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Review of America Unearthed S02E04 "Vikings in America"

12/22/2013

141 Comments

 
The story of the search for Vikings in the America is an interesting counterpoint to the type of fringe history claims usually discussed on America Unearthed. If you’ve read my previous blog posts on the Vikings, Vinland, and Martha’s Vineyard, feel free to skip down to “The Episode.” Otherwise, please take a minute to read a bit about the background. Even if you’ve seen some of this material before, I’ve added a few new details.

I. Victorian Scholarship

The story begins with a Danish writer named Carl Christian Rafn (1795-1864), who became enamored of the idea of Vinland, the land where the Vikings under Leif Erikson had made landfall and set up a short-lived colony. After reading the Norse Saga of Erik the Red and the Greenland Saga, the two primary sources, he became convinced that Vinland had been in North America, and he set about proving it in a book called Antiquitates Americanae (1837) through two lines of converging evidence. The first was the sagas, which described a landscape consistent with America and a wild people called the skraelings who answered well to the Native peoples of northeastern Canada. He also assumed that references to the stars could be used to compute the latitude of Vinland, which he placed in New England. The second was what he claimed were Norse antiquities in America, most of which involved scratch marks and Native American petroglyphs he took for runes. To this, he added in his Supplement of 1839 the infamous Newport Tower, which he saw as a Viking church.

From this, more extreme theories emerged proposing a widespread Norse settlement of New England, often linked to the mythical city of Norumbega. Ole Bull famously erected a statue of Leif Erikson in Boston, and Eben Norton Horsford claimed Leif had discovered the Charles River and had, by utter coincidence, placed this settlement precisely in the neighborhood where Horsford himself lived. Oddly enough, although the story of the Vikings coming to America would later be proved indisputably true, acceptance was tempered by wild claims—most notably for the Newport Tower—which threw the enterprise into disrepute until the end of the Victorian period.

In Bill Nye’s satirical History of the United States (1894), the claims for the Newport Tower were satirized with a funny depiction by artist F. Opper of drunk Vikings partying at the Tower, which Nye called the “least expensive summer” ever in that notorious playground of the rich.
Picture
Silly Victorians: They should have been Templars! (Image courtesy British Museum)
Although Rafn’s physical evidence never passed scientific muster, his literary detective work made an impression, and by the end of the nineteenth century it was an accepted and standard view to hold that Leif Erikson had visited North America, though with the caveat that no physical evidence had yet turned up. Arthur Middleton Reeves offered the era’s definitive scholarly take on the story with his Finding of Wineland the Good, which drew upon the work of the Norse scholar Gustav Storm and concluded that the Norse had found Vinland, but that there was no permanent settlement. The great archaeologist scholar Sir Daniel Wilson (1816-1892) was only one of many other luminaries who also correctly identified the Vikings as visitors to America. Wilson placed on literary and geographic evidence the Norse landing in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, where archaeological evidence would later be found. However, he argued that proof could be found in the fact that Yarmouth Rock in Nova Scotia contained Norse runes, but modern research believes them to be Micmac ideograms. Their real origin can never be truly known because the stone was re-carved by a believer in Norse colonization to make them look more like the runes he believed them to be. E. B. Tylor, reviewing the same evidence, placed the Viking landing in Labrador or Newfoundland and suggested the Vikings may have visited as far south as the St. Lawrence River.

And lest you think that Viking excursions to America are “forbidden” or “hidden” history that “they” want to keep out of “our” textbooks, here are the very first lines of Charles H. McCarthy’s History of the United States (1919), a standard high school textbook from its era: “The first white men who ever came to America were Northmen. Our continent was discovered through accident in the year 1000, by a Northman named Leif, who was on his way to proclaim the Christian faith in Greenland.” Yes, academics were truly suppressing the truth by “holding the line” on Columbus.

So why did late Victorian academics accept the Viking claims but not those for Atlantis, Henry Sinclair, the Phoenicians, etc. based only on similarly vague sagas and myths? For Sir Daniel Wilson, the answer was twofold. First, the literary evidence was overwhelming, and second, “New Englanders above all not unnaturally cherish the pleasant fancy that they had for their precursors the hardy Vikings, who, resenting the oppression of King Harold the fair-haired, sailed into the unknown west to find a free home for themselves.” In other words, they imagined the Vikings as early versions of themselves. In 2012 the literary critic Annette Kolodny published In Search of First Contact in which she echoed Wilson and wrote that elites in New England from Northern European heritage embraced claims of Viking discovery during a time of heavy immigration from the Latin South and adopted the Vikings as fictive ancestors, providing a Northern European prehistory for America that helped to Europeanize New England back to at least 1000 CE.

