3. the Western Hemisphere.

4. So many other groups have been nominated for the honor that the question might almost be rephrased as follows: Who didn’t discover America?

5. But what does the evidence show? Who really discovered the New World? Those suggested include

6. the Vikings,

7. the Japanese,

8. the Chinese,

9. the Egyptians,

10. the Hebrews,

11. the Portuguese,

12. and some Irish monks.

13. The Vikings are perhaps the best-known candidates.

19. Today, though, the assumption is that Vinland couldn’t have been Newfoundland, since that island is too far north for grapes to grow. Could the climate have been warmer in Erickson’s day? Perhaps.

20. Today, though, the assumption is that it is impossible that Vinland was Newfoundland, since that island is too far north for grapes to grow. Is it possible that the climate was warmer in Erickson’s day? Perhaps.

23. The Japanese are more recent candidates.

24. In 1956 on the Pacific coast of Ecuador, an amateur archeologist discovered pottery fragments dating back about 5,000 years.

25. Where did they come from? Intrigued by the mystery, Betty Meggers of the Smithsonian Institute concluded that

26. individuals may have sailed from Japan across the Pacific to Ecuador about 5,000 years ago.

27. individuals maybe sailed from Japan across the Pacific to Ecuador about 5,000 years ago.

28. Meggars based her conclusion on the similarity of the pottery found in Ecuador to Japanese pottery of the same era.

29. Besides this, said Meggars, it has been established that there was no pottery in Ecuador in 3000 B.C., so the Japanese may have introduced it.

30. Besides this, said Meggars, it has been established that there was no pottery in Ecuador in 3000 B.C., so maybe the Japanese introduced it.

33. The theory may sound unlikely and may be disproved eventually, but the pottery evidence must mean something.

34. The theory may sound unlikely and may be disproved eventually, but the pottery evidence probably means something.

36. Maps of the time of Columbus showed an island far out in the Atlantic called “ St. Brendan’s Isle.” Brendan’s journey is mentioned in a document called “ Voyage of St. Brendan the Abott.”

37. The journey supposedly took place in the 6 th century, and reports of it may have influenced Columbus to believe that there really was a New World.

38. The journey supposedly took place in the 6 th century, and reports of it maybe influenced Columbus to believe that there really was a New World.

42. Using the specifications described in St. Brendan’s text, they built a curragh, an Irish boat made out of leather, and attempted the journey.

43. On the way, they passed Greenland and wintered in Iceland, where they saw

44. whales, icebergs,

45. and a volcano.

46. They theorized that Brendan’s sea monsters could have been large, friendly whales, that the crystals rising to the sky might have been icebergs,

47. They theorized that maybe Brendan’s sea monsters were large, friendly whales , maybe the crystals rising to the sky were icebergs ,

48. and that volcanoes in Iceland might have produced the rain of bad-smelling rocks.

49. and that maybe the volcanoes in Iceland produced the rain of bad-smelling rocks.

50. Severin’s group did eventually get to Newfoundland, proving that a curragh could have made the journey to North America.

51. Severin’s group did eventually get to Newfoundland, proving that it was possible for a curragh to make the journey to North America.

52. Religious artifacts and stone carvings showing vocabulary and grammatical constructions from Old Irish have been found in Virginia in the United States.

53. This suggests that other missionaries could have gone to the New World after Brendan’s return. So the story may be true.

54. This suggests that it is possible that other missionaries went to the New World after Brendan’s return. So the story may be true.

55. However, we come back to the original question: Who really “discovered” America? Continued future research should get us closer to an answer.

56. However, we come back to the original question: Who really “discovered” America? Continued future research will probably get us closer to an answer.

57. Whatever the results of such future investigations, Columbus did not , of course, really discover America.

58. The Native Americans

59. who migrated across the Bering Strait 10,000 or more years ago were, of course, the real discoverers, and they deserve most of the credit.

60. The statement that Columbus “discovered” the New World really means that he started two-way communication between the Old World and the New. In that sense, therefore, Columbus’s reputation is still safe.