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Review of America Unearthed S01E04: "Giants in Minnesota"

1/12/2013

83 Comments

 
Before I review America Unearthed S01E04 “Giants in Minnesota,” let me stipulate that in the course of the hour Scott Wolter uncovered no evidence whatsoever of giants in Minnesota, or the Norse visitors he ties them to. He admits this, so it is not just me saying it. This, sadly, means that there is little factual material to examine, leaving me to critique this show as a television performance. In that light, we can look at the episode as a triumph of editing in trying to make three pointless investigations add up to more than the sum of their parts through carefully cross-cutting among them and avoiding dwelling too long on the inevitable disappointments. The way the show subtly switches from the proposed topic to others designed to garner support for its star is masterfully executed but deeply manipulative.

We begin with a dramatic reenactment of a flannel-clad man using dowsing rods to find hidden treasure. (This is presented in shadowy tint as a flashback but was actually a scene from later in the episode re-shot from the dowser’s point of view.) I’ve been reading some fascinating material about the origins of dowsing rods in a misunderstanding of the mythic importance of specific tree branches thought to be related to the thunder-god’s lightning, but this isn’t the time or place for that. The gruff man mumbles about “giant bones,” and then we’re off to the opening credits.

The dateline tells us we’re at Saker Farm in Twin Valley, Minnesota to investigate the bones of an alleged giant. A farmer named Roger Saker tells series star and forensic geologist Scott Wolter that the Minnesota state archaeologist came out to view some Native American bones found on his land, one set of which was unusually large. He did not provide a date for this, but it is implied it was a recent event, though the hard-packed ground and tall weeds growing atop the grave suggest otherwise.

“They wanted to get this thing buried as fast as possible,” he said, implying a conspiracy to suppress the truth. Reburial is no conspiracy; in fact it is merely U.S. law, which mandates respectful treatment for Native remains and reburial, except in extraordinary circumstances. You don’t get to play with old bones like they were toys, nor are human remains there for your amusement. The farmer talks about how he ripped apart the bones and played with them. This made me sad.

Wolter displays for Saker an 1880s newspaper article about “giants,” one of hundreds published in those decades. Such reports of giants were typically the remains of wooly mammoths, or outright hoaxes. One wooly mammoth skeleton spent much of the century on display as a Biblical “giant,” despite scientists identifying its real species. Wolter, though, thinks the bones Saker found belong to a race of 7 to 8 foot tall Norse colonists. He never explains why he thinks that the Norse were giants, and I am at a loss to imagine how.

Wolter measures the surface of the alleged grave of an 8’ 6” giant under a burial mound on Saker’s property, which we must take on faith; without a skeleton, we aren’t able to confirm this. Humans, however, could occasionally grow to seven feet, especially with hormonal problems. Such individuals may well have been considered sacred or holy and given special burial. But all we have to go on here is Saker’s claim that the head and feet reached to stone landmarks placed atop the burial mound.

Saker explains to Wolter that the archaeologists “covered up” the burials, and he accuses them of a conspiracy. Again, federal and state laws require respectful treatment of graves, and thus after their Native identity was confirmed, they were reburied. Not content with this, the farmer called in a dowser to probe the burial mound magically. Wolter claims dowsing really works, based on the authority of Einstein, but as with all the show’s other “research,” this is another lie. There is no published confirmation Einstein said any such thing, and the Einstein Archive lists only two mentions of dowsing, where Einstein expressed curiosity.

Supposedly the dowser found a 10 foot giant, but let’s not kid ourselves. This is primitive folk magic, the kind that has been practiced in America since the founding and was the same type of magic that Joseph Smith was an expert in and used to create Mormonism. Wolter tries to “prove” dowsing is real by hiding a metal knife and asking a 70-year-old dowser to find it. Noting the obviously disturbed grass, the dowser easily finds it, attributing the discovery to his magic rods. Funny, isn’t it, that so many trust in the power of dowsing, when in Europe dowsing was traditionally believed to only work when using the wood of the rowan, and only on certain saints’ days, taken over from when they were formerly sacred to Odin or Thor, for the rod was a piece of lightning made wood, the begetter of great boons. All we need to know, though, is that there is no scientific evidence dowsing works.

Farmer Roger Saker, in turn, explains that investigation of the mound is limited because he doesn’t want to disturb the corn, not because it is illegal to rob Native American graves. H2 is careful to avoid breaking the law, but they won’t tell viewers what that law is, either. The obvious course would be to dig up the damn giant’s body, but since they know that is illegal, they dig instead far from the burial mound where they can plausibly claim no bodies were likely to be found. (The trouble with digging up human remains is briefly noted later on, rendering moot the entire premise of the episode, the search for GIANTS!)

Wolter brings in Michael Arbuthnot, a Florida archaeologist specializing in underwater sites, to investigate the farm, and Wolter shares the legends and myths of ancient Norse in Minnesota. Wolter even notes that the area is filled with Scandinavian immigrants, but he fails to make the obvious connection that the nineteenth century immigrants who settled Minnesota brought with them a sense of their own cultural history and sought to create an imaginary historic landscape of ancient Norse settlers to help make the land truly “theirs” rather than, say, the Native Americans’ or even the Anglo-Americans’. This process has occurred across time and space, with old ruins appropriated by new settlers and incorporated into their history. As a brief example, the nineteenth century English attributed Neolithic remains in Britain to the Druids, whom they saw as their true ancestors, in contradistinction to the decadent Romans, identified with the Continent, the home of Britain’s rival and enemy, France.

So, anyway, all these characters start digging and found a chunk of cut bone, which I suppose must be animal since they didn’t stop digging and call the authorities, as required by law.

After the commercial, we head into the second half of the show and two other plot lines.

Wolter first travels to George and Becky’s Café in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota to view an alleged Viking sword supposedly pulled from the earth. Wolter frames this in terms of the Kensington Runestone, a century-old hoax that Wolter attempted to rehabilitate using dubious geological testing. The Runestone is composed in Swedish of a mixture of medieval runic alphabets, including words unattested in medieval literature, suggesting a hoax. Swedish linguists find the text fake. However, the program does nothing to discuss the stone beyond letting Wolter assert that his geologic tests “proved” its age. Bad Archaeology has much more about why it’s a fake, and here is Richard Nielsen's explanation of why Wolter's geological claims about the stone are also wrong. It's a damning report that all but confirms that Wolter's geology is driven by ideology, not science. Do read it and learn just what Wolter is hiding about his Runestone investigation.

All of this is prelude to our look at the “medieval” Ullen sword dug up in 1911, at the height of early twentieth century Viking fakes, when such objects were excavated with surprising frequency thanks to a combination of hoaxing and wishful thinking on the part of Scandinavian immigrants. The sword, at first glance, simply looks new, due to a polishing given it in 1911 and not disclosed in the program. It has none of the patina of age around it, but the camera doesn’t linger long enough to really get a good look at it. There’s a good reason for that. The Ullen sword looks nothing like medieval Viking swords and exactly like nineteenth century German military swords, which even this program is forced to admit anon.

But this “investigation” is clearly going nowhere, so we introduce another, lest we get bored trying to follow one from start to finish.

Wolter wastes some time traveling to look at a tumbledown house whose foundation was apparently built with boulders allegedly carved with runes. But, as Wolter himself mentioned, the nineteenth century settlers of Minnesota came from Scandinavia, so there is no need to assume that a “runic carving” was necessarily ancient. The boulders can’t be seen, so we won’t be back until the house is torn down “tomorrow.”

Back at the farm, the Arbuthnot and Saker discovered that the farm had previously served as a farm (shock!), and had once been a Native American settlement. No Vikings, no giants. More digging follows as we go into commercial.

After the commercial, the show seems to concede that none of the three plotlines is going well. We keep intercutting between them, and we are treated to some destruction-porn as we watch the old farmhouse with its rune-boulders get destroyed. Wolter goes looking for the runic boulder in the ruins, and he finds some scratches on one stone that he identifies as “manmade characters.” They look like tool marks to me, since they have no relationship to any alphabetic or runic characters and are (at best) three in number. Even Wolter seems to recognize this, though he tries to obscure the fact by, essentially, hoping viewers look away. He quickly expresses shock that some random guy with a tattoo has runes as his tattoo, and he is delighted to find they spell the man’s name as he slowly translates them, pretending that the tattooed man is ignorant of his own tattoo’s mysterious meaning! Oh, my… that had no purpose whatsoever beyond wasting another 40 seconds of airtime and distracting viewers from the inconclusive tool mark discovery. The program seems to want us to remember “boulder” and “runes” and forget that they aren’t connected in any way.

After the commercial we get a recap of the non-findings so far, and we return to Saker Farm to look at still more bone artifacts, evidence of Native American settlement. But there isn’t anything European, nor anything from a giant race. (I still don’t see how the Norse and the giants are the same, but at this point, who cares? Neither one is there.) So, I guess that closes this one. No one bothers to use any sort of non-invasive testing to measure the alleged giant skeleton in the mound, nor does anyone bother to consult the state archaeologist’s report about the site—at least not on camera. And we will soon see why.

Back at the Ullen sword investigation, a medieval sword expert shows us the exact page in the German sword catalog where the Ullen sword had been ordered from Germany in the 1800s, and this entire plotline wheezes to a sclerotic close, much to Wolter’s disappointment. Wolter says that the facts have “convinced” him that the sword is modern (good to know), but in a non sequitur he then insists that the Kensington Runestone is truly medieval. This is infuriating because this show is not about the Kensington Runestone, which means that viewers have only Wolter’s word to go by since no evidence or discussion of the stone occurred outside Wolter’s assertion about its age. This whole program is gradually becoming a bait-and-switch designed to convince viewers that the Runestone is real while avoiding the need for evidence.

