First Map of North America (Pre Columbus)

Brookhaven National Lab - Scientists Determine Age of New World Map: “Vinland Map” parchment predates Columbus’s arrival in North America

Scientists from the University of Arizona, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, and the Smithsonian Institution have used carbon-dating technology to determine the age of a controversial parchment that might be the first-ever map of North America. In a paper to be published in the August 2002 issue of the journal Radiocarbon , the scientists conclude that the so-called “Vinland Map” parchment dates to approximately 1434 A.D., or nearly 60 years before Christopher Columbus set foot in the West Indies.