The Bat Creek stone is a relatively flat, thin piece of ferruginous siltstone, approximately 11.4 cm long and 5.1 cm wide. The Bat Creek word also has the remnant of a sixth letter, The mound had some large sassafras trees standing on it when It is for this reason that we consider it important to bring the Bat Creek controversy to the attention of professional archaeologists; many of us are likely to be questioned by journalists and the general public about this issue in the future. The Bat Creek Stone Revisited: A Fraud Exposed Since, as discussed below, no contemporary Cherokee authorities seem to have regarded the inscription as genuine, McCulloch's conclusion does not represent a significant new interpretation. 1971 Before Columbus: Links Between the Old World and Ancient America. The words are: R, QL, YH, VD. A.D. East Lansing. as well as a pleasant destination for hikers and boaters. A pamphlet containing these articles is available If reversed, the sign would represent a passable Cherokee "gun.". Unfortunately, Emmert had a drinking problem which "renders his work uncertain" (Thomas to Powell, 20 September 1888), and led to his dismissal. 1946 The Indians of the Southeastern United States. Swanton, John R. J. Huston MuCulloch, an Ohio State University economics professor . Finally, if we focus exclusively on signs i through v, and accept Gordon's values, the text does not make sense as Paleo-Hebrew. Since neither of the authors have training in ancient Near Eastern languages, we requested an assessment of the Bat Creek inscription from Frank Moore Cross, Hancock Professor of Hebrew and Other Oriental Languages at Harvard University. photograph of a bulla (seal impression) that was recently excavated All images. Per Barbara Duncan, Education Director, Museum of the Cherokee Indian. A134902-0 in the Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. I own no rights to the film.Mary Hartski skit excerpt from \"Big Chuck and Hoolihan/Lil' John Show\" from WJW-TV out of Cleveland, Ohio. 1-19, The Review, Vol. To our knowledge no recent investigation has uncovered anything resembling the stone domed vaults or 'stone hives' which he describes" (1952:218-219). Even more telling is the fact that Cyrus Thomas himself did not discuss the Bat Creek stone in his later substantive publications (1898, 1903, 1905 [with WJ McGee]). "Did Judean Refugees Escape to Tennessee? Carter, George 87-93. Context of the Find 1902 Archaeological History of Ohio. [16] It has subsequently been loaned to the Museum of the Cherokee Indian in Cherokee, N.C., where it has been on display since 2015. Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin No. Bat Creek Stone - Wikipedia It has nevertheless been accepted for publication in http://www.econ.ohio-state.edu/jhm/arch/AmerAntiq.pdf. In Paleo-Hebrew, Judah (Judea) is spelled yhwdh, not yhwd. missing on Bat Creek. [1][3] Archaeologist Bradley T. Lepper concludes, "the historical detective work of Mainfort and Kwas has exposed one famous hoax". conceivably be either an aleph or a waw, however, reflect on the Mound Survey's data-collecting Suppressed Archaeology (Part Four) - Church of the Great God from Jersualem's City of David under the supervision The Bat Creek Stone Courtesy of Tennessee Anthropological Association Once the engraved stone was in Emmert's hands, local Republicans tried to get Emmert to sendthe stone to Knoxville to have it "translated." The actual chart which Blackman used to copy theletters had been published in a book in l882. Jones 2004) that Coelbren itself 1900 Myths of the Cherokee. Robert Stieglitz (1976) confirmed Gordon's reading of the [5] Mainfort and Kwas have identified the source of the inscription. This arm in fact appears 1964 Vinland Ruins Prove Vikings Found the New World. because they seemed to provide conclusive proof not only of the contemporaneity of man and mammoth in the New World, but also of the existence of a highly civilized "lost race" of moundbuilders. also happens to be the second letter of the first word in the Masonic The stone has some crude carvings that some interpret as "paleo-Hebrew" but have previously been considered an early form of Cherokee or completely fake. The stone was found placed behind the head of one of the bodies in the mounds. The apparent age of the inscription suggested to Thomas that the Cherokee possessed a written language prior to the invention of the Cherokee syllabary invented by Sequoyah around 1820. [9][7] These acts are a form of cultural genocide by European colonizers which enabled settlers "to make way for the movement of 'new' Americans into the Western 'frontier'". 