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Previously Hidden Text on a 500-Year-Old Map Reveals New Clues About the Cartographer's Sources and Its Influences on Important Maps That Came Later (nationalgeographic.com)

Posted by msmash on from the closer-look dept.

Greg Miller, writing for National Geographic: This 1491 map is the best surviving map of the world as Christopher Columbus knew it as he made his first voyage across the Atlantic. In fact, Columbus likely used a copy of it in planning his journey. The map, created by the German cartographer Henricus Martellus, was originally covered with dozens of legends and bits of descriptive text, all in Latin. Most of it has faded over the centuries. But now researchers have used modern technology to uncover much of this previously illegible text. In the process, they've discovered new clues about the sources Martellus used to make his map and confirmed the huge influence it had on later maps, including a famous 1507 map by Martin Waldseemuller that was the first to use the name "America."

42 of 78 comments (clear)

  1. Thomas Thomas by kackle · · Score: 1

    Hmmm...

  2. Is that Alaska? by Thelasko · · Score: 1

    What's that body of land in the top right corner of the map? Is it Alaska?

    --
    One of our competitors trademarked the term "hypothesis". From now on, we will call them "boneheaded ideas".
    1. Re:Is that Alaska? by jfdavis668 · · Score: 2

      No, it's Japan. Yes, too far off the coast for the scale. That point on the east side of Asia is supposed to be Korea.

  3. The dark ages wasn't so for the whole world by evanh · · Score: 1

    I suspect there was a lot of wilful forgetfulness as to the many sources of knowledge when it came to "western" discoveries and inventions.

    1. Re:The dark ages wasn't so for the whole world by hackertourist · · Score: 1

      1. Lots of knowledge was lost as civilizations were overrun by barbarians, libraries were burned etc.

      2. Knowledge was also lost because it was difficult and costly to spread it around before the invention of the printing press. If only one copy of a map exists, a single fire leads to point 1 above.

      3. On occasion, knowledge was seen as a competitive advantage and hoarded instead of shared. I suspect this goes for a bunch of Chinese inventions/discoveries that were subsequently rediscovered by the Europeans. Hoarding also leads to few, if any, copies being made.

      4. Language barriers: if you can count the number of Europeans traveling to China on one hand, the amount of knowledge they can transport to Europe is tiny.

      No need to ascribe to malice when more plausible reasons exist.

  4. What about Leif Ericsson by rossdee · · Score: 1

    The Vikings were here before the Spanish and Italians

    1. Re:What about Leif Ericsson by dargaud · · Score: 4, Insightful

      But they didn't draw maps and they didn't make this discovery known to the rest of the world. There's the difference.

      --
      Non-Linux Penguins ?
    2. Re:What about Leif Ericsson by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The oldest commonly acknowledged surviving written record of Vinland appears in Descriptio insularum Aquilonis, by Adam of Bremen, a German (Saxon) geographer and historian, written in about 1075. To write it he visited the Danish king Svend Estridsen, who had knowledge of the northern lands and told him of the "islands" discovered by Norse sailors far out in the Atlantic, of which Vinland was the most remote. The exact phrasing of this, the first mention of Vinland in known written sources, is as follows:

      ....

      More geographically correct were Icelandic texts from about the same time, which presented a clear picture of the northern countries as experienced by Norse explorers: north of Iceland a vast, barren plain (which we now know to be the Polar ice-cap) extended from Biarmeland (northern Russia) east of the White Sea, to Greenland, then further west and south were, in succession, Helluland, Markland and Vinland. The Icelanders had no knowledge of how far south Vinland extended, and they speculated that it might reach as far as Africa.

    3. Re:What about Leif Ericsson by ffkom · · Score: 2

      The oldest commonly acknowledged surviving written record of Vinland appears in Descriptio insularum Aquilonis, by Adam of Bremen, a German (Saxon) geographer and historian, written in about 1075.

      So they, too, left it to some German to write up the results of their explorations. And neither the Vikings nor the Germans made much use of that knowledge, but left it to the Spanish to exploit the riches of that remote land.

    4. Re:What about Leif Ericsson by grep+-v+'.*'+* · · Score: 1

      But they didn't draw maps and they didn't make this discovery known to the rest of the world. There's the difference.

