[Cowboy Bob]

Thanks for bumping this article. I missed it first time around...

I was having dinner with my parents a few weeks back, and the subject of the Chinese discovery of America came up. I must admit that I had never heard such a claim, but was told of the following discovery, which this author also cites:

Menendez's report no longer seems incredible in light of the discovery 20 years ago of a medieval Chinese-style junk buried under a sandbank in the Sacramento River off the northeast corner of San Francisco Bay, Menzies says. Fragments of wood taken from the ship have been carbon-dated to 1410 and identified as cut from Keteleria, a Chinese evergreen tree unknown in America.

Any idea where the remains of the junk are kept?

[SunkenCiv]

Dunno. I've got the book, but haven't read it. I'll check it out when I get the chance. The wood being carbon-dated to 1410 doesn't mean a lot, unless there was *bark* that tested to that year, because no one builds ships out of year-old trees. I think this "leaves" (so to speak) this junk to a time later than 1421. :')

Somewhere around here there are a couple more FR topics about this title, but anyway, here's the cover and links:

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1421: The Year China Discovered America by Gavin Menzies

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