We finish with a visit to the Minnesota state archaeologist, Scott Anfinson, whom Wolter questions about the alleged cover-up of the “giant” skeleton. Anfinson states that he did not actually view the bones and therefore cannot answer the question. So who reburied the bones? The show doesn’t say. Anfinson has been the state archaeologist since 2006, so presumably the dig occurred sometime before then under a different archaeologist.

Wolter informs us that the bones of the “giant” were typical of a 5’3” individual, and Wolter presents Roger Saker with this fact. Since we did not hear Anfinson give this information (and indeed he said he wasn’t aware of it), it must have come from Wolter reading the state archaeologist's site report, in turn suggesting that both Wolter and the production team knew there was nothing to this story before they showed up to “investigate” it. Saker responds that there is a conspiracy afoot: “These people, they’re up to something,” he says, insisting that he saw a giant no matter what the facts say. The farmer seems to have become confused by the disarticulation of the bones, which, falling out of their joints, thus appear larger than the body would have actually stood in life.

The show concludes with another assertion—without evidence—that the Kensington Runestone is genuinely medieval, thus “proving” that the Norse colonized Minnesota. Since none of the three stories investigated in this episode provided any evidence of Norse colonizers, the entirety of this “investigation” seems custom-designed to create a circumstantial scenario to provide spurious support to Wolter’s assertion about the Runestone, which he declines to expose to the scrutiny of a mass television audience. This was a subtle, manipulative hour that asked us to believe in an imaginary conspiracy, to believe that emotional responses count for as much as scientific inquiry, and to believe that Wolter’s word is good enough to accept without proof.

83 Comments
Pamela
1/12/2013 06:08:50 am

I think you and I were separated at birth. I don't know why I'm surprised, but from the outset of the series, the manipulation of facts to lend credence to Wolter's theories get more ridiculous and bold with each episode. The bulk of (dis)nformation being presented on purported "educational" television amounts to no more than the garbage that is reality tv on other networks. Sadder still is that parents and even some educators recommend these channels as educational viewing.

Reply
Randy Edevold
4/7/2020 10:17:54 pm

I can't believe how much of a negative person you are. It is too bad you didn't use your intelligence and angles to help move this story instead of trying as hard as you can to discredit it as bull. Shame on you

Reply
Steve
1/12/2013 07:37:08 am

I have seen episodes 2, 3 and 4 and find this show to be incredibly entertaining. . .for all the wrong reasons. Reading Jason's reviews just adds to the comedy (this of course is intended) this show provides.

Why didn't they dig up the spots marked by the old man and his sticks?

Reply
Thorne
1/20/2013 03:34:54 am

I wondered the same thing! The dowser went through the farmer's backyard and they had many flags planted. The next day they brought in the metal detector and planted more flags, but they never showed whether or not there was any correlation between the dowser's flags and metal detector's flags. And they only seemed to dig where the metal detector had hits, which doesn't bode well for finding giant bones.

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Roger
1/25/2013 03:56:40 pm

In-credible is correct, as in not credible.

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Richard "Dick" Neimeyer
12/7/2013 07:16:18 am

I wondered about the spots marked by the old man and his dowser. The "digger" came along and made his own spots using a metal detector. What gives here?

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Roger's Daughter
5/8/2017 02:41:47 pm

Because the state of MN immediately stopped any further action on this.

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Jan Pospisil
1/12/2013 12:12:07 pm

I've been interested in fake swords found in America for a while, but didn't know of the Ulen sword. Thanks for that! ;)

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Coridan Miller
1/12/2013 10:36:43 pm

This show just saddens me, because the opening starts off with telling us what we learned in school is wrong. That statement is true, but instead of being a TV version of Lies My Teacher Told Me or 1491, it is just more bullcrap. Real history is incredibly interested and could be presented in their same overly dramatic style to be entertaining and still be factually correct.

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Paul Stewart
1/13/2013 03:39:30 am

The Ulen sword is not really a fake...its just not a Viking artifact. It was a ceremonial sword...and contains a maker's mark from the early 1800s. The big issue with all of the many "artifacts" unearthed in the US of odd origin is that they have to be either real or fake...very black and white- with no one ever considering that perhaps another option exists- which is that it is neither.

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Jason Colavito link
1/13/2013 04:31:01 am

I noted in my review that it was a German military sword of the 1800s; it is a sword and is "real" in that sense. But the owners claim it is a Viking sword of medieval date, and in that sense it is a fake, even if its manufacturer did not mean it to be one. Every artifact, even hoaxes, is real in the sense that it has a physical presence.

This isn't a U.S. issue. Europeans were misidentifying odd stuff from the ground for thousands of years before the Americans started doing it, and they viciously denounced one another's artifacts as "fakes" as well.

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Paul Stewart
2/11/2013 10:09:31 am

Jason- Agree wholeheartedly with your comments. Of course the sword isn't "real". The owners were simply misinformed..but I don't think they actually knew the truth prior to being set straight. So, I wouldn't call it a "hoax" in the classic sense of the word. Its a subtle difference. The KRS has a similar problem- there are two camps- real/not real...neither side has ever considered a third option, which is that it could be neither. Its not real but it wasn't created to hoax anyone. I compare it to buildings here in DC which have Greek columns, Latin and/or Greek inscriptions- certainly not real, but its builders aren't trying to hoax anyone either. You've got a great blog.

Varika
2/15/2013 09:53:46 pm

Mr. Stewart, the best fakes takes something real and add something not-real to it, usually an inscription, to give it more "authenticity." The fact remains that the artifact is not what it is claimed to be--hence, "fake." I could, for instance, buy a real Native American arrowhead from a museum bin--in some areas they come up every time the blows bite the fields, including my area--and scratch a rune picture for "find" in it, then bury it somewhere and wait for it to surface again. The arrowhead would still be a real Native American arrowhead--but as proof that Norse lived with/married into/whatever the local tribe(s), it's a fake.

For some famous examples, Google "James ossuary" and "ivory pomegranate."

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Paul Stewart
5/26/2013 04:44:01 am

I'm not sure I understand your point. I get it in the general sense- that you take something old, alter it, and rebury it to create an anomalous artifact- and thus a fake, but that's not what the Ulen sword or KRS are. Both claim nothing...its their interpreters who do. The Ulen Sword isn't authentic or fake...its simply a German sword from the early 1800s which was misidentified because it was unearthed rather than purchased, and promoted as something it never was- either intentionally or not. So, its an authentic German sword from the 1800s...but not a Viking sword. No hoaxing involved unless the owners are the ones who buried it- just bad scholarship or a nose for gullible people who would pay $$.

What I'm saying about the KRS is that people have come to two distinct opinions only; that its either authentic or was created to hoax- and that's it. My point is that there could also be a third option- that it isn't authentic but neither was it created to hoax- and that instead it served a completely different function. The question is what?

Paul Stewart
5/26/2013 04:44:13 am

I'm not sure I understand your point. I get it in the general sense- that you take something old, alter it, and rebury it to create an anomalous artifact- and thus a fake, but that's not what the Ulen sword or KRS are. Both claim nothing...its their interpreters who do. The Ulen Sword isn't authentic or fake...its simply a German sword from the early 1800s which was misidentified because it was unearthed rather than purchased, and promoted as something it never was- either intentionally or not. So, its an authentic German sword from the 1800s...but not a Viking sword. No hoaxing involved unless the owners are the ones who buried it- just bad scholarship or a nose for gullible people who would pay $$.

What I'm saying about the KRS is that people have come to two distinct opinions only; that its either authentic or was created to hoax- and that's it. My point is that there could also be a third option- that it isn't authentic but neither was it created to hoax- and that instead it served a completely different function. The question is what?

Paul Stewart
5/26/2013 04:44:51 am

I'm not sure I understand your point. I get it in the general sense- that you take something old, alter it, and rebury it to create an anomalous artifact- and thus a fake, but that's not what the Ulen sword or KRS are. Both claim nothing...its their interpreters who do. The Ulen Sword isn't authentic or fake...its simply a German sword from the early 1800s which was misidentified because it was unearthed rather than purchased, and promoted as something it never was- either intentionally or not. So, its an authentic German sword from the 1800s...but not a Viking sword. No hoaxing involved unless the owners are the ones who buried it- just bad scholarship or a nose for gullible people who would pay $$.

What I'm saying about the KRS is that people have come to two distinct opinions only; that its either authentic or was created to hoax- and that's it. My point is that there could also be a third option- that it isn't authentic but neither was it created to hoax- and that instead it served a completely different function. The question is what?

Myron Paine link
5/28/2013 11:49:36 am

For Paul Stewart
As long as you want to cling to the Mythical Pristine Wilderness Paradigm, which implies that no body came to America before Columbus, we should not waste our time discussing the Sword or the Rune Stone.
But, in hopes that you might consider a paradigm that many boats came to America from many places at many times, I will continue.
The 27 scholars, who made the film, Vikings Visitors to America film, had the many boats paradigm. They were advocates that Vikings were in North America 1,000 years ago, a Norway rescue mission came in 1359, and the Vikings (Lenape) were still in the Red River Valley in 1362. With that understanding the Sword and the Rune Stone are artifacts, which are objects of the correct time period and found in the correct location.
Re: The sword.
"The Viking sword was the primary weapon of the Viking. It was a development of the Roman spatha, evolving out of the Migration Period sword in the 8th century's" [Wikipedia, Viking Sword.]
Thus, one of Harald the Hardada's offices may have carried such a sword in 1064 when Harald took about 1,200 of the best men to the western ocean in 1064-65. [Many Norwegian History books.] Harald and his men were in western Minnesota because they were taking the Viking Waterway to row between Hudson Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.
The dirt of the many dust storms covered the sword, lost during the Little Ice Age. The Norse immigrants of the 19th century had plowed the land for about 3 decades. Years of plowing established the hard pan above the sword. The sword was found when the plow was set deeper.
A Nova Video about making the Viking Sword demonstrates that relatively simple foundry processes could manufacture the sword in the year 1,000.
The evidence and testimony favor the validity of the Viking Sword at Ulen. There is NOT an element of doubt--unless you cling to the Mythical Pristine Wilderness Paradigm.

