My own interest in this was aroused in 1986 when I met a farmer in Cornwall (SW Britain) on whose land lies the ancient Merry Maidens stone circle. He recounted that, when grubbing up an old earthen field boundary some years before, he had found a deeply-buried greenstone arrowhead which his son then took to school to show his teacher.
The teacher sent it to the British Museum for identification, and the reply returned that it was at least 5,000 years old and derived from specific rock deposits in Minnesota.
The possibility of this being a hoax was minuscule: there is little point planting evidence in a place where it is unlikely to be found or to be accepted as valid evidence – hoaxers need a pay-off. The farmer had little interest in prehistory – he was a classic farmer-type! What was interesting to me was that this evidence suggested west-to-east travel, from the ‘New’ to the ‘Old’ World, while one would tend to expect east-to-west travel, if anything. West Cornwall was frequented in ancient times by tin traders from the Mediterranean, particularly Phoenicians.
Probably a Druid.
I think the BBC claims attributing the name of America to a "Richard Amerike" need to be viewed with a ton of salt.
For one thing, Vespucci was in a position as a mapmaker to do what he is given credit for.
As for this Amerike, who the heck is he?
Or maybe Columbo learned from the cod fishermen of Bristol and of Portugal, who seem to have been fishing and drying fish on Newfoundland for 50 years before him.
And of course, John Cabot was really Caboto, another Italian navigator, though that may not please some old line New England families.
So9