2, p. 127. [Wilson, Alan, Baram A. Blackett, and Jim Michael], "Did the These are therefore different letters as well. This conclusion stems in part from the fact that there were few (if any) other noteworthy "recent" publications on North American prehistory, and certainly none that included large numbers of illustrations of both "ancient works" and artifacts. Bat Creek inscription The C-shaped brass bracelets that were apparently found under the skull or mandible of Burial 1 (Thomas 1894:393) have been cited by some cult archaeology writers as additional evidence of pre-Columbian contacts and thus supporting their claims of authenticity for the Bat Creek stone (e.g., McCulloch 1988; Mahan [1983:57] contends that "a conscious effort was made to obscure the results of the [metallurgical] tests" by the Smithsonian Institution). Before exploring this issue, we will state that we have no unequivocal data to present. coinscript letters to transcribe 1981 Radiocarbon Dating in Eastern Arctic Archaeology: a Flexible Approach. 1980 Cult Archaeology and Unscientific Method and Theory. This is especially exciting when considered in the context of the DNA evidence, Joseph Smiths statements, and all the other archaeological evidence for highly advanced civilizations in the heartland of America during the Book of Mormon epic.4, Your email address will not be published. Moreover, Cyrus Thomas was never shy about naming names, whether by way of praise or criticism. BAT CREEK STONE McCulloch, J. Huston This range is consistent with Peet, Stephen D. The inscription consists of at least eight distinct characters. Appleton and Co., New York. [1] In the report, Cyrus Thomas "claimed that the marks on the Bat Creek stone represented characters of the Cherokee syllabary and used the inscription to support his hypothesis that the Cherokee constructed many of the earthen mounds and enclosures in eastern North America". and Kwas article, enumerating these Catalogue No. Lake Telico at the mouth of Bat Creek. Fowke did not make this statement out of ignorance of the Bat Creek stone's existence, because not only had he extensively studied the lithic material recovered by the mound survey (Fowke 1896), but also mentioned the stone in one of his own publications (1902). this alternate form of Q is already present on Bat Creek, Despite their academic trappings, rogue professors "have lost the absolutely essential ability to make qualitative assessments of the data they are studying," while often ignoring scientific standards of testing and veracity. The artifacts, including bronze or brass bracelets that Dr. Wolter . vegetation could be reconstructed at Madoc was a Welsh prince who is reputed to have sailed to the C-14 date of 32 A.D. - 769 A.D. Wilson et al. That Thomas identified the metal as copper is hardly surprising, considering that substantial numbers of native copper artifacts had been recovered from mounds throughout the eastern United States. that this affinity should have been recognized already in 1889 by Investigators concluded that the mound was a "platform" mound typical of the Mississippian period. The Bat Creek stone is an inscribed stone collected as part of a Native American burial mound excavation in Loudon County, Tennessee, in 1889. History of the Human Sciences, Vol. or "Only for the Judeans" if the broken letter is included. Robert Clarke, Cincinnati. 1890 Historic and Prehistoric Relics. that the first letter is a (reversed) resh. The sign is quite similar to the Cherokee "ga" regardless of the orientation of the stone. 1907 Inscribed Tablets. 1982. 88 (Sept. 2010). Foundation, Structure, and Building Exterior Contractors Building Finishing Contractors Other Specialty Trade Contractors Building Material and Supplies Dealers Other Miscellaneous Retailers Other Financial Investment Activities Lessors of Real Estate Building Equipment Contractors Electric Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution Traveler Accommodation Rooming and Boarding Houses . Setzler, Frank M. and Jessee D. Jennings 1995, for permission to use Considering his initial enthusiasm (Thomas 1890, 1894), to say nothing of the potential significance of the artifact - if authentic - to American archaeology, the conspicuous absence of the stone from his later publications suggests to us that Thomas later may have come to recognize the Bat Creek stone as a fraud. 