Surveying, Mapping and GIS

The Map Room blog has an interesting article discussing a reinterpretation of an old portolan chart found in a Los Angeles library vault, by author Peter Trickett. In his book Beyond Capricorn, Trickett argues the case for Portuguese discovery of Australia, long prior to the British or Dutch. According to Trickett, Portuguese explorer Christopher de Mendonca led a small fleet into Botany Bay in 1522, more than 200 years ahead of Captain Cook, and ahead of Dutch explorers as well.

Is it another Gavin Menzies adventure? The argument is rather compelling in some ways - obviously the chart describes a massive landmass, which does align well with parts of the Australian coast.

According to this MSNBC article, the map describes features one might expect in that region of Australia, however the coastline had some inconsistencies. It's argued that these inconsistencies may be either intentional and/or miscopied, including a 90° rotation along the coastline.

The Google Earth Hacks blog has a download, which overlays the map graphic (respliced with the 90° fix) atop the Australian landmass, so you can see this for yourself: