It was initially believed to have been created in the 15th century, but researchers with McCrone Associates, through their own testing, declared it a forgery in 1973, less than a decade after its debut. The Vinland Map has a long and complicated history. The map's authenticity has long been debated Yale unveiled the map in 1965, publishing a book about it at the same time, and its existence seemed to serve as further proof that Vikings explored America before Christopher's Columbus' arrival, Yale News reports. This new analysis should put the matter to rest.'

'The Vinland Map is a fake,' Raymond Clemens, a curator at Yale's Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, said. Researchers also pointed to an inscription in Latin on the back of the map as evidence that someone intentionally tried to make the map look as genuine as possible.

Experts with the university who analyzed the map for authenticity found throughout it the presence of a 'titanium compound' that was not used in ink until the 1920s, according to Yale News.

Yale has been the map's home since the 1960s, but during that time, debate regarding its authenticity has never completely ceased.Ī news release issued by the university earlier this month has likely ended that discussion for good. A map of America touted as being one of the oldest on record has turned out to be a convincing forgery, according to new studies.įor decades, many believed that the Vinland Map was an important historical artifact that showed an early version of North America.

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