      You mean you're discriminating against his highly important historical import just because he couldn't draw and was highly introverted?

      That's racist -- I'll sic the SJWs on you if you don't correct your impudent way of thinking. And BTW, get the name right: it was Leif Ericsdaughter. The next thing you know, you'll say zi didn't know how to use the internet.

      --
      If the universe is someone's simulation -- does that mean the stars are just stuck pixels?
    5. Re:What about Leif Ericsson by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      "The Germans" did not exist at that time.
      It was an area with perhaps 100 small and larger principals, small kingdoms and earlships.
      Despite the success with the Kogge, a trading ship, they were not great sailors anyway.

      The fact that "one german" wrote about it, does not mean many german (rulers?) knew about it.
      Heck, it was not even common knowledge 50 years ago in the western world ...

      --
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    6. Re:What about Leif Ericsson by ChrisMaple · · Score: 2

      Some people speculate that the Viking colonies in the New World failed because the climate cooled too much. I've also read that hostile natives eventually drove them out. In either case, it wasn't for lack of trying that the Viking entry into the New World was a dead end.

      --
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    7. Re:What about Leif Ericsson by q_e_t · · Score: 1

      "The Germans" did not exist at that time. It was an area with perhaps 100 small and larger principals, small kingdoms and earlships. Despite the success with the Kogge, a trading ship, they were not great sailors anyway.

      The fact that "one german" wrote about it, does not mean many german (rulers?) knew about it.

      I read that the Pope was informed, following the above (potential new souls)

      Heck, it was not even common knowledge 50 years ago in the western world ...

      Lots of medieval things got lost and were found again, which doesn't mean it wasn't known of, just maybe not considered worthwhile to bother with compared to Rus, India, China. Even Great Britain in the 18th century saw India as more valuable.

  5. Just so you know, on Waldseemuller's map ... by Misagon · · Score: 2

    The name "America" was written over what is modern-day Brazil, and referred to the whole continent: north and south ...
    not to a nation that was going to be formed some 270 years later.

    --
    "We mustn't be caught by surprise by our own advancing technology" -- Aldous Huxley
    1. Re:Just so you know, on Waldseemuller's map ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Hmm how weird my map just says "Great" there. Are you looking at the original map?

    2. Re:Just so you know, on Waldseemuller's map ... by Ogive17 · · Score: 1

      Boo hoo.

      When I visit touristy spots (famous temples) in Japan and school is in session, there are often school kids there with an assignment to ask a white foreigner questions in English. This has happened to me 3 times. When they ask me where I'm from and I reply "United States", I get a puzzled look. Then I say "America" and they understand.

      Sorry if you get butt-hurt by it, that's how people know us. As Americans. No other country I know of in this hemisphere also wants to be called America. So what's the problem?

      --
      "Action without philosophy is a lethal weapon; philosophy without action is worthless."
    3. Re:Just so you know, on Waldseemuller's map ... by CohibaVancouver · · Score: 4, Informative

      Sorry if you get butt-hurt by it, that's how people know us. As Americans. No other country I know of in this hemisphere also wants to be called America. So what's the problem?

      For some reason, people who don't live in Mexico or Canada seem to think Mexicans and Canadians get upset when people living in the USA get called "Americans."

      We don't.

      Signed,
      A Canadian

    4. Re:Just so you know, on Waldseemuller's map ... by pjt33 · · Score: 1

      No other country I know of in this hemisphere also wants to be called America. So what's the problem?

      If you will forgive my bluntness, the problem seems to be your ignorance. The phrase nuestra América crops up frequently in official Cuban media, for example.

    5. Re:Just so you know, on Waldseemuller's map ... by DRJlaw · · Score: 3, Interesting

      The name "America" was written over what is modern-day Brazil, and referred to the whole continent: north and south ...
      not to a nation that was going to be formed some 270 years later.

      And then a bunch of states got together, i.e., united, and called themselves the United States of America .

      A bunch of other states of America that preferred not to be united later developed a massive inferiority complex when the rest of the world shorthanded the name and nationality to "America" and "Americans." But they daren't call themselves, e.g., "The Bazilian State of America" and "Americans," because "ewwwwwwww!"