Compare the fetishization of the Vikings with H. P. Lovecraft’s not-atypical reaction to the changing ethnic face of Providence, Rhode Island a couple of decades later, in 1926: “In New England we have our own local curses … in the form of simian Portuguese, unspeakable Southern Italians, and jabbering French-Canadians. Broadly speaking, our curse is Latin ...” (letter to Frank Belknap Long, August 21, 1926).

It was in this milieu that the Sinclair family began to advance claims that their ancestor, either Henry I Sinclair, Earl of Orkney, or his son, Henry II, had discovered America. They did so not on account of his Scottish heritage but because he was a Norman and a Norse noble (his title was held by grace of the Norse king), an heir to the Vikings and privy to their secrets. And just as Lovecraft blanched at the thought of “Latin” peoples darkening New England, some Victorian-era Sinclairs, especially Thomas Sinclair, responded in exactly the same way to the Latin threat:

The glorification of Columbus in the discovery centenary of 1892 was an aid towards the threatened Spanish or Latin domination; and Scandinavian energy has been in movement, especially at the Chicago Exhibition of 1893, to counteract the southern tide, by ascribing the discovery of America to Norsemen of the Teuton stock, including, as principal factors, the English and the Dutch. Caithnessmen [i.e. the Sinclair bloodline], especially of Canada and the United States, have the strongest personal interest in such a gigantic Armageddon contest of blood and belief, if it is to be early fact. (Caithness Events, 1893)

The Vikings had become totemic ancestors, and it is hardly surprising that this was the time when Viking and Norse hoaxes gained prominence, not least the Kensington Rune Stone. The story of the Vikings in America gained acceptance far ahead of archaeological evidence because of its political utility; Thomas Sinclair makes quite plain that he saw Columbus as serving to justify the wrong kind of immigration and the Vikings as a counterweight against southern European immigration.

None of this analysis, please note, is unique to me; scholars have been writing about this phenomenon at least since Sir Daniel Wilson in 1892 and as recently as Annette Kolodny last year.

Despite the widespread acceptance of the idea that the Vikings reached America, after World War I and especially after World War II, the idea of using half-mythic sagas as history fell into disrepute, and as archaeology, history, and literature grew into separate disciplines, the lack of archaeological evidence for the Vikings anywhere in America led to a period of doubt. Archaeologists weren’t willing to accept literature as sole evidence, and historians sought archaeological confirmation to give history a scientific cast. The Viking narrative didn’t quite meet the new standards, but no evidence contradicting the literary claims had ever emerged. It remained an open question. Against this two uncertain artifacts emerged in 1957: the Vinland map, often called a hoax, a medieval parchment which supposedly depicted the coast of Canada, and the Maine penny, a medieval Norse coin found in Maine without any provenance. The coin is often called either a trade item that diffused to Native Americans from Norse settlements in the North or a lost piece of someone’s coin collection.

Three years later, archaeological finds at L’Anse-aux-Meadows in Canada found the remains of an actual Norse settlement from the early eleventh century. It was the first unambiguous evidence of Norse presence in North America, and it was a sensation. Immediately, the Viking question had its answer, and for the first time archaeology, history, and literary analysis all converged on the same answer, something that the stories of the Knights Templar, the Phoenicians, and Atlantis lack. There, literature, history, and archaeology diverge wildly into a mutually contradictory mess, and the deeper one probes, the farther apart the lines of evidence move from the claims made for them.

Today there is an active debate whether L’Anse-aux-Meadows was itself Vinland, was a part of Vinland, or whether Vinland lay somewhere to the south. Some think the Vikings might have traveled as far south as New England, but most scholars believe they mostly stuck to what is now Canada. The question of Vinland and its location revolves, in large measure, around the question of the Vinland grapes.

I previously explored this topic, and since it is directly relevant to the question of Martha’s Vineyard as Vinland, I will repeat that post below. The material under the next heading I originally published in a separate blog post in September.

II. The Grapes of Vinland

Pliny the Elder in his Natural History (6.37) describes the geography of the Fortunate Islands and says that they abound in fruit, but he does not specify anything about grapes. That honor falls to Isidore of Seville, who in the early 600s CE produced the medieval world’s most influential reference to the Fortunate Islands, one that echoes down through later myths and legends. Isidore wrote:

The Fortunate Islands signify by their name that they produce all manner of good things, as if they were happy and blessed with an abundance of fruit. For suited by their nature they produce fruit from precious trees; grape vines of their own accord clothe the hillsides; instead of grass, crops (i.e., wheat) and vegetables are common. (14.6.8, my trans.)

