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11/27/2003 Archived Entry: "Study: New World map predates Columbus"

MAYBE ALIENS MADE IT: A new study into the famous "Vinland Map" states that it was created about 50 years before Christopher Columbus sailed to the New World.

The authenticity of the map has been debated since the 1960s, when philanthropist Paul Mellon gave it to Yale. The university has not taken a position on its authenticity.

The map depicts the world, including the north Atlantic coast of North America. It includes text in medieval Latin and a legend that describes how "Leif Eiriksson," a Norseman, found the new land called Vinland around the year 1000.

Scholars have dated the map to around 1440. Some scholars have speculated that Columbus could have used the map to find the New World in 1492.

Read on.