A globe made of two halves of an ostrich egg may be the oldest known “globe” showing the New World. And it appears that the globe dates from around the year 1500, only eight years after Columbus supposedly discovered the new lands.
While it has since been proven that Norse explorers had been in North America long before Columbus landed near South America, this still seems like a short time before the globe made its appearance.
A later globe, made of a copper alloy sometime between 1504 and 1506, seems to have been based on the ostrich egg model. There are slight differences in the wording of the engravings of the two globes, but to many their resemblance to one another is obvious.
Belgian researcher Stefaan Missinne was allowed to send the egg globe to a radiology lab for testing in an attempt to establish how old the globe was. By measuring the bone density loss of the shell and comparing the results with both modern ostrich eggs and others of known age, she determined that an ostrich egg loses approximately 10% of its density each century. She then calculated that the eggs dated to approximately 1500. She believes the globe was created in Florence and engraved by an Italian.
It’s interesting that by fusing the two egg halves together, the globe is actually somewhat flattened at the poles, much like the real planet. Was that an accident or did they know something we didn’t find out for many years afterward?
The copper-alloy globe is now on display at the New York Public Library. The ostrich egg globe is owned by a private collector.
There’s a picture of the globe, along with more information, here
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