The Viking Deception (12 of 17)

The Viking Deception

Jagged,irregular particles of widely varying size-- like these-- signify natural anatase ground by hand from mineral ore.
But the samples mccrone took from the vinland map were a different shape.
The yellow particles were nearly all the same size and had rounded edges.
This indicated that the anatase was synthetic, and synthetic anatase was not widely produced until 1917.
We knew from then on that we weren't dealing with an ancient map-- it was a modern ink.
Mccrone and teetsov sent their report to yale: If the ink was modern, then the vinland map was likely a forgery.
The careers of eminent scholars were threatened;

the relationship between yale and its generous benefactor was strained; the reputation of one of the world's most illustrious institutions was tarnished; and the most valuable map in the world was in danger of becoming a valueless fake.
Yale sought a second opinion.
Since the late 1970s, a team at the university of california at davis, headed by physicist thomas cahill, had been using nuclear technology to identify airborne pollutants.
He had successfully used the same technology to analyze a gutenberg bible.
Now,on the recommendaon of the smithsonian andhe fbi, yale hired cahill to see if his technique could shed light on the vinland map.
Shielded inside a ten-foot concrete shell is the cyclotron.
It uses an immensely powerful magnet to accelerate protons to enormous speeds.
The protons are then focused in a beam down a steel tube.