1993, p. 46. iii: This sign is impossible as Paleo-Hebrew in the period 100 B.C.-A.D. 100 based on the shape and stance; Gordon identifies this sign as "he." In Paleo-Hebrew, words are required to be : Ancient Settlers in the New World. Mainfort, Robert C., Jr. and Mary L. Kwas. Bat Creek has an undeniable affinity to Paleo-Hebrew, and Forgeries related to Mormonism - FAIR As noted above, the Bat Creek stone has recently been cast into greater prominence as a result of an AMS radiocarbon determination. 5-18. ). Since other signs are not claimed to be fourth century, the comparison is clearly illegitimate. George Barrie and Sons, Philadelphia. the fit as Hebrew is by no means perfect (McCarter 1993). [1][2] This is evident by the lack of the markings in the first photograph of the stone, published in the 18901891 annual report of the Bureau of Ethnology, and their appearance in photos after 1970. First, the inscription is not a legitimate Paleo-Hebrew inscription, despite the resemblances of several signs to Paleo-Hebrew characters. by JHM TA Spring 1993, pp. 1 (Jan./Feb. Williams, Stephen Serenwen, "Coelbren Ar Beirdd," undated webpage at Thanks to the late Warren W. Dexter, author with Donna Martin of The Indian Tribes of North America. Gordon (1971, 1972) later identified sign viii as "aleph," but did not mention it in a subsequent discussion of the Bat Creek stone (Gordon 1974). University of Tennessee, Department of Anthropology, Report of Investigations No. typical of brasses formed by the cementation process, which was discovered during the last centuries B.C. by P. Kyle McCarter, BAR July/August 1993, pp. The radiocarbon date and the publication of McCulloch's article in a local professional journal have significantly enhanced the Bat Creek stone's status as the "cornerstone" of the pre-Columbian contacts movement. Mound 1 had a diameter of 108 feet (33m) and a height of 8 feet (2.4m), and it was located on the first terrace above the river. standard Square Hebrew into the older alphabet, erroneously of the 19th century setting, as well as shade for picnickers. Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin No. "The Translation" (Bat Creek Stone), Dr. Arnold Murray, Shepherd's Chapel, STONE OF DESTINY by E. Raymond Capt, Shepherd's Chapel Documentaries, "Great Conspiracy" by Pastor Arnold Murray, ShepherdsChapel.com, RED LINE by Pastor Dennis Murry, Shepherd's Chapel, Shepherd's Chapel: When Is The White Throne Judgement. the top, the roots of which ran Please feel free to contact us with any questions or comments you have about our organization. Institution, 1890-91 (Washington, GPO, 1894), pp. 1987 Fantastic Archaeology: What Should We Do About It? Atlantic,, Chicago, 1964. It is wise therefore to refrain from basing theories on one or two specimens of an unusual or abnormal type, unless their claim to a place among genuine prehistoric relics can be established beyond dispute. Gordon, Cyrus, Before Columbus (New York, Crown, 1971b), Appendix. Hodges, New York, 1890. [7] The forced removal of Native peoples from their land and the severing of Native people from their heritage was partially enacted by "destroying indigenous pyramid mounds" and "The creation of the Myth of the Mounds". 1974 A History of American Archaeology. Gab builds Freedom Of Speech Software. Phoenicians in America Dubious History - GitHub Pages which was consequently identified by Stieglitz as a qoph. Despite the impeccable detail of this lithograph, Smithsonian Institution, Bureauof American Ethnology, Bulletin No. The stone was discovered in 1889 in Bat Creek Mound # 3 near the mouth of Bat Creek in Loudoun County during a series of burial-mound excavations conducted under the Bureau of American Ethnology. theophoric component of Hebrew names. A lengthy discussion of the object, including a radiocarbon determination, in a local professional journal (McCulloch 1988) has recently enhanced the status of the stone as representing the best evidence of pre-Columbian contacts. Per Timothy E. Baumann, Curator of Archaeology, McClung Museum. the Macoy illustration, begins with the Masonic Artifacts were associated with only one of the 9 extended interments. The late Semitic languages Rebuilding it would require only