Myron Paine link
5/28/2013 11:51:41 am

For Paul Stewart
As long as you want to cling to the Mythical Pristine Wilderness Paradigm, which implies that no body came to America before Columbus, we should not waste our time discussing the Sword or the Rune Stone.
But, in hopes that you might consider a paradigm that many boats came to America from many places at many times, I will continue.
The 27 scholars, who made the film, Vikings Visitors to America film, had the many boats paradigm. They were advocates that Vikings were in North America 1,000 years ago, a Norway rescue mission came in 1359, and the Vikings (Lenape) were still in the Red River Valley in 1362. With that understanding the Sword and the Rune Stone are artifacts, which are objects of the correct time period and found in the correct location.
Re: The sword.
"The Viking sword was the primary weapon of the Viking. It was a development of the Roman spatha, evolving out of the Migration Period sword in the 8th century's" [Wikipedia, Viking Sword.]
Thus, one of Harald the Hardada's offices may have carried such a sword in 1064 when Harald took about 1,200 of the best men to the western ocean in 1064-65. [Many Norwegian History books.] Harald and his men were in western Minnesota because they were taking the Viking Waterway to row between Hudson Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.
The dirt of the many dust storms covered the sword, lost during the Little Ice Age. The Norse immigrants of the 19th century had plowed the land for about 3 decades. Years of plowing established the hard pan above the sword. The sword was found when the plow was set deeper.
A Nova Video about making the Viking Sword demonstrates that relatively simple foundry processes could manufacture the sword in the year 1,000.
The evidence and testimony favor the validity of the Viking Sword at Ulen. There is NOT an element of doubt--unless you cling to the Mythical Pristine Wilderness Paradigm.

Myron Paine link
5/28/2013 11:52:51 am

For Paul Stewart
As long as you want to cling to the Mythical Pristine Wilderness Paradigm, which implies that no body came to America before Columbus, we should not waste our time discussing the Sword or the Rune Stone.
But, in hopes that you might consider a paradigm that many boats came to America from many places at many times, I will continue.
The 27 scholars, who made the film, Vikings Visitors to America film, had the many boats paradigm. They were advocates that Vikings were in North America 1,000 years ago, a Norway rescue mission came in 1359, and the Vikings (Lenape) were still in the Red River Valley in 1362. With that understanding the Sword and the Rune Stone are artifacts, which are objects of the correct time period and found in the correct location.
Re: The sword.
"The Viking sword was the primary weapon of the Viking. It was a development of the Roman spatha, evolving out of the Migration Period sword in the 8th century's" [Wikipedia, Viking Sword.]
Thus, one of Harald the Hardada's offices may have carried such a sword in 1064 when Harald took about 1,200 of the best men to the western ocean in 1064-65. [Many Norwegian History books.] Harald and his men were in western Minnesota because they were taking the Viking Waterway to row between Hudson Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.
The dirt of the many dust storms covered the sword, lost during the Little Ice Age. The Norse immigrants of the 19th century had plowed the land for about 3 decades. Years of plowing established the hard pan above the sword. The sword was found when the plow was set deeper.
A Nova Video about making the Viking Sword demonstrates that relatively simple foundry processes could manufacture the sword in the year 1,000.
The evidence and testimony favor the validity of the Viking Sword at Ulen. There is NOT an element of doubt--unless you cling to the Mythical Pristine Wilderness Paradigm.

Myron Paine link
5/28/2013 11:53:10 am

For Paul Stewart
As long as you want to cling to the Mythical Pristine Wilderness Paradigm, which implies that no body came to America before Columbus, we should not waste our time discussing the Sword or the Rune Stone.
But, in hopes that you might consider a paradigm that many boats came to America from many places at many times, I will continue.
The 27 scholars, who made the film, Vikings Visitors to America film, had the many boats paradigm. They were advocates that Vikings were in North America 1,000 years ago, a Norway rescue mission came in 1359, and the Vikings (Lenape) were still in the Red River Valley in 1362. With that understanding the Sword and the Rune Stone are artifacts, which are objects of the correct time period and found in the correct location.
Re: The sword.
"The Viking sword was the primary weapon of the Viking. It was a development of the Roman spatha, evolving out of the Migration Period sword in the 8th century's" [Wikipedia, Viking Sword.]
Thus, one of Harald the Hardada's offices may have carried such a sword in 1064 when Harald took about 1,200 of the best men to the western ocean in 1064-65. [Many Norwegian History books.] Harald and his men were in western Minnesota because they were taking the Viking Waterway to row between Hudson Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.
The dirt of the many dust storms covered the sword, lost during the Little Ice Age. The Norse immigrants of the 19th century had plowed the land for about 3 decades. Years of plowing established the hard pan above the sword. The sword was found when the plow was set deeper.
A Nova Video about making the Viking Sword demonstrates that relatively simple foundry processes could manufacture the sword in the year 1,000.
The evidence and testimony favor the validity of the Viking Sword at Ulen. There is NOT an element of doubt--unless you cling to the Mythical Pristine Wilderness Paradigm.

Myron Paine link
5/28/2013 11:53:27 am

For Paul Stewart
As long as you want to cling to the Mythical Pristine Wilderness Paradigm, which implies that no body came to America before Columbus, we should not waste our time discussing the Sword or the Rune Stone.
But, in hopes that you might consider a paradigm that many boats came to America from many places at many times, I will continue.
The 27 scholars, who made the film, Vikings Visitors to America film, had the many boats paradigm. They were advocates that Vikings were in North America 1,000 years ago, a Norway rescue mission came in 1359, and the Vikings (Lenape) were still in the Red River Valley in 1362. With that understanding the Sword and the Rune Stone are artifacts, which are objects of the correct time period and found in the correct location.
Re: The sword.
"The Viking sword was the primary weapon of the Viking. It was a development of the Roman spatha, evolving out of the Migration Period sword in the 8th century's" [Wikipedia, Viking Sword.]
Thus, one of Harald the Hardada's offices may have carried such a sword in 1064 when Harald took about 1,200 of the best men to the western ocean in 1064-65. [Many Norwegian History books.] Harald and his men were in western Minnesota because they were taking the Viking Waterway to row between Hudson Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.
The dirt of the many dust storms covered the sword, lost during the Little Ice Age. The Norse immigrants of the 19th century had plowed the land for about 3 decades. Years of plowing established the hard pan above the sword. The sword was found when the plow was set deeper.
A Nova Video about making the Viking Sword demonstrates that relatively simple foundry processes could manufacture the sword in the year 1,000.

Myron Paine link
5/28/2013 11:54:50 am

For Paul Stewart.
As long as you want to cling to the Mythical Pristine Wilderness Paradigm, which implies that no body came to America before Columbus, we should not waste our time discussing the Sword or the Rune Stone.
But, in hopes that you might consider a paradigm that many boats came to America from many places at many times, I will continue.
The 27 scholars, who made the film, Vikings Visitors to America film, had the many boats paradigm. They were advocates that Vikings were in North America 1,000 years ago, a Norway rescue mission came in 1359, and the Vikings (Lenape) were still in the Red River Valley in 1362. With that understanding the Sword and the Rune Stone are artifacts, which are objects of the correct time period and found in the correct location.
Re: The sword.
"The Viking sword was the primary weapon of the Viking. It was a development of the Roman spatha, evolving out of the Migration Period sword in the 8th century's" [Wikipedia, Viking Sword.]
Thus, one of Harald the Hardada's offices may have carried such a sword in 1064 when Harald took about 1,200 of the best men to the western ocean in 1064-65. [Many Norwegian History books.] Harald and his men were in western Minnesota because they were taking the Viking Waterway to row between Hudson Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.
The dirt of the many dust storms covered the sword, lost during the Little Ice Age. The Norse immigrants of the 19th century had plowed the land for about 3 decades. Years of plowing established the hard pan above the sword. The sword was found when the plow was set deeper.
A Nova Video about making the Viking Sword demonstrates that relatively simple foundry processes could manufacture the sword in the year 1,000.

Myron Paine link
5/28/2013 11:55:46 am

For Paul Stewart.
As long as you want to cling to the Mythical Pristine Wilderness Paradigm, which implies that no body came to America before Columbus, we should not waste our time discussing the Sword or the Rune Stone.
But, in hopes that you might consider a paradigm that many boats came to America from many places at many times, I will continue.
The 27 scholars, who made the film, Vikings Visitors to America film, had the many boats paradigm. They were advocates that Vikings were in North America 1,000 years ago, a Norway rescue mission came in 1359, and the Vikings (Lenape) were still in the Red River Valley in 1362. With that understanding the Sword and the Rune Stone are artifacts, which are objects of the correct time period and found in the correct location.

Myron Paine link
5/28/2013 11:56:10 am

For Paul Stewart.
As long as you want to cling to the Mythical Pristine Wilderness Paradigm, which implies that no body came to America before Columbus, we should not waste our time discussing the Sword or the Rune Stone.
But, in hopes that you might consider a paradigm that many boats came to America from many places at many times, I will continue.
The 27 scholars, who made the film, Vikings Visitors to America film, had the many boats paradigm. They were advocates that Vikings were in North America 1,000 years ago, a Norway rescue mission came in 1359, and the Vikings (Lenape) were still in the Red River Valley in 1362. With that understanding the Sword and the Rune Stone are artifacts, which are objects of the correct time period and found in the correct location.

