Who discovered America first? We don't know.

This is an interesting article.

http://www.economist.com/node/5381851?story_id=5381851

Wow, the Chinese believed the world to be round, instead of flat.

I thought it was the Vikings?
(Nordic, not Minnesota) :LolLolLol

Just now reading a 4 year old magazine, eh? Trying to catch up on news can be a bitch, huh? :LolLolLol

Oklahomans shoud find this interesting.

http://www.sunnyway.com/runes/americanstones.html


Several rune stones have been found in the United States, most notably the Kensington Runestone in Minnesota and the Heavener Stone in Oklahoma. There is considerable debate over their age and validity. The "Kensington Runestone" is a slab of gray stone, measuring 36 inches long, 16 inches wide, and 6 inches thick. It contains runic writing along the face of the stone and along one edge. The stone was found by a Minnesota farmer named Olaf Ohman in November of 1898 while a digging up a poplar tree stump on the southern slope of a 50-foot high knoll. The stone was buried face down about six inches below the surface, with the tree roots wrapped around it. Mr. Ohman and his sons saw the runic letters but did not know what they were.

Unfortunately, the stone was not left in place, so they were unable to demonstrate its obvious age from the growth pattern of the tree. The stone was sent to the University of Minnesota and then to Chicago. It was was studied by runic scholars, who interpreted the inscription to be an account of Norse explorers in the 14th Century. Many authorities who have since examined the stone have claimed it a forgery, but others are equally certain of its authenticity.

It is known King Magnus of Sweden sent that a party to Greenland in 1355. They never returned. It is very possible that these men were from that party. The stone bears the date of 1362.



The "Heavener Runestone" of Oklahoma is a slab about 12 feet high, 10 feet wide, and 16 inches thick with runic letters spelling out the word "Gaomedat". By reversing two runes which appear to be different from the others, the inscription becomes "Glomedal", or "Glome's Valley". It could also be rendered "G. Nomedal". Nomedal is a Norwegian family name. Thanks to the efforts of Gloria Farley, the area surrounding the stone is now the Heaven Rune Stone State Park. The stone is now protected inside a building erected around it. The official theory is that the stone was erected as a boundary marker between 600 A.D. and 900 A.D.



BTW - the Kensington Runestone has recently been confirmed as authentic so their is no more debate about that.

Inuits?

Oklahomans should find this interesting.

http://www.sunnyway.com/runes/americanstones.html

BTW - the Kensington Runestone has recently been confirmed
as authentic so their is no more debate about that.

Reading how the Vikings made it to Oklahoma was fascinating.
There might be a link somewhere.

The park at Heavener is nice but not worth driving just to see
it. If you go, plan some other things to do as well. I've heard
there other runestones around Shawnee.

"The Years of Rice and Salt". A great novel by Kim Stanley Robinson. What if...the Black Plague killed 95% of Europe, instead of 30-60%? This book posits an alternative history spanning 1300 to the first decade of the 21st century. What we know as America is not "discovered" until the early 19th century, and by the Chinese.

...
The park at Heavener is nice but not worth driving just to see
it. If you go, plan some other things to do as well. I've heard
there other runestones around Shawnee.

Fortunately, you can locate much to see and do in southeast Oklahoma.
I don't get back near as often as I used to. my loss.

What we know as America is not "discovered" until the early 19th
century, and by the Chinese.
Ahh soo! I am riking that velly much.

And you thought I only spoke Engrish.

Even if the Chinese had landed on the West Coast of America they would have never gone east and settled the continent. Their first obstacle would have been the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Then there was a thousand miles of desert, base and range mountains, then the Rocky Mountains ( where all shipping would have gone into Atlantic Ocean on the wrong side of the continent for them) The only reason people made the early trek across all that to settle California was gold. The Chinese would have found that right away and thus, would have had no need to venture east.

BTW - Northern California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, and Canada are dotted with Russian communities settled long before folks from the eastern US showed up.

http://www.parks.sonoma.net/rosshist.html

Even if the Chinese had landed on the West Coast of America they would have never gone east and settled the continent.

The book I mentioned had the Muslim countries establishing trading posts on our east coast. Both Chinese and Muslims stuck to their own coasts, leaving the Howanee (Native Americans in this imaginary history) mostly alone.

The Chinese had some pretty amazing naval fleets. Vastly superior to anything European. Had the Emperors been a little more ambitious with sea exploration, then North America would probably be dominated by Asians right now.

Oklahomans shoud find this interesting.

BTW - the Kensington Runestone has recently been confirmed as authentic so their is no more debate about that.

I don't believe the article is online, but check out the May/June 2010 edition of Archaeology Magazine. It has a lengthy article on the Kensington Code in it. The article talks about a History Channel special which aired some time ago that claims the rune documents a voyage of the Knights Templar into North America.

The magazine maintains that the stone has not been authenticated, but that there are many who believe it to be real. It also presents some facts which seem to prove it is a hoax, that being that it was 'found' by a Swedish immigrant in the late 1800s who obviously spoke the language, and that some of the text on the stone appears to contain modern idioms that would not have been present in ancient Nordic writings. It's a pretty fair article and discusses all the various viewpoints on the stone.

There's a website somewhere out there that is maintaining a list of all of these alleged runes. It is kind of interesting to read through, but I don't remember the address at the moment.

I'm still waiting for someone to unearth a Stargate next to one of these things. :-)