about 38 cubic yards of ABSTRACT Washington. Thomas (1894:642) rightly challenged the authenticity of the Davenport tablets in part. 1991 Fantastic Archaeology: The Wild Side of North American Prehistory. R is for "Ara" which is (Lion) QL is for "Qol" which is (voice) YH is for "Yah" which is (God) ", McCulloch, J. Huston, "The Bat Creek Stone Revisted: In fact, it seems all too likely that the Bat Creek stone may be only the single most notorious example of misrepresentation on the part of Emmert during his association with the Bureau of American Ethnology. Bat Creek Mound #3, with the inscription scholar Cyrus Gordon (1971a, 1971b, 1972) confirmed that it is Semitic, [3] As Feder explains, "The Bat Creek Stone was an outlier, impossible to put into genuine historical context, and though few said it out loud, it was assumed by many that the artifact had been faked". Biblical Mazar, Eilat, "Did I Find King David's Palace?," Biblical Archaeology As we discuss below, the Bat Creek stone received scant attention from Thomas's contemporaries and languished in relative obscurity (but see Mertz 1964) until 1970 when it was "rediscovered" by Cyrus Gordon, a well-published professor of Mediterranean Studies at Brandeis University and a leading proponent of cult archaeology. The brass used to form the bracelets from Bat Creek contains 66.5 - 68.2 percent copper and 26.5 - 27.5 percent zinc. www.madoc1170.com/home.htm. Another of Kirk, Lowell, in diameter and 5 feet in height," according to the offical It was most likely copied from the General History, Cyclopedia, and Dictionary of Freemasonry. The shorter first words of the Bat Creek and Masonic [14][1] Gordon concluded that Thomas had been viewing the inscription "upside down", and when re-read in its proper orientation, the inscription represented "ancient Hebrew". In fact, however, we have located only 6 references to the Bat Creek stone in contemporary and more recent mainstream professional literature. Mooney, James Mound 2 had a diameter of 44 feet (13m) and height of 10 feet (3.0m), and Mound 3 had a diameter of 28 feet (8.5m) and height of 5 feet (1.5m). The Bat Creek stone (Catalogue No. it was exacavated. An unknown party added two nearly parallel vertical strokes while the stone was stored in the National Museum of Natural History from 1894 and 1970. In early 1889, Emmert resumed his excavations under Thomas' direction; by February 15 he had "found" the Bat Creek stone (Emmert to Thomas, 15 February 1889). Under the skull and mandible of Burial 1 "two copper bracelets, an engraved stone, a small drilled fossil, a copper bead, a bone implement, and some small pieces of polished wood soft and colored green by contact with the copper bracelets" were found. In subsequent publications, Gordon (1971:186, 1972:10-12) referred to this sign as "problematic," and more recently (Gordon 1974) did not mention sign vi in his discussion of the Bat Creek stone. Exposed," American Antiquity 64 (Oct. 2004): 761-769. 3 (part With respect to the Bat Creek stone, which we have now demonstrated beyond a reasonable doubt was one of the "modern reproductions" alluded to by Thomas, we believe that the answer is quite straightforward Thomas had placed himself in a position such that he could not really afford to pronounce the Bat Creek stone a forgery. earth. If Shepherd's Chapel has blessed you, help them bless. Scratched through the patinated exterior on one surface are a minimum of 8, and possibly as many as 9 (excluding a small mark identified by some writers as a word divider), signs that resemble alphabetic characters (Figure 1). When. He noted that the broken letter on the far left is consistent Freemasonry, 17-21. 391-4. Scratched through the patinated exterior on one surface are a minimum of 8, and possibly as many as 9 (excluding a small mark identified by some writers as a word divider), signs that resemble alphabetic characters (Figure 1). The Bat Creek stone, allegedly found in an undisturbed burial mound by an employee of the Smithsonian Institution, has been heralded by cult archaeologists as proof of pre-Columbian visitations to the New World by Mediterranean peoples. Why Should Latter-day Saints Beware Fraudulent Artifacts? PDF Institutional Database of Staff Publications Tennessee Division of Serenwen (undated). Ventnor Publishers, Ventnor, N.J., 1972. (By Cyrus H. Gordon). Pp 181, This page was last edited on 15 March 2023, at 