This exhibition places this controversial Vinland Map manuscript on U.S. public view for the first time in 50 years. Purported to be documentary evidence that the Vikings reached North America 500 years before Columbus, the map triggered a firestorm of public and scholarly debates among humanities scholars, scientists, and Italian Americans. This exhibition will examine the map’s mysterious origins; the reasons scholars initially believed it to be authentic; the world’s response to its unveiling; the challenges to that conclusion; and the science that finally turned the tide of scholarly opinion.