Sword Skeptic
6/27/2013 12:35:45 pm

Myron,
The Ulen sword has been thoroughly debunked as a Viking artifact. Even Scott Wolter conceded that it is a 19th century sword. Google "Ulen Sword" and read the discussion on the myArmoury forum regarding the sword.

Richard "DIck" Neimeyer
12/7/2013 07:18:39 am

I got the impression when I looked at the "Norse" sword that it seemed more ceremonial (if not faked) than an actual sword used in battle.

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Myron Paine link
12/9/2013 12:00:47 pm

This may have been an officer's sword. Most officer's swords of any age are ceremonial to identify rank. This well crafted sword was still deadly in close, unexpected hand to hand combat.
The Nova Video of the crafting of the Viking Sword details all the steps required to make the sword.
The Norse of about 1,000 operated some of the best foundries in the world. Europe and America have many remains of the Nordic Furnaces.

Sword Skeptic
12/10/2013 05:35:15 am

Myron, there is no need to speculate about the sword. The only speculation is wondering how a mid to late 19th century theatrical prop sword ended up in a farmer's field.

intelligentheating
1/13/2013 09:51:37 am

"Wolter informs us that the bones of the “giant” were typical of a 5’3” individual, and Wolter presents Roger Saker with this"

I'm glad you brought this up Jason. There was something I felt very dishonest about what Wolter told Saker. If I remember correctly in the show the state archaeologist tells Wolter that he didn't see the skeleton but an expert in the field had and suggested it was around 5'3".

However when Wolter explains this to Saker he suggests that the state archaeologist had seen the remains (and many similar) and said they were around 5'.

Unless I misunderstood this part of the show, and I'd be happy to be corrected - this to me seemed a dishonest explanation passed on to Saker from what Wolter was told.

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Jason Colavito link
1/13/2013 12:53:01 pm

I don't get screeners like professional critics, so I'm working from notes I take while watching the show. I may have missed the state archaeologist say that others had seen the third skeleton and given its size. My notes only say that he disclaimed personal knowledge of the site and speculated on reasons Natives could grow to 7 ft.

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TV Gremlin
1/14/2013 02:25:49 pm

Try

http://video.tvguide.com/Shows/America+Unearthed

They usually keep the most recent full episode posted until the next week. Unfortunately, it is the entire episode and not just the 5 to 11 minutes of actual substance contained in every episode, but it might help if you missed something.

SierraVistaHiker
1/23/2013 03:24:20 pm

Oh, another laugh-out-loud moment for me in the Unearthed show was when Wolter was told by the Minnesota State Archeologist that he was 99.99 percent certain that the bones found on the Saker farm were not from a giant nor from a Norseman. Wolter responds by saying he hasn’t seen anything convincing to him that there was a giant there, “BUT, THAT DOOR IS STILL OPEN A CRACK.” Ha, that reminded me of a scene from the movie Dumb and Dumber, where the Jim Carrey character asks a gal if he has a chance with her. Here is how that goes down:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX5jNnDMfxA

This Unearthed show is highly comedic.

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Sword Skeptic
1/14/2013 03:24:10 am

For further reading on the Ulen sword and how it was debunked, see these discussion threads:

http://www.myarmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=19367&highlight=ulen

http://www.swordforum.com/forums/showthread.php?109133-Weyersburg-Kirschbaum-amp-Cie-For-the-US-Market-Catalog-1893&highlight=ulen

I was curious about the true believers' reactions to this episode. I checked the Kensington Rune Stone International Supporters Facebook page and I was disappointed to see that they would like to write-off all the evidence provided in "Giants of Minnesota" in favor of their fantasies.

History and H2 promote irresponsible history and scholarship (when they promote it at all). It is lazy and dishonest work.

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Aj
1/15/2013 12:19:48 pm

If disturbing the grave(s) is(are) illegal, there are other options to examine them, am I wrong? Why not try something like an xray and metal detectors? I don't know the name of it, but they use it to find buried bodies and such by measuring soil disturbances in layers. I am sure there are many other tools that can be used without disturbing the remains.

Just some food for thought.

I only read half of your article/review as I am watching the show now on account of being too ADD and not wanted to ruin the rest of the show for myself.

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Jason Colavito link
1/15/2013 12:56:25 pm

Yes, there are noninvasive methods that could provide some information about what's buried in the grave. They didn't use them because they know from the archaeological report that there is only a 5'3" skeleton in the "giant's" grave. It's cynical mystery-mongering.

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Aj
1/15/2013 01:09:06 pm

Thank you for the reply. I just watched the rest of the episode. It's not horrible...but nothing really factual either. I didn't take anything worth remembering or educational from it. As you implied and other comments have stated it really just seems like another show glorying speculation, just like Ancient Aliens.

Jason Colavito link
1/15/2013 01:12:24 pm

This was the one episode so far when Wolter debunked the weird claims. In the previous episodes he enthusiastically endorsed almost certainly false claims.

Allan Shumaker
1/18/2013 12:10:23 pm

I thought this episode was a total waste of time. However there are 'noninvasive' methods that could have been used such as ground penetrating radar that might have revealed details of the size of the excavation for the giant grave. It is unlikely that it would detect the size of the skeleton.

The part about being illegal to dig up the grave is somewhat misrepresented. NAGPRA is the federal law pertaining to Native American graves. However it only applies to federal owned land, not private property. There might be state laws making it illegal to excavate Native American graves but that is never specifically mentioned.

Jason Colavito link
1/18/2013 12:23:44 pm

I didn't want to get into the technicalities, but according to Minnesota state law, the state archaeologist has controlling authority for the excavation and relocation of any Native American remains, even on private land. Disturbing such remains without permission is illegal. See: http://www.osa.admin.state.mn.us/documents/PrivateCemeteriesActProcedures.pdf

Joe
1/16/2013 06:19:50 am

Jason, I am really enjoying your reviews. I found your site doing my own research on Scott Wolter after watching a couple episodes and deciding I just had to know more about the guy.

In this episode, at basically every turn Wolter does the exact opposite of what a normal thinking person would do. (Maybe part of that is just H2 setting up the show, but it's maddening no matter what the reason.) Wolter gets the dowser to pinpoint some places to dig. He then returns with the archaeologist with the metal detector and they pinpoint still other places to dig, which they proceed to dig first. (Why wouldn't they first investigate the original spots? At bare minimum, you'd want to see if the metal detector also pinpointed those same locations, but they don't even do that.) Then, just when the digging is getting started, Wolter decides to leave the project completely to go talk to the people about the sword. Because, you know, a true researcher would totally leave his dig in the hands of somebody else to go do an interview that could have been scheduled at a time that wouldn't interfere with the dig.

And as an aside, why didn't the landowner snap some pictures of these giant bones he'd discovered? If it were me, I'd have just wanted to document that there was an actual archaeological dig taking place on my land, as that is rather a cool and unusual event in itself, even if I didn't think the authorities were up to something sneaky.

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Jason Colavito link
1/16/2013 09:02:58 am

I'm so glad you're enjoying the review. You've made excellent points, and while some of the issues can be put down to H2's fear of short attention spans (compare, for example, the digs shown on the British show Time Team that they used to rerun), it's very clear that they were just trying to make a mystery out of nothing.

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Thorne
1/20/2013 03:44:02 am

Just want to add my thanks for what you're doing here. I found this site through a link at FreeThoughtBlogs and, coincidentally, caught this very episode on TV that same evening. I'm glad to know that some of the same idiocy I saw in the show were found by so many others. And even better, that there was so much that I missed that you and others have pointed out.

Thanks again, and I hope to be a well-satisfied reader for some time to come.

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LS
2/5/2013 11:27:11 am

Dare I say it this show seems a good deal worse than Ancient Aliens! I haven't been able to watch it all the way through yet so I thought I would skip to your review. Correct me if I'm wrong here but it sounds like this programme can't even manipulate the facts successfully enough to suite their premise! AA at its best could definitely do that, just think of their manipulation of the Mahabharata and obscure camera angles they pull on various artifacts.

They would have had CGI giants walking around, pulled quick misleading shots while Tsoukalos would tell us about what he thinks when he hears about giant remains, that they were indeed flesh and blood giants not gods. Meanwhile Childress would inform us that there was some kind of race of...giants...of some kind, after which a series of talking heads would say exactly the same things over and over again as though we had not just heard it twice over.

I think the difference is that AA does not focus on a specific area like Minnesota or even a specific country but cherry-picks examples which when taken out of context do appear abnormal to the viewer. Take for example, Pacal's coffin lid which does certainly look a bit rocket like to a person uneducated in Mayan culture, like me for example! I certainly believed the experts but could never have explained the specifics to anyone until I saw Chris White's documentary which highlighted the specific elements - the world tree for example. AA profits from this immensely, as has any crackpot hypothesis worth its salt down the years!

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Jason Colavito link
2/5/2013 11:48:29 am

In terms of sheer audacity, yes, it pales before Ancient Aliens, which covers many topics per hour, doesn't have to pretend to care about any one for very long, and can simply pick and choose material to best fits its dumb ideas. America Unearthed thinks it's doing serious work, and it suffers from its own attempts to pretend toward a seriousness it will never achieve.

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harry
1/14/2014 04:01:39 pm

In other words you say that Ancient Aliens is not serious? The cientists and other People there are also not serious? Are you serious?

