The Piri Reis Map

The continent of Antarctica was discovered in 1818. A map known as the 'Piri Reis' Map, a genuine document made in Constantinople in 1513, clearly shows the continent of Antarctica.

How could this have been possible if Antarctica was not discovered until 300 years later? Antarctica was supposed to have been covered by ice for the last million or so years, but samples taken from sediment deep beneath Antarctica in 1949 revealed that great rivers had once flowed in Antarctica until about 6000 years ago.

The map also shows part of the western coasts of Europe and North Africa with reasonable accuracy, and the coast of Brazil is also easily recognizable. Various Atlantic islands including the Azores and Canary Islands are depicted, as is the mythical island of Antillia.