This is a MapHist list message (when you hit 'reply' you're replying to the whole list) o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o +
I agree with what has been stressed by Ben concerning the multiple way to interpret and investigate this documents. I am one of the people involved in this matter who participated in a meeting organized by Tierry Secretan in Washington at the National Geographic Society and the Library of Congress in february 2009 (Ben was among us, of course). I, and all of us, will be very interested in reading the Gunnar's book but I don't see in his message any reference to paleography and language. The documents were inspected from this point of view by Franca and Armando Petrucci who kindly accepted to have a look at the documents (in photographic reproduction, of course) which were supplied by myself in Pisa in March 2009. A part from the necessity to see the original, the Petruccis stated that they were copies of the XIX-XX centuries with some doubt just for one of them. At the same conclusion arrived Prof. Angela Caracciolo of the University of Venice from a linguistic point of view. For that reason the (I dare call) "commission" stopped working in spite of my observations that whilst the documents might not be original they might have been copy from authentic ancient documents and some evidences from the construction of the drawings (which is one of my field of study) convinced me about that possibility. W'll read Gunnar's book with great interest and attention. vladimiro Il giorno 25/set/2011, alle ore 02.54, B. B. Olshin ha scritto: > This is a MapHist list message (when you hit 'reply' you're replying to the > whole list) > o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + > Dear MapHist-ers: > While I respect the diligence of Mr. Thompson in pursuing his studies of > the"Marco Polo" maps (also known as the Rossi maps), I must add that Ibelieve > that there is a great deal of investigation to be done. As some of youknow, I > have presented on the subject of these maps (at the Society for theHistory of > Discoveries conference in Portland, Oregon in 2006), and I havepublished a > scholarly article on a selection of these documents: “The Mystery of the > ‘Marco Polo’ Maps: AnIntroduction to a Privately-Held Collection of > Cartographic Materials Relatingto the Polo Family”, Terrae Incognitae,39 > (2007): 1-23 (which Mr. Thompson kindly mentions in his e-mail > announcement,below). > While I would certainly agree with Mr. Thompson's enthusiasm for this > material,he and I might differ in our interpretations, a difference we > already had begun to discuss in 2006in Portland. I welcome Mr. Thompson's > book, as it will bring these Rossidocuments to a wider audience, but I also > ask the audience to understand thatthere is more than one way to interpret > the (admittedly very interesting)evidence presented in the maps. Indeed, I > believe that we may well be enteringinto an era of some debate on that > evidence. I hope that Map Hist-ers will takepart in that debate, as well! > > -Benjamin B. Olshin > > On 09/24/11, GunnarThompson<discovergun...@hotmail.com> wrote: > This is a MapHist list message (when youhit 'reply' you're replying to the > whole list) > o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + > > Dear MapHisters: > 1) Marco Polo Maps of NewWorld > --AuthenticityConfirmed > 2) "Marco Polo'sDaughters" (Discovery of the New World) > --New Sourceon Marco Polo Maps of Ancient America (from Lulu.com) > --Examples ofmaps mentioned in this posting can be found at www. > marcopolovoyages.com,atlanticconference.org,or in the new book > > This posting is a briefsummary of a five-year research project whose focus > was the Rossi Collection ofdocuments relating to Marco Polo and his daughters > (Fantina, Bellela, andMoretta). The finding, based of a radiocarbon test and > the assessment of"imbedded clues" and "diagnostic geographical markers"(DGMs) > is that the Collection consists of authentic documents from the 13th,14th, > and 16th centuries. These documents are a "Time Capsule" of theearly 14th > century in Venice--at which time, Marco Polo's daughters sentletters and gave > presentations at women's salons in an effort to transform thereputation of > their father from being "the World's Greatest Liar" tobecoming "the World's > Greatest Traveler." The three sisters succeededin their mission. Copies of > their maps and letters were kept in an heirloomtrunk by the Sanseverinus and > Rossi Families of Naples; and these