B L
2/6/2013 09:06:13 am

I know I'm arriving late to this conversation, but indulge me. I just watched this episode again. The reason I watched it AGAIN, you ask? I was suffering from the flu and had no motivation or energy to turn the channel after my wife turned the television on. In retrospect all I accomplished was adding an aspect of mental anguish to my already unbearable physical illness.

The intro to the show definitely pulls the viewer in. Then we find out that there is an actual giant skeleton buried on the farm featured in the show. As suspense builds the viewer learns that the precise location of the grave is known, and we along with the farm owner and Scott Wolter are going to see it.

By now all regular viewers of this show are thinking "Yes! I knew if I stuck around long enough Wolter would finally deliver the goods!".

The supreme let-down comes early in show after we see an unassuming patch of grass marked with a rock....here lays an actual giant, but.....we can't dig here.....instead, let's dig 100 yards away where absolutely nothing has ever been discovered.

And, for the next 30 minutes or so the viewer is forced to watch knowing full well that this futile act is a waste of everyone's time.

If I wasn't sick to my stomach before watching TV I sure was by the time the show was over.

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Plentsje
2/9/2013 10:51:13 am

i realy enjoy these reviews, just found them out today. This was definitely an atempt to justify Wolters authentication of the Kensington Runestone, and desperatly put the vikings in Minisota, i realy liked the part where the guy from the arms museum told him the KR was a hoax, and then he came the unconvincing retort, like th guy didn't know Wolter is an advocate for the authenticity of the KR so the guys not convinced and give his argument against it then, cuz Wolter is expecting something different, he starts telling the guy what his next step will be in his investigation in to the bones, and from the look on the guys face he has no idea what the hell Wolter is talking about, superb this show should realy take up the same format as AA they don't have "mainstream scientists" so they can make up what they want without any argument against it. clearly Wolter is not suited to go up against people who give arguments.

Reply
Myron Paine link
2/15/2013 01:16:13 am

Jason,

I challenge you to an email debate. I contend that the following statements are valid:

Vikings were in North America 1,000 years ago.
The Vikings called themselves "LENAPE."
Lenape were still in western Minnesota in 1362
Lenape, Shawnee and 23 kindred tribes still live in America.

The film VIKING VISITORS to NORTH AMERICA provides sufficient evidence to support the first statement. The film was suppressed for 29 years.

The Maalan Aarum, the "engraved years," which was created by men, who spoke Old Norse, begins the history section with the word "LENAPE," who live under thick roofs. Thick roof are archaeological evidence for Vikings in Greenland. The Maalan Aarum has been ridiculed and ignored for nearly two centuries. It is an accurate account of past events, starting about 1121, and continuing to 1585.

The dozen 14th century artifacts and the Kensington Rune testify to the validity of the third statement. Hjalmar Holan compiled convincing arguments for their authenticity by 1928 but it took him thirty years to get Explorers in America Before Columbus published. Holand's arguments have been ignored, but not refuted, for six decades. If you had done your homework after page 195, you would not have made the foolish argument about the 19th century immigrants being involved.

As for the fourth statements, you may use the modern Internet to look up each "algonquin" tribe. When you do, pay attention to the descriptive statements that most of them have a religion called "Christian." It has been that way since their Grandfather tribe, the Lenape, were Christian in America a thousand years ago.

I am myronpaine [at] frozentrail [dot] com. I challenge you to an email debate of the four statements above. Please start by looking at the comments under the VIKING VISITORS to NORTH AMERICA videos.

Reply
Jason Colavito link
2/15/2013 05:36:20 am

I'm not sure what you expect an email discussion would accomplish. Two of your four premises are undoubtedly true (#1 & #4), and the other two are completely unsupported by any modern scientific investigation. You appear happy to rely upon nearly century-old texts and appear uninterested in more recent research.

If you truly believe you have discovered proof, I urge you to contact some professors of Native American history or medieval Scandinavian history and see if they agree.

Reply
harry
1/14/2014 04:10:35 pm

I supose that JAson dont have the references you're thinking he should have. For my opinion he hase almost nothing on hand. By the way, an german arcaeoligist told me 20 years ago that on Maya Steles she discovered swords from the Vikings ...

Reply
Myron Paine link
2/15/2013 03:56:01 am

CORRECRION
myronpaine [at] frozentrail [dot] com
should be
myronpaine [at] frozentrail [dot] org.

OPEN INVITATION;

I invite any and all to debate if the

Vikings were in North America 1,000 years ago.
The Vikings called themselves "LENAPE."
Lenape were still in western Minnesota in 1362
Lenape, Shawnee and 23 kindred tribes still live in America.

As Reider T. Sherwin wrote in his fourth volume of the Viking and the Red man. "The Algonquin Indian Language is Old Norse. ... The truth cannot be denied."

Reply
Varika
2/15/2013 10:15:28 pm

Point 1: Yes, there is documented proof that Scandinavians were in North America 1,000 years or so ago, in the form of archeological sites along the northeast coastline and in the form of sagas and writings from travelers who returned to Iceland.

Point 2: I have never anywhere seen proof--or, before now, even an INDICATION--that any Scandinavian group ever called themselves "Lenape," especially young men on raiding or trading voyages. Could you please provide reputable references?

Point 3: In 1362, the Lenape were still in their home range on the East Coast of what is now the United States, ranging from Delaware up through lower New York State. The Lenape did not move to Missouri until 1818, officially, which is nearly 500 years later.

Point 4: Yes, these tribes still live in America. How is this point even related to the other three points? How is it relevant? Please expans.

Point 5: Absolutely the truth can be denied, given the number of women who still believe their married lover is going to divorce that expletive and marry them instead. However, I would really like to see some good, solid proof that any of the Algonquin languages--of which there are several, thank you--are Old Norse, as the word structures I have heard in all the local examples of words from the Lenape language do not seem to have much similarity to examples of Icelandic, the closest modern language to Old Norse, to modern Norse, or to Old English.

Reply
Myron Paine link
2/16/2013 06:18:37 am

Jason
A email discussion would allow us to use embedded links for references. We could link each other directly to the important references.

My links would have already shown you the 185 selected books I used to write two books on the Lenape migration. You might have also discerned that my engineering colleagues honored me with a nomination to Who's Who in Engineering in the USA. They gave me that honor because I do know how to conduct modern scientific investigations.

But with your blog format, I must ask you break the train of thought to search for LENAPE MIGRATION TOPICS >scroll down>click on "Myron's Biography" and "Selected Bibliography."
___________________
Because I have used modern scientific investigation for over a decade on the Lenape Migration, I believe your statement that the other two conclusions "are completely unsupported by any modern scientific investigation" is not valid.

I recognize that your statement may mean your verdict has already been made before the evidence is read.

Even if your verdict is made. I challenged you to a debate so I could present the evidence.

Here is the story without the embedded Links. Please go to LENAPE EPIC TOPICS and do your home work before making other statements that may not be valid.

Re:The Vikings called themselves "LENAPE."

Roman Bishop Eric Gnuppson was a Norwegian from the period slightly later than the official end of they viking era proclaimed by English authorities. Bishop Gnuppson helped to row a twenty-oar river knarr from Greenland to America in 1121.

The twenty-oar knarr were similar to the modern UPS service from Greenland to the Gulf of Mexico. When they reached the Gulf, they probably raised the sail and floated on the Gulf Stream to return home to Greenland. The Viking waterway, from near Ulen, MN, to Sauk City, MN, enabled the knarr to move from the Red River Basin to the Mississippi basin.

Bishop Gnuppson may have disembarked at Ulen (O Pure) Minnesota, in a land known as Wynland of Westt. Wynland means fine land and is pronounced as Vinland. In Wynland he composed Genesis for the knave crews to take to the people in the Red River and Mississippi water basins.

The stanza cadence, called Drottkvaett, may be used for coordinating rowers. It is highly likely that the knarr crews knew by heart 500 years before English King James had the Bible written to solidify his belief in the divine right of Kings.

In Norway they used the word "ren" to mean "pure" as in baptized to be "ren." But in Greenlalnd the people had the common "R-L" affliction, So all "R" sounds were heard and spoken as "L" sounds.

In those stanzas of Genesis in the Maalan Aarum Bishop Gnuppson referred to the "Len" people thirteen times in stanzas
1.11 1.13 1,18 1,20, 2.1, 2.2. 2.5, 2.8, 2.10, 2.11, 2.13, 2.14. 2.16.

Life was OK in Greenland and Wynland of West. Nothing to create stanzas came along for a couple of centuries. Then came the beginning of the Little Ice Age. Most water north of Nova Scotia froze, sometimes for the entire year. The only sea food available was at the open water mavens. There were nine in Ungava Bay.

The people of Greenland walked over the ice. They intended to go to Wynland of west, by way of Ungava Bay and James Bay. They knew they had to get to James Bay because the flies made summer on Ungava Peninsula a very difficult place to live. Even the Caribou (raking cattle) retreated to the southern woods.

"Nearly four thousand" people walked away from Greenland. In James Bay a Greenlander historian appeared to notice that American kids had remembered the Genesis best. The composer chose to us the Drottkvaett stanzas for history. The Composer's first stanza had the syllables "Len Ape," which means "Abide with the pure." Lenape reoccurs though out the rest of the Maalan Aarum. The word appears in John white's paintings from 1585.

I contend that The Vikings, in America, called themselves "LENAPE."

Lack of other evidence does not enable you to claim the statement is not valid.

About those professors: I have attempted to contact them for a year and a half years. I wrote personal emails to 392 professors. My American (indian) friends came up with the resources to send about 225 of them paper packets. I have recycled my request at the beginning of every major semester. About 30 to 40% have "peeked" and the website and Blogs.

