Ancient Chinese Settlement in Cape Breton?
The National featured a report yesterday on former Yale architecture professor Paul Chiasson's claim that some indistinct ruins in central Cape Breton are remnants of an ancient Chinese settlement. Chiasson originally made headlines last summer with the claims. The CBC was reporting again, as their camera crews were led to the heretofore secret site. It looks, to the untrained eye, like a rather old and unremarkable arrangement of stones.
As their hypotheses are rather complimentary, Chiasson has teamed up with Gavin Menzies author of 1421: The Year China Discoverd the World to promote his idea. Anyone interested in these theories should not only read Chiasson and Menzie's work, but some of the multitudinous refutations by scholars from around the world. Menzies plays fast and loose with his facts, and it seems that Chiasson's claims while remaining marginally within the realms of possibility are likely incorrect. It's much more probable that the ruins are remnants of a farm dating from the 18th-19th century.