This is an important
confirmation of the Minoan Egyptian presence during the European Bronze Age in the
Mississippi basin. It also clearly
explains the intensive interest in the Egyptian linkage to this region dating
from the early nineteenth century which was a missing piece of the puzzle. This pretty clearly provides a rich
archeological target for establishing the authenticity of the background evoked
in the Book of Mormon. All this has also
been written out of any scholarly work which is insane.
Better, it places the
gold pages firmly into the archeological context that makes the foundation
story of Mormonism at least plausible.
As must be said, you could not make this aspect up.
We are also seeing smatterings
of Egyptian script from time and place.
That strongly suggests that such a text if ever discovered would be open
to decipherment. That Joe Smith received
divine guidance is then no longer that much of a stretch. The established milieu generated by these
known reports wandering around would have made his achievement plausible. That he set out to convert it all into a
religion is quite another matter outside plausible historicity.
In Search of Hard
Evidence:
Ancient Stone Maps
By
Bill and Marilyn Kreisle
All
figures and symbols at bottom of Page
4-24-95
Note
from Host: This amazingly brilliant presentation was introduced at the
Spring 1995 ISAC Convention. Soon after, it was published in both the Ancient
American and The Midwestern Epigraphic Journal. The information
presented is absolutely incredible. This is the very best research paper done
on the artifacts from the Lost Tomb before we went public, and it concerns 2
stone maps crafted upon 2 separate tablets.
What
Mr. Kreisle unequivocally demonstrates, is extreme professional ability as a
Geologist, Cartographer and Natural Historian far beyond the norm. He is a
retired military officer of the Army Corps of Engineers after 30 years service.
The man is a genius! His presentation is assisted with the aid of his charming
wife Marilyn and together they weave a thread that proves the 2 maps stones
from the Lost Tomb are genuine. He proves this using information that has only
recently surfaced using satellite photos from space.
Ancient Stone Maps
When
my wife entered my name on the membership rolls of the Midwest Epigraphic
Society, I was definitely an agnostic when it came to such matters as allegedly
prehistoric inscriptions in America. But after several trips to Kentucky's Red
River Gorge, where I saw such inscriptions etched into sandstone walls by
ancient visitors, and after considerable research into the early history of
navigation and cartography, I became less skeptical. More recently, I examined
some artifacts from Burrows' Cave, in particular, two pocket-sized stones, each
of which have carved into their surfaces maps of a river system with major
tributaries. Both maps, although differing slightly, appear to depict the
Mississippi River Valley. After studying and comparing them to the early
history of the Mississippi River and its tributaries, I became convinced and
now believe both must be 2000 years old or older.
These
"mapstones" are similar in size, approximately 3.5 by 4.5 inches,
weigh about 6 ounces, and could be carried easily in a knapsack. The two small
maps cover the same territory and include the same major Tributaries: The lower
Ohio, Illinois, Missouri (Platte), Arkansas, White, and the Yazoo or the Big
Black River. The Wabash is also shown with what appears to be Skillet Fork -- a
continuation of the Little Wabash in central Illinois. On the West bank of
Skillet Fork, Near Burrows Cave, both maps feature a symbol (see Symbol #1) which
may indicate a settlement.
Although
the stone maps are similar in most respects, there are important differences.
Map 1 extends farther north than Map 2, probably beyond Wisconsin's St. Croix
River. map 2 shows the southern tip of Lake Michigan, perhaps indicating that
the creators of the maps came from the south and were, therefore, not Norsemen.
Map 1 also shows a horse-shoe-like symbol (see Symbol #2) near
the mouth of the Missouri River, in the vicinity of an abandoned Mandan village
mentioned in William Clark's account of his journeys to the Pacific
Ocean. This map also shows the Missouri River (dotted) extending past the
Platte River in Nebraska. Note that Map 1 shows a slightly different
course where the Mississippi flows into the Gulf. This subtle change
could mean a difference of 500 years in age. (see Map 3).
Map
2 features many other, indecipherable symbols. We may venture an
interpretation of some because of their shapes and relative positions on the
stone. A symbol (see
Symbol #3) lies in the exact location of the Ohio River where Illinois'
Cave-In-Rock is found. Interestingly, this site, only 85 miles miles from
Burrows Cave, was said by early settlers to contain "Egyptian-like"
artifacts.
