Drawn in 1513 by
Piri reis, this map has been one of many maps found to be filled with
information and accurate
geographical data of areas which were, at the time,
unexplored, if not
undiscovered. The map is a
compilation of many maps, some dating back as far as 4th century B.C., and most of those were based off of older maps still. The
map is not drawn with the traditional horizontal and vertical lines forming a grid, but rather with a sequence of
circles with lines emitting out from the center. This type of map was invented by
Dulcert Portolano, and are often referred to as
Portolan maps.
Some of the
peculiarities on the map:
-
Antarctica is accurately drawn on the map, this was long before
Antarctica was discovered in 1818.
-The map is drawn of the actual land in
Antarctica, without the ice sheet covering it. (This would have been impossible unless the ice wasn’t there)
-The map contains a
wealth of information on
South America; it accurately depicts the
east coast, and the
west coast, including the
Andes Mountains, which had not been discovered at that time. The
Amazon River is shown traversing through this yet undiscovered mountain range before heading east.
-The
Falkland Islands appear at their proper latitude. These islands were not discovered until 1592.
-The map also shows a large island in the Atlantic Ocean to the east of the South
American coast. There is no such
island today. Located at the position on the map where this island is, 700 miles off the coast of
Brazil and just above the
equator, is the sub-oceanic mid-Atlantic ridge. At this position, the small Rocks of Saints Peter and Paul can be seen poking through the
waves. Perhaps during the last
ice age, the water was lower, and this piece of land would be fully
exposed.
-
South America and
Africa are placed in their correct relative
longitudes. This would be impossible before 1761 when
John Harrison invented the first
Chronometer, and yet the map was
drawn in 1513.
While it is known that
Piri Reis obtained maps from some explorers of his time (
Christopher Columbus to name one), the majority of his maps are believed to have originally come from the libraries of
Constantinople, where he had
privileged access. In some bit of
irony, his map was found in the rubble of the
library in 1929. None of his
original source maps have been found.
Reis was not alone in making
maps that contained seemingly
impossible information for the time. Other notable
cartographers whose maps have been found to
contain
candid information include:
-
Oronteus Finaeus – Drawn in 1531, also portrays
Antarctica in a non-
glacial state, with details of
rivers and
mountains on the mainland.
-
Mercator – Shows many identifiable parts of
Antarctica, including places such as
Cape Dart, the Amundsen sea,
Thurston Island,
Cape Norviega, and several others.
-
Bauche – Bauche was a
French geographer who also drew startling pictures of
Antarctica. However, it seems Bauche used maps from a much older
source than any of the others listed here. Bauche's map portrays
Antarctica with no ice on it at all. It shows the complete sub glacial
topography of the
continent.
-
Zerro – The Zerro map accurately mapped and placed
Nova Scotia hundreds of years before
Columbus ever sailed.