Researchers have apparently found the oldest known globe, which dates back to the early 1500s, that represented the New World.
According to the Washington Map Society's report, the globe was likely crafted in Florence, Italy, from the lower halves of two ostrich eggs, CBS News reported.
The report further claims that the globe, which is decorated with monsters, intertwining waves and even a shipwrecked sailor, is engraved with then-new and vague details about the Americas garnered from European explorers like Christopher Columbus and Amerigo Vespucci.
S. Missinne, an independent Belgian research scholar, said in a statement, that when the team heard of the globe, they were initially skeptical about its date, origin, geography and provenance, but the more research they did, the clearer it became that they had a major find.
The anonymous owner of the globe, who bought it in 2012 at the London Map Fair, allowed Missinne to investigate the globe.
The researcher used carbon dating, computer tomography testing, an ink assessment, as well as a geographical, cartographic, and historical analysis.