But no professor in the profession decimated to livelong learning as even responded as you did. That statement is a fact, not a complaint.

Thanks for giving me a chance to write.

Reply
Myron Paine link
2/16/2013 06:18:59 am

Jason
A email discussion would allow us to use embedded links for references. We could link each other directly to the important references.

My links would have already shown you the 185 selected books I used to write two books on the Lenape migration. You might have also discerned that my engineering colleagues honored me with a nomination to Who's Who in Engineering in the USA. They gave me that honor because I do know how to conduct modern scientific investigations.

But with your blog format, I must ask you break the train of thought to search for LENAPE MIGRATION TOPICS >scroll down>click on "Myron's Biography" and "Selected Bibliography."
___________________
Because I have used modern scientific investigation for over a decade on the Lenape Migration, I believe your statement that the other two conclusions "are completely unsupported by any modern scientific investigation" is not valid.

I recognize that your statement may mean your verdict has already been made before the evidence is read.

Even if your verdict is made. I challenged you to a debate so I could present the evidence.

Here is the story without the embedded Links. Please go to LENAPE EPIC TOPICS and do your home work before making other statements that may not be valid.

Re:The Vikings called themselves "LENAPE."

Roman Bishop Eric Gnuppson was a Norwegian from the period slightly later than the official end of they viking era proclaimed by English authorities. Bishop Gnuppson helped to row a twenty-oar river knarr from Greenland to America in 1121.

The twenty-oar knarr were similar to the modern UPS service from Greenland to the Gulf of Mexico. When they reached the Gulf, they probably raised the sail and floated on the Gulf Stream to return home to Greenland. The Viking waterway, from near Ulen, MN, to Sauk City, MN, enabled the knarr to move from the Red River Basin to the Mississippi basin.

Bishop Gnuppson may have disembarked at Ulen (O Pure) Minnesota, in a land known as Wynland of Westt. Wynland means fine land and is pronounced as Vinland. In Wynland he composed Genesis for the knave crews to take to the people in the Red River and Mississippi water basins.

The stanza cadence, called Drottkvaett, may be used for coordinating rowers. It is highly likely that the knarr crews knew by heart 500 years before English King James had the Bible written to solidify his belief in the divine right of Kings.

In Norway they used the word "ren" to mean "pure" as in baptized to be "ren." But in Greenlalnd the people had the common "R-L" affliction, So all "R" sounds were heard and spoken as "L" sounds.

In those stanzas of Genesis in the Maalan Aarum Bishop Gnuppson referred to the "Len" people thirteen times in stanzas
1.11 1.13 1,18 1,20, 2.1, 2.2. 2.5, 2.8, 2.10, 2.11, 2.13, 2.14. 2.16.

Life was OK in Greenland and Wynland of West. Nothing to create stanzas came along for a couple of centuries. Then came the beginning of the Little Ice Age. Most water north of Nova Scotia froze, sometimes for the entire year. The only sea food available was at the open water mavens. There were nine in Ungava Bay.

The people of Greenland walked over the ice. They intended to go to Wynland of west, by way of Ungava Bay and James Bay. They knew they had to get to James Bay because the flies made summer on Ungava Peninsula a very difficult place to live. Even the Caribou (raking cattle) retreated to the southern woods.

"Nearly four thousand" people walked away from Greenland. In James Bay a Greenlander historian appeared to notice that American kids had remembered the Genesis best. The composer chose to us the Drottkvaett stanzas for history. The Composer's first stanza had the syllables "Len Ape," which means "Abide with the pure." Lenape reoccurs though out the rest of the Maalan Aarum. The word appears in John white's paintings from 1585.

I contend that The Vikings, in America, called themselves "LENAPE."

Lack of other evidence does not enable you to claim the statement is not valid.

About those professors: I have attempted to contact them for a year and a half years. I wrote personal emails to 392 professors. My American (indian) friends came up with the resources to send about 225 of them paper packets. I have recycled my request at the beginning of every major semester. About 30 to 40% have "peeked" and the website and Blogs.

But no professor in the profession decimated to livelong learning as even responded as you did. That statement is a fact, not a complaint.

Thanks for giving me a chance to write.

Reply
Myron Paine link
2/17/2013 11:03:27 am

Re: Lenape were still in western Minnesota in 1362.

The evidence and testimony to support this statement is clear, simple, and compelling.

The evidence is the Runestone. The testimony is the Maalan Aarum. Both media tell about the "ten mates dead" episode.

In the Maalan Aarum the "ten mates dead" stanza comes shortly after Norwegian Prince Paul Knutson dies in a boat wreck.

The boat wreck at Beardmore, (Broken Norse) CA, can be estimated, from existing Norwegian documents and the "rejection" stanza of the Maalan Aarum, to have happened, about 1359. Then the Maalan Aarum records two Sachems before Snow Bird leads the Lenape south to the "pleasing land" (Wynland).

About 9 t0 14 twenty oar river knarr, 140 to 210 Scandinavia's, of Knudson's rescue mission would have been used on the Nelson, Lake Winnipeg, and Red River route to move the 4000, or more, Greenlander Lenape to Wynland of West.

The Kensington Runestone says that 30 Scandinavians were on a mission from "inland of West", i.e. at the north entrance of the Viking waterway. The 22 Norwegians and 8 Swedes were rowing two river knarr with a crew of 15 men in each.

Then the Runestone says in plain Swedish language "vi : var : ok : fiske : en : dagh : äptir :
vi : kom : hem : fan : 10 : man : röde :
af : blod : og : deed." See the "fiske" "10 man rode af blod og dead." We do not need a translator here. Ten men were beaten to death.

We did need to decipher the Maalan Aarum.
But after we deciphered it and verified we had the correct Old Norse syllables, Sherwin says they mean,

To have fish,
ten mates
bad thrusts,
lift themselves up,
sit far away.

The composer had to use the "lift …away" words to meet the Drottkvaett requirements.

But the implications are simple, clear and compelling. Two witnesses, who were near by when the ten men were beaten to death, a Swede Stone puncher and a Greenlander stanza maker. each used their preferred media to write testimony for future generations.

The Greenlander told us the approximate year based on events. The Swede stone puncher wrote, in plain Swedish, 1362.

The Lenape (and hundreds of Scandinavians) were in western Minnesota in 1362.

Reply
Bob
2/22/2013 03:59:57 pm

An excellent review of an episode I also found to be manipulative of the viewer's expectations, presents no real evidence, and make vast assertions about Norse height yet makes no mention of the coincidence of Scandinavian immigrants finding Scandinavian artifacts.

Reply
jens
4/1/2013 02:27:32 am

Actually the stone says : we were fishing a day. Aptir?. We came home to find ten men red of blood and dead. Nothing to say they were witnesses. Nothing to say they were beaten to death. Your translation is deeply flawed. Do you call that scientific i might ask.

Reply
Myron Paine
4/1/2013 10:40:09 am

The Swedish words were verbatim.

For " witnesses" I meant men in the area that could record the event for future generations. I admit they may not have been standing on the spot when it happened. But they knew the event did happen because they were in the area at the time.

Actually the text on the photo in http://wynlandwest.blogspot.com/2012/12/viking-waterway-invitation.html reads: "We have TWO reports. Each man used his favorite media.

The SWEDE rune maker, punched a stone. "We were fishing one day. After we cam home. found to men red from blood and dead."

The GREENLANDER Drottkvaett composer, composed a self verifying stanza. "To have fish ten mates bad thrusts lift themselves up, sit far away."

The GREENLANDER had to use the "Life themselves up, sit far away" phrases to make the stanza self verifying. "Red from blood" and "Bad Thrusts" imply the men were beaten to death.

The original sounds are at
http://lenapehistory.blogspot.com/2013/01/ten-mates-dead_1.html

I do have the translation, but have not published the translation yet. You make your translation. Then I will publish the better one.

I DO call my dozen years of evidence and testimony collecting, as well as deciphering the oldest American history, "scientific." I never question anyone's authority. They may have the testimony that unlocks the missing evidence.

Reply
Myron Paine link
4/1/2013 10:42:15 am

The Swedish words were verbatim.

For " witnesses" I meant men in the area that could record the event for future generations. I admit they may not have been standing on the spot when it happened. But they knew the event did happen because they were in the area at the time.

Actually the text on the photo in http://wynlandwest.blogspot.com/2012/12/viking-waterway-invitation.html reads: "We have TWO reports. Each man used his favorite media.

The SWEDE rune maker, punched a stone. "We were fishing one day. After we cam home. found to men red from blood and dead."

The GREENLANDER Drottkvaett composer, composed a self verifying stanza. "To have fish ten mates bad thrusts lift themselves up, sit far away."

The GREENLANDER had to use the "Life themselves up, sit far away" phrases to make the stanza self verifying. "Red from blood" and "Bad Thrusts" imply the men were beaten to death.

The original sounds are at
http://lenapehistory.blogspot.com/2013/01/ten-mates-dead_1.html

I do have the translation, but have not published the translation yet. You make your translation. Then I will publish the better one.

I DO call my dozen years of evidence and testimony collecting, as well as deciphering the oldest American history, "scientific." I never question anyone's authority. They may have the testimony that unlocks the missing evidence.

Reply
Myron Paine link
4/1/2013 10:42:22 am

The Swedish words were verbatim.

For " witnesses" I meant men in the area that could record the event for future generations. I admit they may not have been standing on the spot when it happened. But they knew the event did happen because they were in the area at the time.

Actually the text on the photo in http://wynlandwest.blogspot.com/2012/12/viking-waterway-invitation.html reads: "We have TWO reports. Each man used his favorite media.

