Genuine old treasure map

[Colombiapictures]

I came across this genuine old treasure map. In its natural shape it is kind of hard to decipher. Can someone recommend a good software I could use to increase contrast etc. to make it more readable?

 

[robertk]

If there's any treasure on it, you do know you just gave the world your map, right?

As for enhancing it, most any image software can boost contrast. You could also try feeding it to an AI bot and see if it can enhance it, though they have a bad habit of adding or removing things.

 

[Red-Coat]

Neat map, but it’s not a treasure map. It’s a copy of a map of Guiana attributed to Sir Walter Raleigh and originally drawn circa 1595. At the centre, you can see the lake and city of Manoa and the wording “The Valley of Guiana”. The attribution to Raleigh is based on comparison to documents captured at sea by his troops, his interrogations of Berrio, and statements made to the English by Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa following his capture in the Azores, as well as the handwriting having strong resemblance to that used for Raleigh’s poem “The Ocean’s Love to Cynthia.” His close friend Thomas Harriot may have collaborated with him.

Note that Manoa was a legendary city, also known as 'El Dorado' (that name is alongside it on the map), the actual existence of which is the subject of heated debate. There is little evidence for the existence of either the city or the lake.

The map was discovered by chance when it was acquired by the British Museum in 1849 as part of a lot of old documents, but has resided in the British Library since 1972 when the two institutions were separated.

 

[Colombiapictures]

Thank you Red-Coat. Excellent observations.
Is the treasure on this map or off it is the great question. There is a 1.2 billion dollar litigation in international court about a large gold deposit in the region. I have the coordinates of the gold deposit and would like to geolocate these coordinates on this map.
Actually there are many gold mines in the region but for the 2 largest ones we have exact locations.
Raleigh swore he got very close to the gold. Keymis thought he knew where the gold was.
Were they really close?
How close?
If we could make a gis overlay we would know.
Does any of you know how to do it?

 

[Colombiapictures]

David Gibbins — Ralegh's map of Guiana 1595

davidgibbins.com

Also check out this site.

 

[Red-Coat]

Thank you Red-Coat. Excellent observations.
Is the treasure on this map or off it is the great question. There is a 1.2 billion dollar litigation in international court about a large gold deposit in the region. I have the coordinates of the gold deposit and would like to geolocate these coordinates on this map.
Actually there are many gold mines in the region but for the 2 largest ones we have exact locations.
Raleigh swore he got very close to the gold. Keymis thought he knew where the gold was.
Were they really close?
How close?
If we could make a gis overlay we would know.
Does any of you know how to do it?

You're welcome.

The map has been geolocated using modern GIS tools. The first thing to note is that the map is presented ‘upside down’ (ie with south at the top, and east at the left). Turn it 180 degrees with the Isthmus of Panama to the right and there is reasonably accurate representation of coastal and river basins stretching from Trinidad down to the Amazon delta and also the main trunk of the Orinoco River.

However, since neither the massive lake (Parime Lacus), nor the city of Manoa actually exist, any further attempts at georeferencing by anchoring them to modern coordinates and geographical features results in extreme spatial distortion (warping), such that it all falls apart.

There’s a full integration of the map showing where its geography matches reality and where ‘El Dorado’ distorts modern global satellite maps using David Rumsey’s Georeferencer Tool at this link:

https://davidrumsey.oldmapsonline.org/maps/d8afd854-96f7-5705-8167-76e801f09f03/view

 

[Colombiapictures]

Thank you Red-Coat. that Georeferencer tool is fantastic.
It is the fable about the lake Parima or Manoa that screwed the explorers.
Probably the best Georeference is the modern town ELDORADO, It lies roughly between The old gold mine of El Callao and Las Cristinas. Las Cristinas supposedly has a proven gold deposit of about 500 tons. I estimate that the whole gold region that Trump now claims his own, contains at least 2000 tons of gold. Maybe Trump will rename the Manoa lake the Trump Lake?