      Super short version: Once you've ceded the name, most people don't want to hear you complain.

    6. Re:Just so you know, on Waldseemuller's map ... by dfghjk · · Score: 1

      "No other country I know of in this hemisphere also wants to be called America."

      Have you asked any of them? How do you know? Which is it, the people or the countries?

      You may try a little harder to avoid exposing your ignorance. It is, in fact, well known that the bulk of both continents fully recognize the hubris of the US in identifying only themselves as "Americans" when "America" refers to the continent(s). No, others don't want to be called "America", but the US isn't called "America" either, its the United States of America, acknowledging that "America" is not the country but the continent.

    7. Re:Just so you know, on Waldseemuller's map ... by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 1

      Of course! Now today we refer to that continent as "the Americas" while our nation is known for short as "America" as in "the United States of". Just like Mexico is known as Mexico because it is the short version of "The United States of Mexico." But you knew that already and just came here to hate.

      --
      Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
    8. Re:Just so you know, on Waldseemuller's map ... by dfghjk · · Score: 1

      Well if Mexicans and Canadians don't get upset then that settles it right? No others left in the Americas. Good thing they approved you to speak for them so that this could get cleared up so quickly.

    9. Re:Just so you know, on Waldseemuller's map ... by TuringTest · · Score: 1

      That may be because those other countries don't speak in English. "América" refers to the whole north-south continent in Spanish and Portuguese. The rest of the world didn't "cede the name", they simply weren't using it in your language, but theirs.

      --
      Singularity: a belief in the "God" idea with the "demiurge" relation inverted.
    10. Re:Just so you know, on Waldseemuller's map ... by painandgreed · · Score: 1

      For some reason, people who don't live in Mexico or Canada seem to think Mexicans and Canadians get upset when people living in the USA get called "Americans."

      We don't.

      Possibly true. However, it doesn't hurt to keep them in mind and there are some people who do care. Columbians mostly in my experience and they appreciate the effort when I catch and correct myself before they can do so./p.

    11. Re:Just so you know, on Waldseemuller's map ... by cyberchondriac · · Score: 1

      You may want to try a little harder to avoid exposing your arrogance. I'd wager you're from somewhere in South America, because they're about the only people who get butthurt over this, and only recently, like in the last 5 years, has this been a "thing".
      The USA is the *only* country in the Americas with 'America' as actually part of it's official name, so over a century ago those of us in the US became known as "Americans" as a form of shorthand, since "United Statesian" or whatever is just ridiculously cumbersome. It's not just a term we use ourselves, it's how most of the rest of the world identified us. It's an identity long and well established, worldwide. You're just being pedantic about it.

      --

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    12. Re:Just so you know, on Waldseemuller's map ... by DRJlaw · · Score: 1

      That may be because those other countries don't speak in English.

      Or because they, like you, do not understand English.

      Of:

      "Expressing the relationship between a part and a whole."
      "Expressing the relationship between a general category or type and the thing being specified which belongs to such a category."

      "America" refers to the whole north-south continent in Spanish and Portuguese.

      The United States of America refers to a collection of states within the whole north-south continent as well.

      The rest of the world didn't "cede the name", they simply weren't using it in your language, but theirs.

      Oh, they didn't? They call themselves Americans? They say that they live in America? Do tell...

    13. Re:Just so you know, on Waldseemuller's map ... by Ogive17 · · Score: 1

      Well - here are the places I have been in this hemisphere. Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Uruguay, Costa Rica, Argentina, Chile.

      No one spoke up as to be upset that we're known as Americans.

      Right, wrong, or indifferent... it's what we are called. United Statesians or United States of Americans just doesn't quite roll of the tongue.

      Please cite your source, btw.

      --
      "Action without philosophy is a lethal weapon; philosophy without action is worthless."
    14. Re:Just so you know, on Waldseemuller's map ... by TuringTest · · Score: 1

      The United States of America refers to a collection of states within the whole north-south continent as well.
      So, a subset of all states in the continent. Yet people in that collection of states use the name of the whole continent to refer to a part of it. Also Oxford:

      Synecdoche:
      A figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa.

