The Lost History of Antarctica - Ancient Map Expert, Bernie Taylor

The problem is always when hypothesis becomes unquestioned fact.. and the fact that it's a hypothesis gets forgotten. Happens all over history and science constantly. Even someone writing that they did something 1000 years ago doesn't make it true.

Admiral Richard E. Byrd's famous investigation!

Thank you for helping clarify this speaker. I got lost many times.

I was in Dubrovnik 40 years ago. The poster is still on the wall.

I wonder if Antarctica maybe was discovered well before we think, but the discoverers never made it back to tell anyone. Also, imagine 500? years ago being at sea for weeks or months in the vessel of the times, hoping against hope for land, finally seeing some, just to get to it and find it's a never-ending chunk of ice and realize you're doomed.

Summary of this video so you don't waste your time watching this expert that just don't know anything new : Here is a detailed summary of the interview between host Mark (from Before Skool) and ancient map expert Bernie Taylor on "The Lost History of Antarctica." The video explores the origins of Antarctica on ancient maps, breaks down historical exploration, and unpacks why early maps featured a southern landmass long before its official discovery. 1. Introduction & The Mystery of Antarctica [00:00:00] The Scale of the Continent: Mark sets the stage by highlighting Antarctica's massive size (14.2 million square kilometers—larger than Europe, Australia, or the US and Mexico combined). It holds 70% of the world’s fresh water. The Core Paradox: Despite its massive scale, it wasn't officially discovered until the 19th century. The Conspiracy Theory Angle: Early "alternative history" theories often point to ancient maps (like the Piri Reis map) showing Antarctica completely free of ice, using it as proof of a advanced, lost ancient civilization. Bernie Taylor joins to dismantle the sci-fi myths while revealing an equally fascinating historical reality. 2. Chapter 1: The Theory of Antarctica & Claudius Ptolemy [00:06:12] The Legacy of Ptolemy: The presentation centers on Greco-Roman polymath Claudius Ptolemy (c. 150 CE), who worked near the Library of Alexandria. Ptolemy wrote two foundational books: The Almagest (cataloging 48 constellations, giving us modern astronomy) and Geography (cataloging coordinates of the known world). The Counterbalance Theory: Ptolemy did not physically travel to Antarctica. Instead, Greek philosophy dictated that the universe must exist in perfect symmetry and balance. Because they knew a massive landmass existed in the Northern Hemisphere (Europe, Asia, North Africa), they mathematically theorized that a giant southern continent must exist at the bottom of the globe to serve as a weight counterbalance. Etymology of Antarctica: Arktos in Greek means "bear," referring to the Ursa Major (Great Bear) constellation used to navigate North. Antarctica literally translates to "away from the bear in the night sky." It was entirely an astronomical definition, predicting a place so far south that the northern constellations could never be seen. 3. Chapter 2: Sailing in the Wake of Ptolemy (The Age of Discovery) [00:19:10] Christopher Columbus & The Globe: Taylor debunks the schoolbook myth that Columbus’s crew thought they would sail off a flat Earth; educated people since ancient Greece knew the Earth was a sphere. Columbus's error was thinking the Earth was much smaller than it actually was, leading him to believe until his death that the Caribbean was Japan. Mapping the Unknown: Early explorers like Vasco da Gama and Cabral began pushing south around Africa and South America. Taylor showcases how early maps—like the Cantino Planisphere (1502) smuggled from Portugal to Italy—were incredibly accurate because sailors mapped thousands of points closely along shorelines rather than open oceans. The Origin of the "Ice-Free" Myth: Taylor shows the evolution of maps between 1506 (Camerini-Roselli), 1507 (Waldseemüller), and 1508 (Roselli). In 1508, Roselli (a miniature painter and map merchant in Florence) drew a literal landmass labeled Antarctica purely to fulfill Ptolemy's balance theory and sell more maps. He completely invented the layout. The famous Piri Reis Map (1513) didn't use secret ancient technology; it copied the stolen Portuguese Cantino map. Because Piri Reis didn't know what was south of South America, he simply drew the land continuing downward to fill the blank space. The Oronce Finé (Orontius Finaeus) Map (1531) featured prominent mountains on "Antarctica." However, Taylor notes that nobody translates the Latin text on the map: it claims this southern landmass is physically connected to modern-day Pakistan and India, proving it was a work of theoretical guesswork, not a real topographical survey. Mapmakers added mountains simply because they were more aesthetically pleasing and easier to sell. 4. Chapter 3: Discovering the Seventh Continent [00:59:53] Captain James Cook's Secret Mission: British explorer Captain James Cook was sent to Tahiti for astronomical observations, but opened secret orders instructing him to find the theoretical southern continent. While he circumnavigated the region, thick ice sheets kept him from ever seeing or touching land. He proved New Zealand and Australia weren't massive enough to be Ptolemy's "counterbalance." First Landings: Taylor notes that while various European nations claim their whalers or explorers spotted it first around 1820 (such as Russian expeditions), the first undisputed, documented landing on actual Antarctic soil was by Norwegian Carsten Borchgrevink and Henryk Bull in 1895. Roald Amundsen, The Last Viking: In 1911, Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen successfully reached the South Pole. He succeeded where others failed by adapting to indigenous Inuit survival methods he learned in the Arctic: wearing animal skins instead of heavy wool, eating seal blubber to prevent scurvy, and using sled dogs (and utilizing weaker dogs as food for the pack) rather than ponies. The Micro-Meteorite Anomaly: Amundsen's team melted ice for drinking water and discovered tiny black sand grains at the bottom of their buckets. These were later identified as micro-meteorites. Taylor explains that studying how these tiny space rocks strike Antarctica later helped NASA realize that micro-meteorites travel at lethal velocities in space, forcing them to redesign modern space suits so astronauts wouldn't be killed by microscopic space debris on the Moon. 5. Ancient Intelligence vs. Modern Bigotry [01:25:32] The Evolution of Humans: Shifting from maps to his primary field of expertise—Upper Paleolithic cave art—Taylor argues against the idea that humans were "primitive" back then. He explains that 34,000-year-old cave paintings show advanced 3D rendering, animation concepts, and an understanding of the exact same constellations we track today. The Core Philosophy: Taylor fights against the historical Euro-centric bias that civilization and high intelligence only began with the Greeks or Mesopotamians. He stresses that indigenous peoples worldwide carried incredibly advanced visual, astronomical, and psychological toolkits for tens of thousands of years before western journals "discovered" them.

Perfect decoration plant

The Florentines were in America before Columbus. They got the info from the Chinese (remember the massive Zheng He fleet etc...) in a council held in Florence by bizantine sage Giorgio Gemisto Pletone. The Vikings before the Florentines. The Romans before them. The Phoenician even earlier. Most of the (copper or tin, I don't remember which) fueling the bronze age came from St. Lawrence's Gulf, Canada. By the way, St. Lawrence is Florence's Saint Patron. Egyptians mummies were found with traces of substances coming from South America. Apkallu-like imagery can be found all across the American continent. Kukul-Kan was depicted as a European looking guy. Etc, etc... Guys, everybody know about America since forever!

21:42 Round doesn't mean a ball. Circles are also round.

Please interview gregg Braden