Ah, grapes! And wheat! This idea of a vine-covered land of plenty spread very quickly. Here is Rabanus Maurus in De universo (12.5) about a century later:

The Fortunate Islands … by their very nature they produce fruits of the most precious trees; the slopes of their hills are covered with unplanted vines; there is grain in place of grass and kitchen vegetables everywhere. (trans. George Boas)

Compare this to the Voyage of Saint Brendan (chapter 25), believed to have been composed around 900 CE. Brendan crosses the sea and finds a magical island filled with grapes:

Three days after, they saw near at hand an island covered all over with trees, closely set, and laden with such grapes as those, in surprising abundance, so that all the branches were weighed down to the ground, with fruit of the same quality and colour, and there was no tree fruitless or of a different kind in the whole island. (trans. Denis O’Donoghue)

Such texts set the stage for the expectation that any land found across the sea must perforce be rich with perpetual grapes. This description of the island of grapes seems to inform Icelandic literary descriptions of Vinland centuries later.

The oldest text about Vinland is that of Adam of Bremen, written around 1075 CE. “Vines grow there naturally, producing the best of wines. That unsown fruits grow there in abundance we have ascertained not from fabulous reports but from the trustworthy relations of the Danes” (Gesta Hammaburgensis 4.38, my trans.). In so saying, Adam was very clearly conscious that his audience would relate the story to the well-known tales of the Fortunate Islands. In fact, Adam specifically relates Vinland to the Thule of Romans—which was the last stop before Hyperborea, where enchanted people live for a century or more in a land where abundant fruits grow spontaneously from the ground (Pliny, Natural History 4.26; Pindar, Pythian 10). We know, though, from Icelandic authors like Snorri Sturluson a century later that the northern people were well-aware of Greco-Roman mythology and had taken to interpreting their history and civilization through this lens. For Snorri, Odin and his crew were Trojans, and Norse history entwined with that of Rome.

If I had to guess, though, I would think that the story came about when Adam tried to find out why the place was called Vinland, a name that could mean either “wine-land” or “pasture-land” depending on which Old Norse homophone (vín for wine, or vin for pasture) one thought the vin represented. (Linguists now believe that the use of vin for pasture in place names had fallen out of favor before the Vinland expedition.)

Less than a century after Adam wrote, King Arthur was promoted to voyager through northern waters when Geoffrey of Monmouth made him conqueror of Iceland in his History of the Kings of Britain (9.10). In his later work, the Life of Merlin, Geoffrey describes a Fortunate Isle, the Isle of Apples, in language borrowed from the Fortunate Islands of Isidore of Seville, and a bit about the long-lived Hyperboreans taken from Pliny:

Of its own accord it produces grain and grapes, and apple trees grow in its woods from the close-clipped grass. The ground of its own accord produces everything instead of merely grass, and people live there a hundred years or more. There nine sisters rule by a pleasing set of laws those who come to them from our country. (trans. John Jay Parry)

Geoffrey also describes Sri Lanka as having perpetual grapes and rocks covered in gems, a description very similar to the Island of the Saints in the first chapter of the Voyage of Saint Brendan.

Obviously, at the time lands over the sea were expected to have wild fruit, specifically the grain and grapes Isidore specified. Now let’s turn to the Icelandic sagas and see what we find.

In the Saga of Erik the Red (chapter 8), known from two slightly differing manuscripts of the fifteenth and fourteenth centuries from a presumed twelfth century original, there is a brief mention of grapes. Upon arriving at the new land across the sea from Greenland, Leif Erikson puts ashore two Scots, and they return days later: “And when three days were expired the Scotch people leapt down from the land, and one of them had in his hand a bunch of grapes, and the other an ear of wild wheat” (trans. J. Sephton). Grapes and wheat… the two boons of the Fortunate Islands. What a surprise. Indeed, more than one scholar connects Vinland to Isidore’s Fortunate Islands.

Given how paltry the saga’s reference is, and the fact that there was no wheat in pre-Columbian America (though native peoples of eastern Canada cultivated maize), this may well be either (a) a fictional application of the Fortunate Islands or (b) the application of Old World terms to New World foodstuff. After all, the Spanish called turkeys “peacocks.” Technically, the saga does not say that Leif’s men found grapes and therefore called the land Vinland; instead, it says they purposely went in search of a place called Vinland the Good and then found grapes at an unnamed spot.

The same chapter relates that “Karlsefni and his people sailed to the mouth of the river, and called the land Hop. There they found fields of wild wheat wherever there were low grounds; and the vine in all places where there was rough rising ground.” I think you can see how this is a fairly direct translation of Isidore’s Latin text, right down to the vines on the hills and the wheat in the low ground. That this does not correlate to the facts on the ground in the known Viking settlement area in eastern Canada does not bode well for Vinland as a real land of endless grapes.

