- Pizzigano map
The Pizzigano map is an Italian
portulan chart . It was supposedly drafted in 1424 and contains islands in theNorth Atlantic Ocean in the west ofSpain andPortugal .At least some of these islands have been known to European mapmakers since the 14th c. as can be seen in the
Atlas Catalan . Therefore the cartographers standard opinion is that these islands are part of theAzores .Fact|date=September 2007Gavin Menzies claims these islands as proof thatChina discovered the Americas before Columbus in the book "" as representations of theCaribbean islands ofPuerto Rico andGuadeloupe , the former being called on the map as Antilia, and the latter as Satanazes, or "Satan's Island," by the mapmaker.Critics of Menzies argue that the islands are, according to his identification, in the wrong latitude, the wrong longitude, are oriented incorrectly and do not explain where the Azores are situated or why the Azores according to Menzies are not shown on the map although at least some were known to European portulan makers (method of
Occam's razor ). Nevertheless, Menzies insists that the map is evidence, as it dates from 1424, that someone reached theNew World beforeChristopher Columbus .ources
*Menzies, Gavin. "1421: The Year China Discovered the World." (2002)
External links
* [http://bell.lib.umn.edu/map/PORTO/1424/index24.html The details in the Pizzigano Map]
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