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It
is understandable that modern day Anthropologists and Archeologists do
not accept findings located outside their own field of discovery.
Millions have been made with forgeries and scams. Yet, 90%
of archaeological finds are reported by Amatures and have to be labeled
“controversial” since they were discovered outside a permit or
project. Still, new archaeological documents and new
findings continue to emerge supporting the presence of early Eastern
Northern Americans at the time of The Book of Mormon.
In early
1800’s no one was in a position to record all of the information by
modern day standards. Major John Wesley Powell in 1869 was one of
the first archaeologists of our time. So, looking back
further, after Joseph Smith Jr. published the Book of Mormon
(1830), the men and women of his day had no problem with the
description of the fortifications, artifacts found, large
skeletal remains, numerous cities and battle mounds as found within
itspages, because as these pioneer settlers crossed the Appalachian
Mountains into the Valley of Ohio, they saw these structures and
discovered these artifacts in great abundance with earthen structures
still standing. Early frontier families, had no problem believing
Joseph when he talked about early inhabitants of the places they just
journeyed and settled upon.
Since that time schools and
universities have long taught the established doctrine of Isolationism,
or to say, that the Eastern Hemisphere and the Western Hemisphere
developed culturally independent of each other with no cross ocean
contact either Atlantic or Pacific. Or, that North American
Indians came from Eskimos migrating from Asia to South America.
However, as new evidence of a much bigger picture emerged, sometimes
labeled “controversial” by modern day archaeologist, we learned that
people from the Eastern Hemisphere set sail and visited Eastern North
America long
before Columbus in 1492.
In the Americas,
we find numerous archaeological enigmas that are not supposed to be
here. These enigmas have been coined “OOPARTS”, (out of place
artifacts). They do not fit the evidence as has been laid out by
archaeologist, that is, before Columbus, no contact between East and
West. Nevertheless, these European and Mediterranean
artifacts
keep showing up from coast to coast in the Americas. When an
artifact of this nature is discovered Diffusionists believe an event
actually took place in the location without the regiment of a
scrupulous dig. However, it is immediately looked upon as a planted
hoax or a fake someone has placed in the path of the archaeologist or
anthropologist. Most Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints by definition are Diffusionists. Having
accepted Lehi's travels by understanding by study that they are walk
able and sailable etc…, you become a member of the Diffusion camp.
North
America has produced numerous artifacts with and without Mediterranean
scripts. Way more than our neighbors to the south, namely,
Central and South America. For instance: the Ten Commandment
Stone from Newark, Ohio; the Bat Creek Stone from Tennessee; Los
Lunas Ten Commandment stone, in New Mexico, mediterranean oil lamps
from West Virginia, Kentucky and Wisconsin; 10,000 Michigan
Tablets depicting Old Testament stories; Cuneiform writing among Native
Americans signifying Hebrew, Yod Hey Vau; the numerous and
mysterious Mound Builder cities and forts covering Missouri to New York
east to west and Wisconsin to Tennessee north to south, etc....
The
thousands of Mound Builders (300 BC to 400 AD) have left us with the
biggest mystery. Who were they? Why were they here? Where did
they go?
The Book of Mormon history of the Nephite nation runs a
great parallel with this North American Hopewell culture. Its
timeline, mode of building with wood and earth, and copper mining are
practically identical. Both groups had a high degree of
sophistication displaying quality artifacts, both groups were agrarian
by choice, both groups fought a defensive war with their neighbors,
both groups occupied the same geographical location, and both groups
cease to
exist on or around 400 AD.
What this all comes
down to is this; the artifacts found in North America that support the
Book of Mormon need to be carefully studied. The evidence for the
Nephites, being present in North America, far out way the evidence that
can be produced for Central or South America.
The best living
source we have is the oral history and traditions of the North American
Indians themselves. It has been greatly documented by our early
historians and antiquarians of the late 1700’s and all through the
1800’s, that other people have visited and come to stay within the
lands of this United States. The Native Americans have left us
testimony of their fortifications, their cities, their wars in days
past. The majority of these visits came
from the EAST, an
Atlantic crossing, not the Pacific. That the Indians still
remember when the “yellow” skins arrived from the Bering Strait and
that they are late comers. The Algonquin stock of the Midwest,
which is the majority of all Natives who formally had their ancestral
lands in the eastern U.S., all tell of their ancestors coming from
the land of the “rising sun”. That they settled the Great
Lakes first and then expanded into the heartland of America. They talk
about the "war of extinction", and about their ancient cities that once
thrived long before England's London Town?, and they talk about the
arrival of East Star Man, who healed the sick, raised the dead, taught
new laws and gave them their priesthood. This is Eastern North
America. Read more about these people.