documentsserved to reveal Marco's role as > a technological spy. The contents of theseauthentic documents will require a > complete overhaul of the outdated andmistaken assessments regarding the roles > of ancient spies and voyagers whoexplored the Americas many centuries prior > to the traditional, Eurocentricheroes of New World discovery. American > Discovery was a multiethnic enterprise. > > In 1933, Lawrence Martin(Chief of Maps at the Library of Congress) announced > that a map by Marco Polo'sdaughter, Moretta, included the Great Wall of > China. This map was wrappedaround a bone handle. It was one of 17 documents > from the 14th, 15th, or 16thcenturies that the Italian immigrant, Marcian > Rossi, had obtained fromrelatives in Naples (or Rome) in 1932. It was > advanced as proof that Marco Poloactually made the trip from Venice to China > in 1271--just as he had claimed inhis Travelogue (a.k.a. Il Milione, > Discovery of the World, or Marco Polo'sTravels). > > The issue of whether or notMarco Polo had actually traveled to China, or the > possibility that hisTravelogue was plagiarized from the tales of other > travelers, was raised in the18th century. Doubts about Marco's authorship > arose mainly due to his failureto mention the Great Wall, tea, or chopsticks. > Also, there was an error ofabout a thousand miles with respect to the > locations of Japan and"Lochac" (an island that some presumed to be > Australia). The mistakenlocations of these isles were reported in the > Travelogue. In 1995, the Britishhistorian, Frances Woods wrote a book: "Did > Marco Polo go to China?"As recently as August 9 of 2011, the Daily Telegraph > of London ran a story byNick Squires (Rome correspondent) suggesting that > Marco Polo made an error whenhe mentioned "5-masted Chinese junks." According > to Squires' unnamedsources, Chinese junks only had three masts. However, Ibn > Battuta--a14th-century explorer--said in 1347 that: "Chinese ships had 3+ > masts, upto 12 sails, and they carried up to 1000 men." This statement is > roughlyin agreement with what Marco said in the Travelogue. Vessels called > "giantjunks" had up to five masts during the Yuan Dynasty. In about > 1400,Admiral Zheng He of the Ming Dynasty introduced a new ship design > called"baochuan" (or Treasure Ships). These enormous vessels (up to400-feet > long or about 125 meters) had nine or ten masts. Granted: these werenot your > run-of-the-mill sort of sailing craft. The common junks typically hadonly > three masts. But Marco Polo was not by any means "a typical"explorer. Most > Chinese historians accept that the Venetian was in China; althoughthey reject > the claim in the Travelogue that he was the Governor of a majorcity or > province (such as Yangchow). > > The "bone-handlemap" showing the Great Wall was not the only "bone > ofcontention" among scholars. Other maps in this collection clearly > portraythe coast of Alaska called "foca marine peninsula," (that is,"Marine > Seal Peninsula"). Some of the maps show a coastline as farsouth as Oregon. > One of the maps by Moretta indicates a schematic mainland(called "Terra > Incognita") stretching from the Arctic to the Equator.In the letters, Marco's > daughters quote him as saying: "the Great Landnamed Focaa has a distance of > more than 8 hours." Obviously, Marcointended to leave no doubts that this > previously unknown mainland constitutedabout one-third of the earth's > circumference. Elsewhere in the letters, Marcoreferred to the New Land as > "Fusan" or "Antillia." Fusanappears to be a reference to the legendary > Chinese Isle of Immortals which wascalled "Fu Sang." Marco's "Antillia" > (c.1320) is areference to the East Coast of North America (including the > Peninsula ofFlorida) which later shows up on maps by the Venetian > cartographer AndreaBianco (1436), Martin Behaim (1492), and Albert Cantino > (1502). Some historianshave dismissed Antillia as being "totally imaginary" > (Dor Ner, 1991).However, the mid-Atlantic Island is also mentioned by other > Italian navigatorswhose > letters are represented inthe Rossi Collection. > > Photographs of most of themaps and translations of some of the letters were > presented in a lengthyarticle by Leo Bagrow in Imago Mundi (Vol. V, 1948). > They were included in anobscure publication by John Black (1985); and > Benjamin Olshin wrote anexcellent review of the documents for Terrae > Incognitae (2007). > > Colonel Martin'sannouncement regarding the Great Wall on the "Bone Handle > Map" wasnot very well received at