The SWEDE rune maker, punched a stone. "We were fishing one day. After we cam home. found to men red from blood and dead."

The GREENLANDER Drottkvaett composer, composed a self verifying stanza. "To have fish ten mates bad thrusts lift themselves up, sit far away."

The GREENLANDER had to use the "Life themselves up, sit far away" phrases to make the stanza self verifying. "Red from blood" and "Bad Thrusts" imply the men were beaten to death.

The original sounds are at
http://lenapehistory.blogspot.com/2013/01/ten-mates-dead_1.html

I do have the translation, but have not published the translation yet. You make your translation. Then I will publish the better one.

I DO call my dozen years of evidence and testimony collecting, as well as deciphering the oldest American history, "scientific." I never question anyone's authority. They may have the testimony that unlocks the missing evidence.

Reply
Myron Paine link
4/1/2013 10:43:01 am

The Swedish words were verbatim.

For " witnesses" I meant men in the area that could record the event for future generations. I admit they may not have been standing on the spot when it happened. But they knew the event did happen because they were in the area at the time.

Actually the text on the photo in http://wynlandwest.blogspot.com/2012/12/viking-waterway-invitation.html reads: "We have TWO reports. Each man used his favorite media.

The SWEDE rune maker, punched a stone. "We were fishing one day. After we cam home. found to men red from blood and dead."

The GREENLANDER Drottkvaett composer, composed a self verifying stanza. "To have fish ten mates bad thrusts lift themselves up, sit far away."

The GREENLANDER had to use the "Life themselves up, sit far away" phrases to make the stanza self verifying. "Red from blood" and "Bad Thrusts" imply the men were beaten to death.

The original sounds are at
http://lenapehistory.blogspot.com/2013/01/ten-mates-dead_1.html

I do have the translation, but have not published the translation yet. You make your translation. Then I will publish the better one.

Reply
Myron Paine link
4/1/2013 10:43:38 am

The Swedish words were verbatim.

For " witnesses" I meant men in the area that could record the event for future generations. I admit they may not have been standing on the spot when it happened. But they knew the event did happen because they were in the area at the time.

Actually the text on the photo in http://wynlandwest.blogspot.com/2012/12/viking-waterway-invitation.html reads: "We have TWO reports. Each man used his favorite media.

The SWEDE rune maker, punched a stone. "We were fishing one day. After we cam home. found to men red from blood and dead."

The GREENLANDER Drottkvaett composer, composed a self verifying stanza. "To have fish ten mates bad thrusts lift themselves up, sit far away."

The GREENLANDER had to use the "Life themselves up, sit far away" phrases to make the stanza self verifying. "Red from blood" and "Bad Thrusts" imply the men were beaten to death.

Reply
Igor Ramos
5/18/2013 03:09:27 am

Great Great Great blog. I just hate these TV shows where people mix ideology and science. Great job!

Reply
Jerry Gifford link
5/18/2013 02:28:03 pm

Excellent blog. I am watching the program as I read the piece and although there seems to be a genuine attempt by the History Channel to find the truth your blog provides both questions and answers that provide sincere objective observations. The History Channel leaves out vital information and when all is said and done their credibility is shot. It seems even the best programs use 'intended' plots to heighten the suspense to make the show more intriguing. True objectivity goes out the window. This seems to be a staple for just about all programming on television today, spicing things up to build ratings. Most are pure entertainment with little validity to fact.

Reply
Paul Stewart
6/16/2013 01:51:21 am

For Myron Paine-

Myron, you already set the table of your arguement that I must believe in a myth to have a viewpoint that the Ulen Sword, something which has been proven 100% to be made less than 200 years ago, isn't authentic. Ok, call me a fool, but how one makes the leap that the fact that belief in the Ulen Sword's known inauthenticity therefore negates the concept that Euros could indeed have explored the North American continent is beyond me...but if we want to go there, let's do it.

We know Vikings explored the east coast of North America. Its a fact, but at this point we have nothing to indicate anything deeper...and nothing to indicate they were still sailing here hundreds of years after the formal Viking age. Think about it, the land mass which makes up Newfoundland is huge- bigger than Ireland. With just a few hundred people there would be no need to do a "manifest destiny" western end run to the interior of the continent for more land- there was land aplenty in front of you- enough to support generation upon generation of people. Subsequently, I don't buy the theory of inland expansion.

Show me any concrete evidence of anything Norse with provable provinance, circa 1000-1400AD which has been unearthed within 500 miles of Minnesota- not counting the KRS; Helmets, shields, dwellings, bones, amulets.

Reply
andrew
6/22/2013 11:41:03 am

If a giant is buried on this guys farm , dig him up, film it and take it to the press. I dont like the idea of disrespecting a burial site but if a GIANT is buried there that would be a MAJOR FRIGIN DISCOVERY. DIG HIM UP. ......this story is bullshit, otherwise someone would have dug him up by now.

Reply
Alex
7/12/2013 09:23:53 am

When the farmer said he "took off the giants feet" and "ripped off the women's rib cage" he meant with his tractor. Not by hand to play with it like your article suggests.

Reply
Intellectual Violence
7/12/2013 11:21:18 am

Mr. Colavito,

I want to thank you for the time you've taken to research and debunk this H2 series on your blog. You offer excellent sources and sound arguments in your critiques, and I enjoy your direct, clear writing style.

I do think this particular episode is one of the better ones (of the three I've watched), possibly because Mr. Wolter made fewer outrageous claims or (worse) conveyed less of the claptrap of others unchecked. Further, some assertions were adequately debunked. Accordingly, I would take issue of a couple of the points you made:

First, you complained that Mr. Wolter's reinforced his claims about the Kensington Runestone being medieval to the weapon's expert. You wrote, "viewers have only Wolter’s word to go by since no evidence or discussion of the stone occurred outside Wolter’s assertion about its age," but that is not the case. Instead, Mr. Wolter allowed this weapons expert to offer an immediate, contradictory, and more mainstream view about the Kensington Runestone. I actually think that is laudable. That part could have been edited out or Mr. Wolter could have tried to have the last word, but neither happened.

Second, as 'Alex' above my thread pointed out, I am not certain where you got the impression that the farmer "talks about how he ripped apart the bones and played with them." That seems like a unfairly negative characterization. Taking only the episode into account, the seemingly paranoid farmer appeared to show some degree of deference to the gravesite by not personally further disturbing it and by agreeing that the 'investigation' crew should not either.

I made these two points because I think that your work, Mr. Colavito, is better than this blog entry, where your personal opinions about both men appear to have colored your take.

I would actually love to see a regular series in this vein actually work. A program where intelligent and critical appraisals of claims and supporting evidence are routinely done would be an achievement, sad as that is to say.

There is nothing wrong with looking into claims of Giants in Minnesota. In fact, if a large enough segment believes in a given myth, there could be great merit in doing such an investigation. Such a program could start with a list of the claims and offered support, followed by research into and a critique of both, concluded with a summary of what held water and what did not. There is nothing wrong with saying, "There remain legends of Giants having lived in Minnesota, but, as of now, there is no concrete evidence to support those claims."

Mr. Colavito please pitch, create, and produce that series. I'd watch it.

Reply
John
9/15/2013 04:07:01 pm

Say the farmer was right and he did see a giant unearthed on his property........ Why can't it be a giant Native American ? Why a viking? I mean all evidence points to the area being a native settlement in ancient times.... Also lenape means original people in Delaware much like Anishanabe means the same in ojibway.... Len ah pay... Ah nish sha naa bay same meaning since these two tribes are related just a different dialect linquisedly .... I know first hand since I am a member of this tribe (ojibwe) in fact our name for the lenape ir delaware means grandfathers it is told in our oral tradition that we was once one tribe assembled on the east coast at one time.... We have a pretty good oral history and have never heard of us being vikings lol

Reply
John
9/15/2013 04:16:41 pm

Oh and our Religion is called the Midewiin not Christian as someone said above lol at least not our ancient one

Reply
Andy
12/7/2013 12:50:33 am

I'm working my way through the episodes of this show in order. This was the worst one yet, in my opinion. It actually did the best job so far of using data to evaluate ideas. Three dead ends apparently did nothing to change the conclusions of the program, however. It takes real moxie to follow each of these "leads" to ground and not acknowledge that the connection between them may not be a pre-Columbian Norse presence, but a shared fantasy.

Both actual archaeologists in this episode came out looking okay, which is really something considering the goal of the program. I don't know anything about Arbuthnot, but it was clear that he knew what he was doing. He picked an area of the property that he thought made the most topographic sense for serving as a habitation site; he imposed a grid and systematically swept the area with a metal detector; he put shovel tests on magnetic "hits" and screened the fill removed; he made a map; it looked like they excavated a small backhoe trench in order to get a sediment profile that extended below the plowzone. I don't recall them finding any metal that they mentioned - what they found was exactly what you'd expect: prehistoric chipped stone debris, prehistoric ceramics, and butchered animal bones related to the historic farm. I would guess that they probably did find a lot of metal debris in the form of nails, pieces of fence wire, and other debris related to the recent use of the area as a farm.

I wonder if Arbuthnot regrets being on the program.

My guess/understanding of the "giant" skeleton: it was partially exposed by plowing; the landowner did the responsible thing and called someone to come and look at it; the investigators called in probably cleaned up the damaged area and exposed enough of the remains to make a determination that they were Native American; the remains were documented in place and left in situ; the landowner called a dowser in and that's where the estimate of the head's location (and hence the skeleton's total length) came from (i.e., the complete skeleton was never exposed). There would be a report on file at the SHPO's office. The report may not be available to the general public because of site location information (archaeological records are protected because of the real problem of vandalism).

