Central America, 1500, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Caribbean Coast, Spanish Portolan Chart

Possible Manuscript by Juan de la Cosa, ca. 1500 A very early Spanish navigational chart of the coast of Central America, presumably created in the early 1500s. The original portolan chart was drawn with multicolored inks on vellum, and is currently kept at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. The LOC describes the item as a “Portolan chart of the Pacific coast of America from Mexico to northern Chile… from 1500” — a claim which has not been substantiated. Currently there is no historical evidence of European knowledge of the Pacific coast prior to 1513. The earliest known attempts at sailing and mapping the coast were made by the Spanish in 1518–1522. The second point of contention is the actual coastline on the map which looks nothing like the presented description of “Mexico to northern Chile”. When viewed with all three compass roses pointing at Levante (East), the drawn coastline resembles much closer the Atlantic coast from Nicaragua to Guajira, Colombia. If LOC’s dating o