Return of the geek

Back in the 1960s, Paul Mellon gave to Yale what purported to be a map of the world from the mid-1400s. It included a drawing of the north Atlantic coast of North America and a text in medieval Latin that refers to "Leif Eiriksson" having discovered Vinland around the year 1000.

The authenticity of the map has been debated ever since (Yale takes no position on it). Last summer, using carbon-14 dating, it was established that the paper was made around 1434. The question is, when was anything written on it? That is, is the writing genuine or a modern forgery?

Some tests on the ink say that it can't possibly be over 500 years old; one authority said the ink was likely made after the 1920s.

However, a new study disputes that conclusion and says that the ink comes from medieval times - which would mean the map is real. If so, it would probably be worth about $20 million but more importantly as far as historians are concerned, it would be a clear indication of the state of European knowledge about the so-called "New World" a half-century before Columbus.

Neat stuff.

Footnote: This doesn't have to do with the old question of Vikings in North America, which was settled over 40 years ago with the discovery of a Norse settlement at L'Anse-aux-Meadows in Newfoundland which can be positively dated to the early 11th century.