In
1833, Josiah Priest, an early explorer of the area, wrote, "On the Ohio,
twenty miles below the mouth of the Wabash, is a cavern, in which are found
many hieroglyphics, and representations of such delineations as would induce
the belief that their authors were, indeed, comparatively refined and civilized."2
He goes on to describe the size and shape of the cave and how it may have been
used in prehistoric times. He further describes paintings of animals and
humans, plants and heavenly bodies that decorated the walls of this remarkable
cave. Although many of the paintings were faded, most could still be
seen. Priest wrote that the apparel worn by the human figures depicted
on the cave walls seemed similar to Old World dress worn during some
Greco-Roman era.3
In
1848, another early traveler, William Pidgeon, published his findings regarding
Cave-In-Rock and its unusual paintings. He described its anthropomorphic
pictographs which he believed represented ancient Egyptians. The
figures appeared to portray multi-racial groups, the result, he concluded, of
countless pre-Columbian voyages from various parts of the world.
Sadly, a recent visit to the cave by members of the Midwest Epigraphic Society
revealed not a spec of paint, nor a hint of its former mystery. Over 150 years
of abuse, flooding, and public fascination with its history of crime during the
nineteenth Century have left its floors muddy and its walls scarred with 20th
Century graffiti. Sometime during its last one hundred years, an upper
cavern directly over the main cave collapsed, leaving a large hole in the roof
and depositing rock and clay over the floor.
Returning
to the Burrows Cave artifact, among its many symbols, one (see Symbol #4) is
clearly identifiable: It appears to represent the Ohio River where Saline River
towhead, once a very large island, is presently located. The same symbol
recurs at the mouth of the Wabash River where Wabash Island is found
today.5
On
map 2, dots along the banks may indicate the number of days it took to travel
between designated landmarks. The number of dots between these known
positions are roughly proportional to the river miles between them (see Map
3). The symbol (see
Symbol #5) seen on both the Arkansas and Big Black Rivers may indicate very
large bayous, although the Arkansas River symbol could also indicate the White
River juncture.
In
1819, Thomas Nuttall, an explorer and botanist who later became a member of the
American Philosophical Society, traveled by flat-boat down the Ohio and
Mississippi Rivers for the purpose of studying the Arkansas Territory. On
the Ohio, he documented many mounds and village sites, including a mound at eh
mouth of Little Grave Creek, West Virginia. It was 75 feet high and
looked to him "indeed like a very large pyramid."
Unfortunately, he passed what he called "Rock-in-the-Cave" at
night. "Here I was advised to proceed with my small cargo and flat-boat
to the port of Osark, on the Arkansas by the bayou, which communicates between
the White and Arkansas Rivers."6 According to Nuttall, the bayou
extended for many miles between the two rivers.
On
Maps 1 and 2 the same symbol (see Symbol #5)
appears on both the Big Black and the Arkansas Rivers. A satellite
image of the Big Black River east of Vicksburg, Mississippi, reveals a circular
configuration similar to the symbol on the map. Except by satellite
imagery or aerial photography, it would not be known.
In
studying the courses of the Mississippi River on the map-stones and comparing
them to the present day channel, it is apparent that a noticeable change has
occurred on the lower river past the mouth of the Big Black. On
the stone maps the river continues in a south-by-southeast direction, staying
far west of Lake Pontchartrain before running into what is probably Bayou
Lafourche, the old river channel. Today, the river runs southeast past Baton
Rouge, Louisiana, turning almost due east until it passes by near the southern
shore of Lake Pontchartrain, then continues in a southeasterly direction into
the Gulf of Mexico, almost 50 miles east of the old channel (see Map #3) When
were the rivers running in this configuration?
To
find the answer, I turned to the Corps of Engineers in New Orleans and to the
Waterways Experimental Station in Vicksburg, Mississippi. The following
excerpts were taken from the report, Mississippi River and Tributaries Old
River Control, part of Memorandum No. 17-Hydraulic Design, furnished by
Arthur Laurent, Chief of the Hydraulics Branch, New Orleans District Corps of
Engineers: Section II-2 d:
"Dating
the Entrenched Valley and Alluvium. The time estimates used to show the
general age of valley cutting and valley filling, are taken from accepted
Quaternary chronology base on worldwide belts of glaciation and related
phenomena. Specific dation of meander belts and other Mississippi Valley
features based on the rate of meander growth has been developed by Fisk, Geological
Investigation of the Alluvial Valley of the Lower Mississippi River,
1944. Support for this dating technique has been found in more precise
estimates of age based on the radio-carbon method.