      Oh, they didn't? They call themselves Americans? They say that they live in America? Do tell...
      Well yes, they do. Just like people in Europe call ourselves Europeans. Maybe it's you who don't know Spanish or Portuguese?

      --
      Singularity: a belief in the "God" idea with the "demiurge" relation inverted.
    15. Re:Just so you know, on Waldseemuller's map ... by redmasq · · Score: 1

      During a trip earlier this year to Toronto, I had visited Fort York. At least one sign referenced "Americans" plundering and burning the place. Since I doubt they would being doing it to themselves, it stands to reason they were referencing the US soldiers (history class, years ago, touched upon it as an US offensive towards the British which, while successful, wasn't quite as strategic as hoped, the museum at the site of the fort suggests the same but in less sugarcoated language, for fairly plain reasons).

      Canadians and Mexicans are indeed citizens of the North American continent (or some of the citizens of the larger American continent, depending on whose map you read), but "United Statians" does not roll off the tongue as well in English, so I imagine that why it became a de facto convention. Since it is not de jure, maybe it will change, maybe it won't.

    16. Re:Just so you know, on Waldseemuller's map ... by DRJlaw · · Score: 1

      Well yes, they do.

      Citation needed.

      Just like people in Europe call ourselves Europeans. Maybe it's you who don't know Spanish or Portuguese?

      The European who is confusing language with nationality is supposing that I don't know a language, in addition the fact that it somehow proves his argument.

      Try again.

  6. Re:Knowing Better by GameboyRMH · · Score: 1

    Thank you for linking to this informative video.

    --
    "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
  7. Re:Fascinating by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Typically foot trails were based on following animal trails. Animals will normally follow contour lines, i.e. not gaining or losing altitude (using the least energy) unless necessary. This resulted in very curvy, but relatively flat trails. These were expanded into cart paths, and finally roads.

    You can see the effect mostly in the East Coast (before sectionalized land and rail roads) where state highways seem to meander endlessly.

    Not lost to time, ask any surveyor who has had to research and recreate property lines from 200 years ago.

  8. Re:Can we... by mrvan · · Score: 4, Informative

    I know right? Two links in the summary, both pointing to the silly article. We're map buffs, not RTFA'ers!

    https://www.nationalgeographic...

  9. Re:The West never went dark. by Aighearach · · Score: 1

    But if you keep going back far enough, you find out the Minoans came from the East originally.

    And the people in the East, came from the South-West at some point before that.

  10. Beginnings of American Exceptionalism by Aereus · · Score: 1

    American Exceptionalism goes as far back as their namesake!

  11. Re:Today is Columbus Day by hey! · · Score: 1

    Yea numb nuts. Want to tell me any explorer from Europe from those days, no matter what nationality that didn't rack up double digit death tolls of the new worlds they discovered.

    Amerigo Vespucci. Fernão Mendes Pinto.

    But you're right, much of the exploration of the age was done by Spanish Conquistadors, and while they were bold they were by modern standards barbaric and are not particularly deserving of being lionized. In fact by contemporary world standards Europe was pretty barbaric.

    --
    Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
  12. Re:Fascinating by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

    When I travel down a rough, seldom used road or trail, I think what it must have been like creating the first paths through the forest and making the first maps.

    # How then am I so different
    From the first men through this way?
    Like them, I left a settled life
    I threw it all away
    To seek a Northwest Passage
    At the call of many men
    To find there but the road back home again .../#

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  13. I don't think it's that all progress stopped by rsilvergun · · Score: 1

    it's that progress was slowed so much that it's almost like it did.

    --
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  14. Re: Today is Columbus Day by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

    Six digits? Really? You don't seem to have a sense of scale.

    --
    Ezekiel 23:20
  15. Re:Can we... by mrvan · · Score: 3, Insightful

    That's the state of the current web. :(

    Try browsing with JS and all cross-site requests disabled, you'll quickly find that gopher was more informative than the mess we have now...

  16. Re:Fascinating by twosat · · Score: 1

    Your comment reminds me of this poem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

  17. Re:Can we... by kdayn · · Score: 1

    here is the interactive one https://www.jack-reed.com/proj...