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Did Marco Polo discover America in 13th century?
Parchment maps suggest he set foot on Alaska two centuries before Columbus reached the Americas
By David Millward, US Correspondent
7:39PM BST 26 Sep 2014
Conventional wisdom that the Americas were discovered by Christopher Columbus has been cast into doubt by centuries-old maps and documents suggesting that Marco Polo got there first.
According to Smithsonian magazine, a fresh analysis of 14 parchments by experts has prompted speculation that Polo could have set foot on Alaska during his 24-year odyssey through Asia in the middle of the 13th century.
The maps were studied by Benjamin Olshin, author of the "Mysteries of the Marco Polo Maps".
"I have been looking at these for maps for over 10 years," he told the Telegraph. "I am the evidence guy and there are a lot of maps.
"They are interesting in that they show that there was a deeper knowledge that Marco Polo may have got from a variety of sources.
"He could have sailed there," Prof Olsen said, But sounding a note of caution, he added: "He also could have been told that there was land on the other side of the strait."
The traditional Polo narrative, he added, made no mention of a voyage across the strait, Prof Olsen added.
“A number of the maps here are suggestive of knowledge of the farthest reaches of northeast Asia -- and perhaps beyond -- in a very early period, before the later, well-documented explorations by Europeans in that area.”
Written on sheepskin, the documents include what appears to be a map detailing the Alaskan coast.
If they are verified as genuine, the records would suggest Polo, a Venetian merchant, could have discovered the New World two centuries before Columbus, and the Bering Strait, the 51-mile stretch between Alaska and Russia, more than 400 years before Danish explorer Vitus Bering.
etc...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... ntury.html
. . . . 8)
Parchment maps suggest he set foot on Alaska two centuries before Columbus reached the Americas
By David Millward, US Correspondent
7:39PM BST 26 Sep 2014
Conventional wisdom that the Americas were discovered by Christopher Columbus has been cast into doubt by centuries-old maps and documents suggesting that Marco Polo got there first.
According to Smithsonian magazine, a fresh analysis of 14 parchments by experts has prompted speculation that Polo could have set foot on Alaska during his 24-year odyssey through Asia in the middle of the 13th century.
The maps were studied by Benjamin Olshin, author of the "Mysteries of the Marco Polo Maps".
"I have been looking at these for maps for over 10 years," he told the Telegraph. "I am the evidence guy and there are a lot of maps.
"They are interesting in that they show that there was a deeper knowledge that Marco Polo may have got from a variety of sources.
"He could have sailed there," Prof Olsen said, But sounding a note of caution, he added: "He also could have been told that there was land on the other side of the strait."
The traditional Polo narrative, he added, made no mention of a voyage across the strait, Prof Olsen added.
“A number of the maps here are suggestive of knowledge of the farthest reaches of northeast Asia -- and perhaps beyond -- in a very early period, before the later, well-documented explorations by Europeans in that area.”
Written on sheepskin, the documents include what appears to be a map detailing the Alaskan coast.
If they are verified as genuine, the records would suggest Polo, a Venetian merchant, could have discovered the New World two centuries before Columbus, and the Bering Strait, the 51-mile stretch between Alaska and Russia, more than 400 years before Danish explorer Vitus Bering.
etc...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... ntury.html
. . . . 8)