01:56. One of the principal arguments raised in defense of the Bat Creek stone is that "authoritative contemporaries, who knew the circumstances better than anyone today, accepted the tablet as genuine" (McCulloch 1988:113). Reprinted in Ancient American Vol. According to Emmert's field notes, the Bat Creek Stone was found in Mound3. ancient times, were clearly engraved in Coelbren letters, The sign is impossible for Paleo-Hebrew. [3] Thomas's efforts were crucial because of their ability to destabilize the myth of the Mound Builders by providing irrefutable evidence that Indigenous Americans are responsible for constructing the mounds. von Wuthenau, Alexander The clay canoe-shaped coffin containing an extended burial and surrounded by four seated burials, which also came from Long Island, remains a unique occurrence. "belonging to Yehucal" (Mazar 2006: 26). The inscriptions were initially described as Cherokee, but aformentioned Dr. Gordon correctly identified them as Hebrew. Their findings were subsequently published and an online version is available on their website. appears in BAR July/Aug. of the inscription. for $6.00 from the abilities per se. forms the dative case, indicating for, to, or belonging to [1] This specific volume was "extensively reprinted during the latter half of the nineteenth century", and would have been available to the forger. Discovered in 1889 during a Smithsonian-led excavation of Native American sites near Bat Creek in Loudon County, Tennessee, the artifact known today as the Bat Creek Stone is a "relatively flat, thin piece of ferruginous siltstone, approximately 11.4 cm long and 5.1 cm wide." 26 On the stone is an inscription of about eight characters written 30. orientation, and although several of the letters are not perfect as Paleo-Hebrew, 88 (Sept. 2010). The Bat Creek stone from eastern Tennessee is a notable exception and is considered by cult archaeologists to be the best piece of evidence for pre-Columbian contacts by Old World cultures. is known. [7] Part of this history remains embedded in the advanced architecture of the Adena and Hopewell people. [6] Additionally, his excavation revealed nine skeletons, seven of which were laid out in a row with their heads facing north, and two more skeletons laid out nearby, one with its head facing north and the other with its head facing south. a plausible spot. 40 miles south of Knoxville, in what is even if the copyist threw in a few random changes to 1903 The Indians of North America in Historic Times (published as Volume 2 of The History of North America). Although Gordon's Paleo-Hebrew reading of excavated and whose context been carbon-dated to 14, No. Gordon, Cyrus, "The Bat Creek Inscription," in C.H. Refugees Escape to Tennessee?" report. We believe that the "best recent work" alluded to by Thomas is his own final report on mound explorations (1894), and that the "articles whose history is fully known" is a reference to the alleged discovery of the Bat Creek stone. Second edition. originally proposed by Mertz. It also seems worth mentioning that Cyrus Thomas was neither the first nor the last archaeologist to be taken in by a questionable artifact. Although largely laid to rest by the beginning of the twentieth century, both issues continue to surface periodically (e.g., Fell 1976; Carter 1978), falling within the realm of what is often referred to as "cult archaeology" (Cole 1980; Harrold and Eve 1987). A cluster of black oak and sassafras trees, along with some [3] With a budget of $60,000 provided by the U.S. government and the dedication of twelve years of mound excavations, Thomas worked to give insight into who the mound-builders were. McCulloch, J. Huston, "The Bat Creek Inscription -- Cherokee or Hebrew?," The University of Iowa, Iowa City. 145. Bat Creek stone, which was professionally John Emmert excavated Bat Creek Mound 3, doing so "alone and in isolation". Cherokee in either To my knowledge, nothing proves that the Bat Creek stone is Jewish and not Celtiberian. Gilbert, William H., Jr. Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin No. Thomas, Cyrus. 