(As a preparation for my Cambridge exam I have written this post in English.
First I apologize for my poor English, but I think that is a good way to
improve it by obligating myself to use it at any occasion that is presented to
me. So enjoy this article if you can ;), and of course I accept any kind of
correction. Thanks to all of you lads!)
Nowadays is thought by all of us
that Cristopher Colombus was the first European that put his foot in America.
However, in the last decades of the twentieth century other theories come to
light. Could the Vikings have reached the new continent coasts before the
Spaniards of the XVI century? That’s something about I don´t have any doubt of.
Of course, the Vikings didn´t colonize the
continent, and despite of some archeological items, they didn´t left anything
else. They might told someone else about their discoveries, or not, but that is
something that we won´t know. As far as we know there weren´t any witnesses
that could have written about it later.
As we know, in ancient Greek, there were a lot
of famous philosophers that spoke about the roundness of the earth. In fact
after the V century before Christ any greek
writer thought that the earth was a plain like the ones from Mesopotamia.
Therefore we can say that after those centuries, in Europe people like
scientists or erudites even some adventurous sailors, could have known or could
have heard about the roundness of the earth, and what’s more, about the
unspoiled regions on the other side of the big ocean.
Could have been possible that the inhabitants
of that enormous continent surrounded by water haven´t had any kind of contact
with other people from other continents since the last ice age? I really doubt it.
Thanks to the writings from ancient Greek, we know stories about a strange and
marvelous land called Atlantis, (it´s said that it could be a developed city
that was destroyed by a volcano in San Torini island, but others said that it
was after the Hercules columns in Iberia). Moreover, there are Arabic maps
(based in the studies of the ancient greeks) from the first decades of the XV
century that have some kind of lands and islands drawn in the western part of
it. If the Muslims haven´t burnt the Alexandria Library we might have now more
evidences about all the classical cultures knowledge, but we have to use the
proves that remains.
In the far Orient, scientists know that there
was relations and commerce between Japan and the Polynesia islands. Then, in
the seventies, the theory that the only ones who arrived to this large
continent were those who cross the Bering´s strait during the last ice age was
tackled by the famous Kon Tiki voyage. In this trip the norwegian Thor
Heyendhal and another five men, using a craft made with trunks and a sail,
traveled from Peru to Polynesia, proving that the ancient inhabitants of those
regions could have done it before them.
Therefore, don´t you think that it could have
been possible? In my opinion is easier to believe that someone arrive there
before us the Spaniards. It´s a fact that the Vikings did. The problem is that
the archeological remains founded are only a few. And to make a theory is
necessary to find three remains in the same region.
In Mexico the native cultures when the
Spaniards arrived, spoke about a legend related with is god Quetzalcoatl . One of the
representations of this god was a white man with beard. However, Mexico is not
the only region with this kind of legends, there is another god in Peru with similarities. The Peruvians said that he had blue eyes and red beard. Who else
could have those factions instead an explorer from northern Europe? There are
people who say that he could have been Erik the Red.
There are other evidences, like a small roman statue
and some coins discovered in Mexico, or those ancient villages founded in
Brazil with incredible similarities to those constructed by the Phoenicians in
the banks of the Mediterranean Sea.
Thanks for reading! We will continue with this
affair in future posts.
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