How could a sixteenth century Turkish admiral have drawn an accurate map of Antarctica?
The Piri Reis map, discovered in 1929, was drawn on a gazelle skin. It was drawn in 1513 by an admiral of the Turkish Fleet named Piri Reis. The map is extraordinary because not only does it show the west coast of Africa and the east coast of South America, it also depicts the northern coast of Antarctica. Keep in mind that this map was drawn 300 years before Antarctica was “discovered”!
Notes made by Reis on the map indicate that he used a number of other maps as sources of information for the map that he drew. Due to his elevated status in the Turkish Navy, Reis was able to access the resources of the Imperial Library of Constantinople.
Scientists have examined the map and concluded that the Piri Reis map shows an amazingly accurate depiction of Antarctica's coastline. The coastline must have been mapped before it was covered by the ice-cap, which is now about one mile thick.
In the past, scientists felt that the ice-cap that now covers Antarctica was about one million years old. That would mean that the map was drawn based on information gathered a million years ago. This would be impossible because man did not exist at that time.
Further study has indicated that the last time period during which the Antarctic was free of ice ended approximately 6,000 years ago. When the ice-free period began is still unclear, although it has been estimated at somewhere between 13000 BC and 9000 BC.
The question remains...Who mapped the Antarctic 6000 years ago? What group of people would have had the need and the technology to do so?
My look at the Piri Reis Map will continue in my next article.