theNational Meeting of the American > Geographer'sAssociation in Chicago in 1933. The problem was that Martin's > dating oflanguage used in the text was conjectural. At the time, there was no > reliablescientific method available for determining the age of ancient relics. > > It was the opinion of mosthistorians and geographers that the inclusion of > New World mainland on all ofthe Rossi Documents was the result of "modernized > additions" thatoccurred following the discovery of Alaska by the Russians in > 1741 and theproduction of an accurate map of the coastline by Capt. James > Cook 1778 (andpublished in 1784). It was not until the 1950s that radiocarbon > dating wasdeveloped as a scientifically reliable tool for dating ancient > (carbon-based)artifacts. > > Authenticity > The New World DiscoveryInstitute was asked by the Rossi Family to examine the > documents in 2006. Withthe assistance of the manager of the Collection and > with the aid of ThierrySecretan (a French journalist), we obtained a > radiocarbon analysis of a sampleof vellum from the "Pantect Map" (dated in > the text as"1297"). This was done by the University of Arizona AMS > (AcceleratorMass Spectrometry) Lab in 2007 and reported in the French > magazine, VSD (August2007). The result was 1560 +/- 100 years. The entire > procedure was digitallyrecorded on camera. Four persons were present at the > recording session; andthree individuals accompanied the sample to FedEx > Shipping. I understand that asimilar test under the auspices of the Library > of Congress Geography and MapDepartment has confirmed the RC-14 date. > > It is my assessment thatall of the 17 documents in the Collection dealing in > some way with Marco Poloare dateable at least to the 16th century. In other > words, the priorassumptions that maps and references to the New World > were"modernizations" in the 19th century is no longer tenable as > anexplanation. The New World shorelines portrayed on the maps are as they > wereconceived by Marco Polo prior to the arrival of Capt. Cook and the > Russiansalong the shores of Alaska. One missing document, the "Bone > HandleMap" might be older; but it is not available for testing. One statement > inthe "Polo Family Chronicle" mentions that some of the documents > weredifficult to read due to fading inks; and it was about at this time > (1556) thatthe documents were taken to a notary service near Naples. It seems > evident thatthe entire Collection was copied at this time on fresh vellum > sheets--hence theexcellent condition of most of the documents. The date of > the notary service(1556) also explains the RC-14 dating mean circa 1560. > > It occurred to me that: ifthe Alaskan coastline had been copied following the > publication of maps byCapt. Cook, posthumously c.1784, then the configuration > of the coastline on"the Map with Ship" should be similar to the coastline on > Cook's map.However, after comparing the Marco Polo Map with Cook's Map, > side-by-side, Idiscovered that there is no similarity at all. The late > Professor DavidWoodward agreed with me on this point: the issue of > "recentadditions" or "modernizations" to the Rossi Documents has neverbeen > proven. Furthermore, there is no evidence from visual inspection that theink > used for New World coastlines is any different than that which was used > forthe coastline of Asia. The "Map with Ship" does have several placeswhere > someone re-inked portions of > fading text--but not thecoastlines. > > It should also be kept inmind that correspondence between Mercator and John > Dee c.1575 specificallymentions "a chart of M. Paulus and a geographical plat > printed inChina" (Taylor, Imago Mundi, 1953). Gian Ramusio, Scribe of the > VenetianSenate, mentioned that in 1555, there was a Marco Polo map at a > Venetianconvent. It would seem that John Dee's Quivira Map of c.1575 in the > collectionof the Philadelphia Public Library includes the West Coast Region > as it wascharted by Chinese surveyors in about 1286. Dee's Map is usually > referred to as"Map of the Northern Hemisphere" (and dated to c.1580). My > dating ofthis document follows a watermark of c.1575 as well as the apparent > use of thischart in planning the Drake voyage of 1578-80. This same region, > Quivira on theWest Coast, was included on the Gastaldi-Ramusio Wall Map of > Marco Polo'sTravels that was painted inside the Ducal Palace in Venice > between 1540 and1575. A map by Sebastian Munster in 1544 shows the Arctic > access to theNorthwest Passage with the same sort of