The Vinland map is important not only because it is a 15th century map of the world but also because it contains unique information about the Norse exploration of the Americas In fact the map shows a landmass southwest of Greenland in the Atlantic that is

The reading passage argues that the Vinland map is an authentic artifact and provides thee pieces of evidence on that. However, the lecturer casts doubt on the claims made in the article. He states that the excerpt represents only one side of the scholarly debate. To begin with, the author mentions the strong resemblance between the Vinland map and a world map by the Italian mariner that dates back to 1420s. The only difference was the addition of Vinland feature. The lecturer, on the other hand, indicates that some inconsistencies appear in the use of capital letters, which is much more frequent in the Vinland map than others from the same time period. In addition, some of the latin suggests a scribe who knew latin but not icelandic. This is obvious in the spelling of Iceland as Isolanda and Vinland as vinilanda. Moreover, the author asserts that radiocarbon dating proved the genuineness of the map as it revealed that it dates back to between 1423 and 1445, which is the period before the arrival of Columbus to the new world. Consequently, the map could be considered the first representation of North America and a finding that proves that the Norsemen discovered the Americas long before Columbus arrived. Nonetheless, the lecturer challenges this idea by saying that although the carbon-14 dating is accurate and it confirms that the age of the parchment as appropriate for a map from the 1400s, the drawing might be more recent since forgers use materials from the correct time period to make the artifact more difficult to analyze. Finally, the author believes that evidence from the ink is inconclusive. In contrast, the lecturer holds that anatase, a chemical that appeared in the commercial production of ink in the 20s century, was found in the ink on the Vinland map, which even though discovered in small quantities, it's still a red flag.