In 1513, Piri Re'is, an admiral of the Turkish Navy, drew a map outlining the West African coast, east coast of South America, and the north coast Antarctica. This map was discovered in 1929, drawn on a piece of gazelle skin. Now finding a map that age is truly remarkable, but finding one is so detailed became a bit of a puzzle.

Being an admiral in the navy, Piri Re'is could pursue his passion, cartography, but not explains how he was able to map the Antarctic coast in such detail. Especially since the coastline was covered in ice at that time and had always been! Of course, there is another advantage of being able to navigate the seas of Piri Re'is, and that was that he had access to many of the maps that were produced before him, and found which drew much of its information to compare and confirm details in the maps. So one might assume that he got many of the details of the Antarctic coast maps drawn before, but there is a problem with this case, the part of Antarctica has been determined by scientific studies that have been covered by ice during approximately 6,000 years! So what advanced civilization was about 6,000 years ago with technology, not only to provide these details accurate, but make a map of a species from which to copy?

During the Middle Ages, there was a collection of maps called "portolan" which showed popular navigation paths. These were very useful for the early sailors. But there were also maps of the lesser-known routes and costs. These maps were well guarded by those who possessed them. Christopher Columbus is said to possess some of these rare maps. The Library of Alexandria is also known to have accurate maps of these lesser-known routes, drawn from the stories and experiences of ancient voyages transmitted from generation to generation by a number of early civilizations.

In 1204, some of these rare maps were also found in Constantinople, and were used by European sailors. It became clear that the trips were from pole to pole by ancient mariners, and that some of these ancient peoples sailed before Antarctica was covered by ice. Not only that, but the instruments of high accuracy of navigation and can plot latitude and longitude lines more accurately than the European navigators of the day.

In 1953, the U.S. Navy Hydrographic Office assessed the map of Piri Re'is and concluded that the accuracy of this type could only be established through aerial surveillance, and as if that were not amazing enough, the Hydrographic Office even found errors in some of the maps today, and used the map of Piri Re'is to corrections! Okay, so he flew 6,000 years ago?

Dr. Charles Hapgood, author of "Maps of the ancient sea kings" sent a collection of ancient maps to be studied by Richard Strachan, Massachusettes Institute of Technology. Mr. Strachan concluded that knowledge of spherical trigonometry, the curvature of the earth, and projection methods should have been known to the cartographers who drew the maps.

One theory presented by Dr. Hapgood is that there was a polar shift, which was enthusiastically welcomed by Albert Einstein, and therefore, this part of Antarctica not covered by ice as far as assumed. This, however, the theory does not diminish the fact that the perfect lines of longitude and latitude were made not only on this map, but many old maps of these very early periods in our history, that mathematical knowledge used by these early sailors was surprising, These people know they can not fall at the end of the Earth, and actually had ships that could survive these treacherous waters.

Is Rather vain of us to think that the reason we are so advanced is because we are more intelligent than our ancestors. What knowledge we have and what technology we enjoy is no different from what they have done great individuals through the centuries, and is building on the experience and wisdom of those before them. The courage, intelligence, curiosity, and innovation existed for thousands of years before us, for civilizations not even be aware of, and at the same time is good and right for us to honor their achievements in fear, is our best to build on the knowledge that we have now, and use it as a positive influence everyone.

Another highly accurate maps and are mysteriously "Portolano Dulcert's", 1339, prepared with the latitude lines perfect in Europe and North Africa, and the longitude lines of the Mediterranean and Black Sea are out only for the intermediate level.

A map drawn by the Turkish Hadji Ahmed, 1559, showing a strip of land connecting Siberia and Alaska.

A map drawn by Oronteus Fineus, who also drew precise coast Antarctica and Greenland, also shown as two islands, which has been shown recently by a French polar expedition.

The "Table of Zeno" 1380, showing a wide area including Greenland, whose precision is remarkable.

A map copied to a size in a large stone pillar in China, 1137, with many common items found in Western maps that one might suppose that came from a common source.

The "King-Hamy Chart" 1502, although it contains some errors that were probably the result of the development of various maps using different styles, is impressive as a world map that shows throughout Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas.

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