geographical error (or > magneticdeclination) as we see on the "Map with Ship." This document has > beenin the collection of the Library of Congress since about 1933. Martin > Behaim'sGlobe (Nuremberg, 1492) has the Arctic Region above Canada as it > might havebeen portrayed on a map by Marco Polo after his voyage to Baffin > Island inabout the year 1280. This expedition, mentioned in the Travelogue, > wasundertaken in order to obtain a brood of white gyrfalcons for Kublai Khan. > Onone of the isles, Martin noted: "Hier secht man weisen valven." TheEnglish > translation is: "this is where they catch white falcons." Atext on another > section of mainland corresponding to the Canadian Arctic nearAlaska reads: > "This land is pleasant in summer." The principal habitatof the white > gyrfalcon is Baffin Island. Apparently, the location of "BirdIsland" was > known to the merchant seamen who sailed into the NorthernRegions to obtain > birds for royal patrons during the Middle Ages--even thoughthe location was > seldom indicated on maps. It begins to show up in the 16thcentury under the > name of "Groclant." Some individuals of this breedof white gyrfalcons have > been found in northern Labrador. The Traveloguementions that Marco traveled > so far to the north that he reached a place (whilesailing north by compass) > where he noticed the Pole Star appeared to be"south behind him." This is in > Komroff (1930, 98) and in Yule (1905,97). In other words, Marco was observing > the effect of magnetic error in aregion of the Arctic where Polaris appeared > to have a southerly bearing. Theonly place on earth where Marco Polo could > have made such an observation circa1280 was north of Hudson Bay. In other > words, he was near Baffin Island andactually sailing in a southerly > direction--even though his compass needle waspointing "north" towards the > Magnetic North Pole. Marco's daughter,Bellela, says Marco used the compass > for navigation. > > There are multiple vectorsof confirmation from the context of cartography > that attest to the accuracy andauthenticity of the documents. In addition to > the correspondence between the"Map with Ship" and Munster's Map in the > vicinity of the BeringStrait (with respect to magnetic declination) we also > see a series of "DiagnosticGeographical Markers" (or "DGMs") that serve to > identify aChinese survey map of Baffin Island that probably dates to the time > of theMarco Polo expedition in the Far North for white gyrfalcons. On the > YaleVinland Map (by a Swiss Franciscan c.1440) there is an Arctic Isle > called"Grouclant" that some scholars have misidentified as "a fakeGreenland." > Actually, this island has a series of DGMs along thesoutheastern coast that > serve to identify this enigmatic island as BaffinIsland. We see two inlets > and a southeastern island which correspond to thefollowing: (1) Cumberland > Sound, (2) Frobisher Bay, and (3) Resolution Island.There are no similar DGMs > along the southeast coast of Greenland on a modernmap; nor do we see this > sequence of two inlets and an island along thesoutheastern coast of Greenland > on John Dee's 1575 map or on any other knownmap of Greenland. Keep in mind > that a notation on the Vinland Map east of Asiaspecifically states: "The > Tartars affirm beyond doubt that a new land issituated in the outermost parts > of the world"(Skelton, 1965, 136). Skelton also noted that a similar passage > was present inthe authentic text called "the Tartar Relation" (Rubruck, > c.1260).Both Behaim (1492) and Mercator (1569) specifically mentioned Marco > Polo as asource for their information regarding the Polar Regions. In other > words, theRossi Documents (letters and maps by Marco Polo's daughters) do not > standalone. They fit neatly into the context of cartography--at least the > enigmaticcontext of documents concerning early voyages to the Americas before > Columbus. > > Imbedded Clues > The proof is "in thepudding"--or so they say. In this case, the "pudding" > consistsof about 30 enigmatic comments in the letters by Marco Polo's > daughters and inthe keynotes to the maps in the Rossi Collection. I call > these "imbeddedclues"--because the information they provide is typically > "timelimited" knowledge that could have been known only to someone who was > onthe scene in the New World or in Venice during the 13th and 14th centuries. > Myfavorite imbedded clue is in a letter by Bellela Polo c.1330 where she > mentionsher father's "three archibugi." This is the earliest mention inEurope > of Chinese