1974 Riddles in History. Newsweek 76(17):65. The completion of Tellico Dam at the mouth of the Little Tennessee in 1979 created a reservoir that spans the lower 33 miles (53km) of the river. Pre-Columbiana, and a PDF of the draft is online at Bat Creek Stone - (The Translation) - The Shepherd's Chapel Eagle Wings Ministries 4.85K subscribers Subscribe 603 views 1 month ago @TheShepherdsChapel Show more Show more Enjoy 1 week. www.rense.com/general28/weks.htm, dated 8/28/02. Andover Press, Andover. but merely that this is a common component of Hebrew His excuse for this is that he says that science has got it wrong with their decipherment of Egyptian Hieroglyphs. However, Wilson et al. Take for example the supposed elephant mound of Wisconsin which has played an important role in most of the works relating to the mound-builders of the Mississippi valley, but is now generally conceded to be the effigy of a bear, the snout, the elephantine feature, resulting from drifting sand. Refugees Escape to Tennessee? assumed that the words should be separated by a space, In his Archaeological History of Ohio, Gerald Fowke (1902:458-459) cited the Bat Creek stone in the context of criticizing Cyrus Thomas for claiming a relatively recent age for various mounds, and Stephen Peet (1891:146) briefly mentioned the object. although a few of the letters could be taken for "Report of Archaeopetrography Investigation on the Bat Creek Stone of 1889," July 14, 2010, http://www.ampetrographic.com/files/BatCreekStone.pdf. ", McKusick, Marshall. Two of these are Thomas's (1890, 1894) own publications, as cited earlier. Harrold, Francis B. and Raymond A. Eve [1] The two bracelets found in the Mound were initially identified by both Emmert and Thomas as "copper", but a 1970 Smithsonian analysis concluded the bracelets were in fact heavily leaded yellow brass. [15][1] McCulloch mostly agreed with Gordon's assessment of the stone as Ancient Hebrew, and expressed, "My own conviction is that the Bat Creek inscription is a rustic, and therefore imperfect, specimen of paleo-Hebrew". Revised and enlarged edition. Importantly, no documentation regarding the production and use of comparable artifacts by first or second century A.D. Mediterranean peoples has been presented by McCulloch (1988), Mahan (1983), or other cult archaeology writers. There has been a systematic denigrating on the part of the 'intellectuals' in the Smithsonian Museum of evidence of pre-Columbian migration from the Old World to the western hemisphere. would make an appropriate memorial for the find, The Bat Creek Inscription: Cherokee or Hebrew? The director of the project, Cyrus Thomas, initially declared that the curious inscription on the stone were "beyond question letters of the Cherokee alphabet." (Thomas 1894: 391:4) Archaeology 41(5):62-70. of their claim, there is no basis for either of these conclusions. Jefferson Chapman, Director of the McClung Museum at the University of Tennessee, generously provided copies of unpublished reports and correspondence by and pertaining to John Emmert. See also comment now a TVA 1914 The American Indian in the United States, Period 1850-1914. Bat Creek Stone - Joseph Smith Foundation 1910 Cyrus Thomas Obituary. McKusick, Marshall. However this accord was broken in the 1970s when the Bat Creek Inscription was adopted by proponents of Pre-Columbian transatlantic contact theories. STONE INSCRIPTION FOUND IN TENNESSEE PROVES THAT - Ensign Message "The Translation" (Bat Creek Stone), Dr. Arnold Murray, Shepherd's The same is true of the circular burial areas paved with rock and enclosed within stone slab walls which he found in McGhee Mound, in the Call away Mound No. Mainfort, Robert C., and Mary L. Kwas, "The Bat Creek Stone Revisited: A Fraud Gordon, ed., As a strong advocate of pre-Columbian contacts between the Mediterranean region and the New World, Gordon's (1971, 1972, 1974) interpretation of the Bat Creek inscription could justifiably be criticized on the grounds that his zeal to make a case for the radiation of higher culture from a single Near Eastern center caused him to relax the disciplines of historical linguistics, paleography, and historical orthography. [5] McCarter concluded, "It seems probable that we are dealing here not with a coincidental similarity but with a fraud". the first letter must be something different, and Our mission is to defend, protect, and preserve free speech online for all people. The January/February 2006 A Reply to Mainfort and Kwas in American Antiquity," He reported that the Bat Creek Stone was found under the skull of the south-facing skeleton. This belief was influential and "adopted by many Americans in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries".