Hoaxes & Controversies

Cartographic Fakes and Forgeries
On MapHist, Tony Campbell has announced a major new section of his Map History/History of Cartography site: Cartographic Fakes, Forgeries and Facsimiles Likely to Deceive. It includes a list of known fakes (unfortunately in Word format), a guide to how… »
Posted on Monday, January 28, 2008 at 7:54 PM
Categories: Hoaxes & Controversies
The Piri Reis Map of 1513
The story of the Piri Reis map is the story of how a perfectly innocent 16th-century navigational chart can end up, through no fault of its own, at the centre of a crackpot theory about our planet’s ancient history. Our… »
Posted on Thursday, February 1, 2007 at 1:40 PM
Categories: Hoaxes & Controversies
Author Claims Chinese Visited Americas and Made Maps in 2200 BC
If you thought Gavin Menzies’s claim that the Chinese discovered America in 1421 was risible, if you thought Liu Gang’s purported 1418 map was a fraud, you’d better brace yourself: a Virginia author argues that the Chinese visited America around… »
Posted on Sunday, December 31, 2006 at 4:25 PM
Categories: Hoaxes & Controversies
The Marquette Map Isn’t a Hoax?
Carl Weber’s thesis that the Marquette Map is a hoax received a rough reception at a history conference last month: apparently, many historians aren’t buying his claims or his evidence, suggesting that they can be refuted “in about five… »
Posted on Thursday, November 2, 2006 at 3:55 PM
Categories: Hoaxes & Controversies
Is the Marquette Map a Hoax?
Carl J. Weber, a history professor at DeVry University, argues that a well-known map, purportedly made by Father Jacques Marquette during the 1673 Joliett-Marquette expedition to the Mississippi Valley, is, in fact, a 19th-century forgery meant to bolster Marquette’s… »
Posted on Friday, October 20, 2006 at 9:14 AM
Categories: Hoaxes & Controversies
The Viking Deception
Set your TiVos: The Viking Deception, a Nova program about the Vinland Map forgery that was first broadcast in February 2005, is being rebroadcast on Tuesday the 10th. If you miss the show, the web site has plenty of… »
Posted on Friday, October 6, 2006 at 4:48 PM
Categories: Hoaxes & Controversies
Map Fakes and Forgeries Page
Last month, Tony Campbell wrote on MapHist, “I do hope somebody will be tempted … to take on the task of compiling a listing of map forgeries/fakes and the references to them.” John Woram has now answered Tony’s challenge and… »
Posted on Monday, September 11, 2006 at 10:35 PM
Categories: Hoaxes & Controversies
Gavin Menzies in Australia
Gavin Menzies, he of the hypothesis that the Chinese discovered America and the prime supporter of Liu Gang’s purported 1418/1763 map, will be in Australia this week to give a lecture at the University of Melbourne, according to tomorrow’s edition… »
Posted on Tuesday, April 25, 2006 at 5:30 PM
Categories: Hoaxes & Controversies
1421 Exposed: Scholars Respond to Liu and Menzies
1421 Exposed, which will be officially launched on May 1, is a web site put together by academics and researchers to combat Gavin Menzies’s theory that the Chinese discovered the world in the 15th century, and, in particular, to refute… »
Posted on Monday, April 24, 2006 at 8:24 AM
Categories: Hoaxes & Controversies
Experts Still Doubt Chinese Map’s Authenticity
From the English edition of the People’s Daily Online: Experts doubt authenticity of China’s pre-Columbus map. In response to yesterday’s press conference confirming the age of the paper: “The test can only prove that the paper is genuine, but it… »
Posted on Friday, March 24, 2006 at 2:55 PM
Categories: Hoaxes & Controversies
Chinese Map Controversy: Liu Gang’s Press Conference
We’ve got coverage of Liu Gang’s press conference regarding his so-called “1418 Map”: BeijingLives has a copy of Liu’s written remarks, wherein he takes on the criticisms point-by-point. Liu: “After going through the ‘holes’ one by one, we should see… »
Posted on Thursday, March 23, 2006 at 11:10 AM
Categories: Hoaxes & Controversies
Chinese Map Media Briefing
Mark your calendars and brace yourselves. On Thursday, Liu Gang, Gavin Menzies and company are holding an invitation-only media briefing in Beijing, where they will announce the carbon-dating test results for Liu Gang’s map, which they believe is a copy… »
Posted on Monday, March 20, 2006 at 11:27 AM
Categories: Hoaxes & Controversies
Is the Velasco Map a Forgery?
In a new article this week for the online journal Coordinates, map librarian David Y. Allen raises concerns that the so-called “Velasco Map,” a widely known map of northeastern North America that purportedly dates to 1610, may in fact be… »
Posted on Wednesday, February 15, 2006 at 10:35 PM
Categories: Hoaxes & Controversies
Is the Soleto Map a Forgery?
In November, news broke of the discovery of the Soleto Map, an ostrakon discovered two years ago that depicted the Salentine peninsula. The fragment, dated to 500 BC, was characterized as possibly the oldest map yet discovered in the history… »
Posted on Saturday, February 4, 2006 at 2:06 PM
Categories: Hoaxes & Controversies
A Look Back at the Chinese Map Controversy
A couple of weeks ago, an announcement that a Chinese map had been discovered that “proved” that the Chinese had “discovered” the Americas before Columbus swept the world news media. The Economist broke the story on the 16th; see also… »
Posted on Friday, February 3, 2006 at 9:24 AM
Categories: Hoaxes & Controversies

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