firearms--the "dragonfire lance." Prior to the1990s, when Chinese > archeologists unearthed brass musket barrels, most Westernhistorians believed > that the musket was invented in Spain during the 14th or15th century. Even > today, most historians are ignorant of the Chinese discoverythat proves > muskets were being used in Mongol China during the time that MarcoPolo was > sailing on five expeditions for Empress Chabi and Emperor Kublai Khan.Marco's > "archibugo" is translated as "hook barrel." Chinesemusket barrels were cast > with a hook under the firing chamber which held thebarrel to the wooden > stock. The first muskets in Europe were made byblacksmiths who welded > together wrought-iron staves, because they lacked thesteel and brass casting > technology that was available in China. All the earlymuskets in Europe were > called by some variation of "harquebus"(hook-barrel) even though they didn't > have any hooks; and this terminologyhas caused a lot of headaches for > doctrinaire historians who can't figure outwhere the name originated. Other > imbedded clues include: orca whales, marineseals in Alaska, deerskin pants of > Tartar immigrants in Alaska, the desert ofthe New Land (Baja California), > Scythian-Tartar immigrants in Canada, use ofdarts, postal tags to the matrons > of the women's salons near Venice, referenceto "Four Quarters," and the use of > wooden swords (in Mexico).Yes, the Aztecs and Mayans used wooden swords > called "Macans." Theswords had a groove along the edge into which the natives > inserted shards ofobsidian glass. They were sharp and deadly. Forget the > worn-out excuse that anythingyou don't understand or that doesn't fit into > the existing paradigm of "noNew World contact before Columbus must be a > forgery or a hoax." Theimbedded clues fit neatly into a matrix or woven > tapestry of knowledge thatonly makes sense from the context of the Marco Polo > daughters. > > Confirmation by Ethnologyand Archeology > The letters mention thatMarco's associate, Biaxo Sirdumap (a Syrian fur > trader), informed him about theancient migration of Scythian-Tartars to the > Northern Canada Coast. This is animbedded clue that was confirmed by the > Canadian ethnologist, Ethel Stewart(1990), who learned from native folklore > about the Dene and Na-Dene migrationof horse tribes into Canada. This > migration was not mentioned in Marco'sTravelogue. However, we see a > cartographic expression of this migration in amap by Corneilus Judaeus (1578) > that has Tartars with their tents (tepees) allalong the Canadian coast of > Bergi and Anian Kingdom. Where did Judaeus get thisidea--unless it was from > seeing the maps and letters left by Marco's daughtersat the women's salons > and convents of Venice? All along the West Coast ofCanada and Mexico, > antiquarians have found numerous Chinese artifacts. When theRussians reached > Alaska, they found the Inuit People using Japanese coins fortrade. A cave > near Port Alberni (Vancouver Isl.) contains Chinese and Japanesecoins that > are dateable by RC-14 to c.1400 (on the basis of bone and woodfragments). Two > Han Dynasty jade coins were uncovered at Teotihuacan, Mexico,and dated to > c.300 AD. I mention other artifacts in my book "AmericanDiscovery" (1994, and > soon to be available at Lulu.com). By the way, thename "Alaska" derives from > an ancient word, "arashka," thatmeans marine seal in Japanese. Marco called > Alaska by the name of"fuca" or "focaa"--which means marine seal in > Mongol.Kublai Khan called the new mainland "Anian" (apparently meaning > cold,mountaneous wilderness"). Doctrinaire historians tend to imagine > thatthere were no horses in America until after Columbus; and they credit > Spaniardswith creating Indian horse culture. However, it is apparent from > Marco Polo'stestimony about the New Lands and from ethnological information > that the"horse cultures" arrived by the 11th or 12th century from Asia as > aresult of the Scythian-Tartar migration. > > Motives > Kublai Khan believed in theMongol destiny of ruling the entire world--what he > called "the FourQuarters." After he learned about new lands across the > Eastern Ocean in aregion called "the Extreme East," he wanted to send an > ambassador toconduct the ceremony of territorial adoption and to map the new > land. This way,he could truly see himself as God's Divine Ruler of the World. > > Marco Polo made fiveexpeditions by sea for Mongol royalty. The first > expedition was to SakhalinIsland in a small junk. The second trip took Marco > with a multiethnic crew toobtain a brood of white gyrfalcons from Baffin > Island. This expedition enabledMarco to realize the potential of a Northwest > Passage for commerce betweenEurope and China via the trans Arctic seaway. The > third trip took Marco on amapping expedition from Alaska to Mexico; and the > maps from this venture playedan important role in Francis Drake's voyage of > 1579 as well as subsequentvoyages by the Dutch East India Co. "Dutch Harbor" > on Unalaska Islandand "Japonski Island" in Sitka are a legacy of the fur > trade that theDutch East India Company carried on with Japan and China in the > 17th and 18thcenturies. The fourth trip took Marco to Peru; and the Chinese > map from thisventure was included as the huge island of "Caparu sive India > Magna"on the Albertin di Virga Map of 1414. The last trip took Marco and > company toHormuz by ship in 1291. Marco was part of a Spy Team that included > his fatherand uncle. They took back to Venice the technology for making the > firstfirearms in Europe, Chinese coal mining tech, steel blast furnaces, > sand-pitcasting, porcelain, printing inks, and the earliest scientific maps > ofAmerica's West Coast. > > The evidence suggests thatafter Marco returned to Venice in 1295, the > Venetian authorities sent thishighly-experienced navigator on an expedition > to what he called"Antillia" (Florida) and Brazil--the source of a valuable > dyewoodthat was used in the woollen industry and available in Europe by the > 13thcentury. This is suggested by two Venetian maps: one showing Florida > (Bianco,1436) and one showing Brazil (Bianco, 1448). Marco's map from this > expeditionwas included as a land called "Tartary" on Venetian maps. It was > aschematic rectangle with a southeastern peninsula (attached to Asia) on maps > byPetrus Vesconte and Marino Sanudo c.1310-1320. This was the prototype for a > mapof "Antillia" by Andrea Bianco (1436); and this embryonic vision ofFlorida > and the East Coast served as the foundation for maps of"Antillia" by Cantino > (1502), Vespucci (1503),Waldseemuller (1507), and Munster (1530-1552). The > region that was firstcharted by Marco Polo using Chinese and Persian > technology acquires the name"North America" from Mercator. I have documented > the incrementalprocess of scientific mapping that transformed "Antillia" > into"Florida" in my book, "The Friar's Map" (1996). Thisincremental process > was required in the olden days to eventually buildcoastlines from a multitude > of observations and measurements until they finallyacquired the familiar > shapes we recognize today. > > New Resource > "Marco Polo'sDaughters"--available only from Lulu.com (books by Gunnar > Thompson); 400pages; 100 pages of illustrations and maps; Appendix 40 pages; > soft $13.95 US;hard cover $28. Includes all the maps in the Rossi Collection > pertaining toMarco Polo and his daughters; Appendix includes translations of > all pertinentletters. > > Gunnar Thompson, Ph.D.,Director discovergun...@hotmail.com > New World DiscoveryInstitute www. marcopolovoyages .com > 7516 36th Ave. NE www.atlanticconference.org > Seattle, WA 98115-4821 Lulu.com (books by Gunnar Thompson) > > > > _______________________________________________ > MapHist: E-mail discussion group on the history of cartography > hosted by the Faculty of Geosciences, University of Utrecht. > The statements and opinions expressed in this message are those of > the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the University of > Utrecht. The University of Utrecht does not take any responsibility for > the views of the author. > List Information: http://www.maphist.nl > > Maphist mailing list > Maphist@geo.uu.nl > http://mailman.geo.uu.nl/mailman/listinfo/maphist > > _______________________________________________ > MapHist: E-mail discussion group on the history of cartography > hosted by the Faculty of Geosciences, University of Utrecht. > The statements and opinions expressed in this message are those of > the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the University of > Utrecht. The University of Utrecht does not take any responsibility for > the views of the author. > List Information: http://www.maphist.nl > > Maphist mailing list > Maphist@geo.uu.nl > http://mailman.geo.uu.nl/mailman/listinfo/maphist _______________________________________________ MapHist: E-mail discussion group on the history of cartography hosted by the Faculty of Geosciences, University of Utrecht. 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