All geophysical techniques rely on a contrast (magnetic, electrical properties, etc.) between the "target" and the surrounding matrix. Historic graves often show up very well using GPR and other techniques because there is a strong contrast between the surrounding soil and the coffin material. Burials without coffins are more difficult to detect. If the "giant" skeleton was in a mound, most of the mound has been plowed away. The skeleton may have been interred in a sub-mound pit that was excavated into the subsoil. This could provide some contrast and make creating a map using non-invasive geophysical techniques possible.

Reply
obermans
1/19/2014 11:50:03 am

The Kensington runestone is definitely a fake from one of my ancestors, and he thought originally people might think it a practical joke. He would not find it so funny that this internet is making such a big deal over a fake stone. He even signed it! Sheesh.

Reply
Mark Scoble
3/1/2014 07:33:29 am

Nice commentary - objectivity is king. I was immediately disappointed when they said that the "officials" had determined that it was a Native American body, reburied too quickly. Photographs and samples should have been taken, including soil, hair and tissue for genetic testing, which would have quickly resolved any remaining mysteries - including whether the giant suffered from any known diseases or syndromes causing gigantism. In history, there are instances where animal bones were mixed with human remains as a result of flooding; people who discovered the bones reassembled them to make huge humans and different versions of smaller animals to make them look huge. Some of this has made its way into religious discussions and there are many fundamentalists who believe that these super humans have a place in the Bible.

The bottom line is that even the History Channel is capable of promoting a hoax if it will improve the bottom line profits, and that humans are more likely to believe popular fiction rather than boring facts. I put the Bible in slightly higher esteem than I do the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus or Bat Man.

Reply
pat keegan
11/16/2014 06:07:59 am

Mn. Giants, I don't discount it. Troy, Soddom & Gemmora, and other legends were eventually proven real by the same science that discounted them for years.

Dowsing, I thought it was bunk until I witnessed a well witch find a well. He also estimated the depth within 5ft. He said 98ft. - hit water at 93ft. I can't explain it, but I know I'm not the only person who has witnessed this and could steer you to somebody who can demonstrate this. The man I witnessed passed away over 20 yrs. ago , otherwise he would have gladly "shown off" this skill.

Kensington Rune Stone: again don't write this off. There is other evidence of Nordic visitation to the area. Ballast stones near Pelican Rapids is an example. There are 1000 lakes in the county Pelican Rapids is located. Pelican is approximately 10-15 miles from the Red River. There are many side channels that empty into the Red River today. Geographically, the Red River Flows North to Lake Winnepeg. This in turn finds its way to the Hudson bay. The Kensington area is near lake Traverse, the north side feeds the Red River, the south feeds the Minnesota river valley. The water table was estimated to be 30-50' higher in these areas during the time of the Kensington party. If you are familiar with the area, that water table height would make it possible to navigate these waterways throughtout western Minnesota all the way to Minneapolis / St. Paul , connecting with the Mississippi River.

The sword: can carbon dating be used? Or does iron, using carbon to harden it, give skewed results. More local geography, Detroit Lakes is 25 miles North of Pelican Rapids, with access to all the same waterways. Also, the Ottertail River headwaters are a 10 minute drive from the headwaters of the Mississippi river. Both DL and Pelican have direct access to the Ottertai. It would not be impossible for excellent mariners to navigate these waterways, which today are wide and deep.

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Jonathan
11/18/2014 06:05:23 am

No carbon dating is necessary for the sword--it is a 19th century theatrical sword made in Germany.

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nobody link
11/23/2014 09:21:41 am

Does the fact that the laws of physics make it impossible for human beings to be this large have any bearing on this subject for you?

Reply
DisplayName
12/18/2014 10:29:35 am

Awe man!!
I just stumbled upon some article about the US supreme court ruling that the Smithsonian release information about giant skulls with two rows of teeth. I watch the TedX video where Jim Vieira lays out his arguments for the existence of an extinct humanoid species. And for a good ten minutes I am pretty excited about the idea. Then I started to watch the only episode that Hulu had to offer... episode 6. Ten minutes into it, I start to doubt. Then I googled....
Oh DRAT!
After finding this critique, I discovered this: http://tedxshelburnefalls.wordpress.com/2012/12/14/jim-vieiras-talk-removed-from-internet/

DAMN YOU HISTORY CHANNEL!
For a good twenty minutes I really believed that giants were once roaming the earth, destroying villages with their giant axes, and eating children with their double rows of teeth. It felt good.
And why wouldn't I want to believe in giants? They're fucking magic!
This is ALMOST as bad as the time when the Discovery Channel lead me to believe that mermaids were real for fifteen minutes. :-P

Reply
JustSayin
12/25/2015 02:50:20 pm

As I recall, the state archaeologists attempted to explain that when the skin, flesh and soft connective tissue decompose, and the pressure of the earth exerts itself, the bones "spread" apart, causing individuals with no education or professional experience exhuming graves to erroneously conclude that the remains are those of a "giant." That's why the skeletons looked "giant" to a farmer, he was simply lacking the education and experience to correctly analyze what he was viewing. The remains did not look "giant" to qualified archaeologists. Any reasonably well trained pathologist or mortician would have come to the same conclusion as the state archaeologists. Having said that, some of this strident revisionist "history" feels kind of "racist" to me. Perhaps the Scando settlers felt guilt over taking the land from native people and this fueled an emotional need to create myths about ancient vikings in Minnesota? Even if legitimate evidence pointed to the presence of vikings at some point in "pre-history" it wouldn't justify what was done to the native people of Minnesota by settlers who were desperate for cheap/free land. So creating artifacts and myths about an earlier Euro presence in Minnesota justifies the genocide in what way??

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starsailing
7/9/2016 12:28:45 am

Actually....As Fort Snelling was being built at the point on the junction of mn River and Miss. river....When digging out cellar for commander's house they came across an 8ft. skeleton. Post surgeon measured it but crumbled when trying to remove. Expedition coming up to Ft Snelling at Prairie Du Chien, as Frenchman was digging his cellar...home on a mound, they came across 6 buried 8 ft skeletons.
Radisson first Voyage into Mn, came across giant band/tribe of Indians along Miss river. Winnebago have story of Red Bird chief fighting the giant tribe of Indians along Wisc side on Miss. River. Dakota Indians have same story, on Wisc side of river, small band of giant tribe...the last of them. Dakota lived among them for a month and then killed them all.
Scando settlers taking land from natives???? Really? Natives were taking land from each other for centuries by force. In Mn Dakota originated at Lakes Mille Lacs area. As they grew larger, they split into numerous small villages, growing larger and expanding their domain further and further...in ALL DIRECTIONS! Dakota took southern half of Mn from Iowa, Otoe, Shienne, Tamaroa, Omaha, Gros Ventre, Hidatsa etc.....on east side they battled every tribe as well including Iroquois. The Ojibway took all land from Dakota above St Anthony Falls. Fox and Sacs, Winnebago were taking sounthern Mn from Dakota....so they sold the land they still claimed to the U.S. Had Ft. Snelling not been built, the Ojibway would have taken all Mn land from them. Meanwhile Dakota took the land from other tribes all the way to the Rockies...without ever paying a dime! Settlers BOUGHT the land from the U.S. government...all legal!

Reply
Normandie Kent
2/12/2017 03:37:29 am

The Settlers and the US government perpetrated the largest Genocide and landgrab the world has ever seen. The Native American taking a little land from anothet Native ttribe is one thing, a completely different invading foreign race from across the sea are another. A bunch of swedes trying to pretend they have some legit claim to being Native to America, losers!

Daniel
10/14/2016 03:28:44 pm

I am a brand-new watcher of America Unearthed. Any show that claims that the history we have been taught is wrong, grabs my attention immediately ... What a sore disappointment. Dr. Wolter, a forensic archeologist, loves to tout the scientific method but seems to dismiss any evidence that might point in another direction. From the get-go I compared Wolter to a marginally better educated version of Todd Hoffman of Gold Rush fame. Todd was, and is, famous for making statements of faith that have no bearing on reality. Enter a guy with a Dr. in front of his name and we have a brand new show that will sensationalize us but leave us asking why the hell we just wasted an hour of our time. There are a lot of big statements made that leave the viewer on the edge of their seat only to be terribly disappointed with the lack of evidence that would back them up. I'm sorry, but anyone who tries to link every rune stone, cave or grave with the Knights Templar has to be teetering on the edge reality. I also question the validity that he has been banned from many of these sites and further question why he is insistent on there being some conspiracy to keep the truth away from us?? Here's a guy with a lab and a microscope who happens to fall ass backwards into a bubble gum TV contract. For better or for worse, I will continue to watch the show - not for its educational value but so I can read Jason's blog and know that there are other people out there that will call bullshit when it's required.

Reply
Roger
11/4/2021 05:42:34 am

Anytime someone finds bones of a giant (person over 7 foot tall) and calls the anthropologist or Smithsonian the discovery dissappears. Its always the same. You find human remains. You report it to law enforcement, they report it to coroner's office,they take remains and turn them over to Smithsonian for examination and decide if it giants, native American Indians or bones of animals.
You could have a 22 foot set of bones with solid bronze armor and the report will always come back as nothing but remains of a 5 foot local citizen or bones of an animal. Nope, nothing unusual here. Or sometimes the Smithsonian will disavow ever coming or receiving any such remains. Anyone finding any such remains is better off taking pictures and calling the local news and Ancient Aliens or MUFON to report it.

Reply
Stephen Brown
6/15/2018 12:10:17 pm

Any ,way I could talk to Roger Saker ?

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