"Three
samples taken from various depths in the Atchafalaya Basin were analyzed by J.
Laurence Kulp, Lamont Laboratories, Department of Geology, Columbia
University. The samples were taken at depths of 25ft, 73 ft, and 273
ft. The age determinations agreed within the previously established
geologic dates.
"Section
III-8. Dating the Courses. Each of the Mississippi River
courses in the southern part of the alluvial valley is marked by well developed
meander belts which merge into a single belt extending upstream from near
Vicksburg, Mississippi, to the junction of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers near
Cairo, Illinois. Studies of accretion features on aerial photography have
made possible the determination of the approximate time involved in the formation
of the single upstream meander belt. Through those reconstructions, the
position of the river at 100-year intervals could be ascertained, and by
tracing these courses downstream it was possible to establish the time when
each of the meander belts in the southern part of the valley began to
form. The Maringouin-Mississippi started to develop approximately 3,000
years ago; the Teche-Mississippi, 2,000 years ago; the Lafourche-Mississippi,
1,600 years ago and the present course of the Mississippi south of
Donaldsonville was fist occupied approximately 8-- years ago.
"Section
IV-3. Teche Stage. The earliest of the Mississippi River courses in
this region which may be easily traced is that of the Teche-Mississippi.
While in this position, the river built the Teche Bridge, which forms the
western and southern boundaries of the basin. The Teche-Mississippi
follows closely the western wall of the alluvial valley for much of its
length....It is probable that at this time the Yazoo River flowed along the
eastern wall of the Mississippi Valley, (B.P. 1900. See Map 3).
"Section
IV-4. The Mississippi River abandoned the Teche course on the western
shed of the alluvial valley in favor or a new course (Lafourche-Mississippi)
adjacent to its eastern valley wall around B.P. 1100.
"Section
IV-5. The Mississippi River abandoned its lafourche course around B.P.
800 to 600 and occupied its present eastward course past New Orleans and Lake
Pontchartrain, turning southeasterly into the Gulf as it does today."
Note:
the contents of this report were taken largely from Geological
Investigation of the Atchafalay Basin and problem of Mississippi River
Diversion, by Harold Fisk for the Mississippi River Commission, (1952).
In 1944, Harold N. Fisk, a professor at Louisiana State University and a
consultant to the U.S. Army corps of Engineers, wrote what became a classic
monograph on the geomorphology of the lower Mississippi Valley. For the
next 30 or more years it was considered the authoritative reference on the
geologic history and chronology of this area. This classic was followed
in 1952 by another study for the Mississippi River Commission. In these
studies, Fisk developed a chronology for specific dating of meander belts and
other Mississippi Valley features based on the rate of meander growth.
These studies would indicate that the Mississippi turned east sometime
between B.P. 1900 and 1100.8
During
the past 30 years, however, another generation of scientists, using new tools
and new techniques, have taken a closer look at Fisk's work and found it to be
lacking.9 Much of this latter work has been done on an interdisciplinary
basis, which includes not only geologists, but also archaeologists, engineers,
biologists, etc. One of the leaders of this movement has been Roger T.
Saucier of the U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station at
Vicksburg. It has been authoritatively established that Fisk
underestimated the time of some geologic events by as much as several thousand
years.
This,
of course, has given us a new approximation for the date when the Mississippi
River turned eastward and no longer follows the rough courses shown on the
stone maps. In discussion of this problem, Mr. Saucier estimated the
eastern course of the lower Mississippi to be approximately 2000 years old or
older. Such would, in the author's opinion, date these maps to 2500 years
ago.
This
rather esoteric knowledge regarding the eastward turn of the lower Mississippi
from its original southeasterly direction as depicted on the map-stones would
hardly be widely dispersed today, thus minimizing possibilities of anyone
manufacturing bogus artifacts.
If anything, the appearance of clearly recognizable river systems in the
Midwest generally and Illinois specifically, as the stones indicate, go a long
way toward establishing the discoveries in Burrows' Cave as genuine.
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