London - Marco Polo, one of history’s greatest explorers, may in fact have been a conman, it was claimed on Tuesday.
Far from being a trader who spent years in China and the Far East, he probably never went further east than the Black Sea, according to a team of archaeologists.
They suspect the Venetian adventurer picked up stories about the mysterious lands of the Orient from fellow traders around the Black Sea who related tales of China, Japan and the Mongol Empire in the 13th century.
He then put the stories together in a book which purports to be his account of his travels between 1271 and 1291. - It details his relations with Kublai Khan, the Mongol ruler.
Following research in Japan, Professor Daniele Petrella of the University of Naples told Italian history magazine Focus Storia there were many inconsistencies and inaccuracies in Marco Polo’s description of Kublai Khan’s invasions of Japan in 1274 and 1281.
“He confuses the two, mixing up details about the first expedition with those of the second,” Professor Petrella said. “Is it really possible that a supposed eyewitness could confuse events which were seven years apart?”
Polo’s description of the Mongol fleet did not square with the remains of ships the archaeologists excavated in Japan, as he had written of ships with five masts, while those which had been found had only three.
“It was during our dig that doubts began to emerge about much of what he wrote,” said Professor Petrella. - Daily Mail