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"IMPORTANCE OF REFERENCE TO HISTORICAL LITERATURE IN INTERPRETATION OF ANALYTICAL DATA FROM THE VINLAND MAP INK" "It is the interpretation of the analytical data obtained on the ink that has aroused much of the controversy surrounding the Vinland Map. The identification of titanium in the form of anatase titanium dioxide in the ink of the map caused McCrone to claim that the map was a forgery. This conclusion has been supported by Towe. It must be recognized that it is unlikely that a forger would use an opaque white pigment to prepare an ink that would imitate a medieval ink. It raises many interesting questions that have not been addressed about the formulation of such an ink and what medium would have been used by a forger to suspend the anatase. The conclusion that anatase is present only in the ink of the map and not in the parchment alone verifies that anatase did not accumulate on the map sometime in the twentieth century. Therefore, the ink of the Vinland Map does contain anatase. The concentration of anatase in the map’s ink has been one of the controversial points but has been demonstrated to be the result of the fact that the samples analyzed differ from each other by a factor of 1000. This is due to the fact that PIXE analysis included the underlying parchment in the sample analyzed. The explanation for the presence of anatase in the ink of the Vinland Map is either that it was added by a forger in the twentieth century or it is present in the ink because of the materials used to make the ink. The source of the iron in medieval inks is green vitriol, an iron sulfate. It is significant that green vitriol would include anatase if the iron source from which it was made were the iron-titanium mineral, ilmenite. In the modern production of anatase, green vitriol is produced as a byproduct. Based on this fact, Olin has prepared a simulated fifteenth century ink using ilmenite for the preparation of the green vitriol. This ink contains anatase." Jacqueline S. Olin ---- op. cit. ---------------------------- Yes, Watson, the game's afoot.... D. Spencer Hines Lux et Veritas et Libertas Vires et Honor
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