The Oronce Finé Map of 1532
Charles Hapgood discovered this map in the Library of Congress in Washington, DC in 1960. Oronteus Finaeus drew it in 1531. Atlantis, the fabled continent, is depicted as being located in the Atlantic Ocean’s geographic centre by Charles Hapgood. It was assumed that Antarctica must be the long-lost continent of Atlantis since the Atlantis continent looked superficially similar to it. Since the continent of Antarctica wasn’t meant to have been discovered for another 200 years or so, this fact in and of itself is a mystery.
Antarctica is depicted as being ice-free, with flowing rivers, drainage systems, and a clear shoreline, similar to the Piri Reis map. Some of the mountain ranges displayed were just recently found. There were no rivers or mountains visible in the deep interior, which some people interpret to suggest that ice had already formed there. Compared to other maps from the same period, the Oronteus Finaeus map is more accurate. In actuality, it is more precise than any map created anywhere before 1800.
Even though there are some obvious similarities between Orontius Finaeus‘ general representation of the southern continent and contemporary maps of Antarctica, these similarities do not hold up under close inspection. In fact, there are more differences than similarities, which is to be expected from a map that was created without having first-hand knowledge of the southern continent! Hapgood had to make some adjustments in order to demonstrate how Orontius’ Terra Australis matched the shape of Antarctica.
Similar to how he altered Piri’s map, Hapgood likewise had to reposition entire stretches of coastline to make them fit. It is unclear how the hypothetical original map was broken apart and incorrectly reassembled, and it is even less evident how the fringe writers can continue to assert that different geographic elements are displayed in their proper locations and at the proper scale.
Another tidbit of proof is the Ross sea. It is now a floating ice shelf that is hundreds of feet thick due to the enormous glaciers that feed into it. However, both this map and the Reis map depict the location’s estuaries and rivers.
To collect samples of the ice and sediment at the Ross Sea’s bottom, coring was carried out in 1949. They clearly displayed many stratification layers, indicating that the region underwent a number of environmental changes. Some of the sediments were the kind that rivers typically carry to the sea. The sediments were dated at about 4000 BC by tests at the Carnegie Institute in Washington, DC, which date radioactive elements present in sea water. This means that the region was ice-free and had flowing rivers up to that period, which matches the information on the Reis and Finaeus maps.
The primary query is: How did Oronteus Finaeus accomplish that?