idea that we are able to look at something that existed so long ago intrigues us. However, along with the excitement of new discoveries, there is often much controversy. One such discovery, the Vinland Map, has been the cause of much debate since 1957. The Vinland Map, first presented to the public in 1965 in a book written by Skelton, was discovered in 1957 (Skelton 1965, p.3). In the 1960’s the map was bought and donated to Yale University where it remains today. The Vinland Map was originally thought to be a 15 th century depiction of medieval Africa, Asia, and Europe. What is most striking about the map is that it depicts Iceland, Greenland, and a part of North America known as Vinland that was thought to have been unknown before Columbus’ journey to America (Skelton 1965, p. & Brown, Clark 2002, p. 3658). In the 1950’s the idea that people had traveled to the New World before Christopher Columbus was a new concept. However since then we have found evidence that the Vikings did travel to North America before Columbus. If the Vinland Map is a true 15 th century artifact, it represents the oldest known depiction of the New World to date. There were some aspects of the map that caused confusion. For instance t he map has no history of origin (Skelton 1965, p.228). No one knows who the author might have been and there is also no date written on the map. With such a lack of historical information on the map, it is no surprise that a controversy has ensued over the authenticity of the map. Because of this controversy, many experiments have been performed att... ...raphy 1. Skelton, R.A., Marston, T.E., Painter, G.D. The Vinland Map and the Tartar Relation. Yale University Press: New Haven and London, 1965. 2. McCrone, W.C. â€Å"Analysis of Medieval Document: Tested by Small Particle Analysis†. Analytical Chemistry. 48 (1976): 677A-679A. 3. Donahue, D.J., and J. Olin, and G. Harbottle. â€Å"Determination of the Radiocarbon Age of Parchment of the Vinland Map†. Radiocarbon. 44 (2002): 45-52. 4. Higham, Thomas. â€Å"The Method†. Radiocarbon Web-info. . 5. Brown, K.L., and R. Clark. â€Å"Analysis of Pigmentary Materials on the Vinland Map and Tartar Relation by Raman Spectroscopy†. Analytical Chemistry. 74 (2002): 3658-3661. 6. Hassel, B. â€Å"The Vinland Map shows its true colors; scientists say it’s a confirmed forgery.† American Chemical Society. 29 July 2002 .