We turn next to the Greenlander Saga from the Flateyjarbók, written around 1387. It offers a more expansive version of the story, but one that differs in its details. Here is the material:

“I have not been very far, but I have something new to tell you; I have found vines and grapes!” “Is this true?” asked Leif.  “Yes, indeed it is,” answered Tyrker, “for I was brought up in a land where vines and grapes were in abundance.” “Then there are two matters to be attended to on alternate days to gather grapes and to fell timber, with which we may load the ship,” said Leif; and the task was at once commenced. It is said that their long-boat was filled with grapes. And now, having felled timber to load their ship, and the spring coming on, they made ready for their departure. Before he left, Leif gave the land a name expressive of its good produce, calling it Vinland—land of wine. (trans. James William Buel)

I’m not sure what kind of grapes grow in winter, as the narrative says, but the saga claims that the grapes of Vinland are perpetually ripe all the year round. These are clearly the magic grapes of the Fortunate Isles, not a real species.

Literary critics note that many of the readings in the Flateyjarbók are expanded and more fully developed versions of texts found in other sources. In fact, the Greenlander Saga appears to be an interpolation in the text and cannot be dated certainly. Since it is more elaborate than the Saga of Erik the Red, there is therefore reason to suspect later mythic expansion of an older, simpler text. Indeed, the Greenlander Saga has several points of contradiction with a version of Erik the Red included in the same book.

However, traditionally, scholars have argued on internal evidence that the Greenlander Saga is the older Icelandic account of Vinland—largely because Bishop Brand is given his name without the sobriquet “the Elder” found in the Erik the Red, implying the text was composed prior to 1263 when the second Bishop Brand was consecrated. Similarly, Greenlander preserves an older name for Blacksarck not found in the other texts.

At the same time, however, the inclusion of mythological motifs in the Greenlander narrative suggested to twentieth century critics that whatever truth there was to the account, it had been purposely or by chance corrupted in the telling. The magic grapes that ripen at all seasons were cited specifically as evidence of this corruption, as they match no known species.

Let’s recall that Erik the Red, in his Saga, supposedly named the frosty wastes of Greenland after the verdant valleys of paradise “‘because,” said he, ‘men will desire much the more to go there if the land has a good name.’” I’m not entirely sure that Vinland does not follow the same pattern, with the name attracting to it the myth of the Fortunate Islands that then informed the “history” of the place.

III. Vinland on Martha's Vineyard

The name Martha’s Vineyard was originally bestowed upon a small island near the current Martha’s Vineyard when Bartholomew Gosnold explored the island in 1602. Although he did not explain for whom he named the island, some believe he named it for his wife or daughter. Also called Martin’s Island, it may also have originated as the name of Gosnold’s ship’s captain. No matter from whom it was named, the vineyard designation comes from the prevalence of wild grapes, which blanketed the smaller and larger islands in the 1600s and 1700s and can still be found there to the present day. Carl Rafn took this to mean that Vinland and the Vineyard were the same, although his critics, like R. G. Haliburton in Popular Science, pointed out that he and his supporters “seem not to have remembered, that wild grapes were found on the south shore of the St. Lawrence” and in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia—and, historically, still more broadly across Canada. I discussed the Martha’s Vineyard connection to Vinland earlier this year, and I will reprint that discussion below in slightly edited form to save you the trouble of looking it up.

There is an alleged dolmen at Martha’s Vineyard that was the subject of New England Antiquities Research Association (NEARA) research in the 1970s. The “Chilmark Dolmen,” “Chilmark Cromlech,” or “Quitsa Quoit” is a small stone structure comprised of a flat, oval-shaped capstone supported by several small stones. It’s probably colonial, from what I’ve read, but not much is known for sure. At any rate, it is orders of magnitude smaller than the European Neolithic dolmens or cromlechs to which it has been compared. Some have tried to make it a Norse burial marker, but even fringe thinkers can’t agree on that since many want it to be Neolithic or Irish.

Additionally, some claim that a passage in the saga Flateyjarbok details Leif Ericson’s voyage to Nantucket, Cape Cod, and Martha’s Vineyard, though this is of course a matter of interpretation. It depends on how much weight you place on the “elbow shape” of the land and the uniqueness of Martha’s Vineyard’s shoals. In 1926, a rock was discovered on nearby Nomans (or No Man’s) Island which allegedly had the runic-Latin hybrid inscription “Leif Ericson 1001” and “Vinland.” The Navy took control of the land during World War II and used it for target practice until it became a nature preserve in 1996. In 2003, Scott Wolter traveled to the island to find the rune stone. It was partially submerged, but Wolter found it and wrote about it in his book The Kensington Rune Stone. He discussed it several times thereafter.

“I am absolutely convinced that Vinland is the area around Martha’s Vineyard and Nomans Land Island,” Wolter stated in 2008. Is this possible? It is just possible that the Vikings traveled that far south, but the complete lack of any archaeological presence similar to L’anse-aux-Meadows, the only confirmed Viking settlement in North America, argues against Martha’s Vineyard being Vinland. As I’ve mentioned before, the assumption that Vinland—the land of grapes—was so far south of Newfoundland derives entirely from ignorance of climate change and the fact that in 1000 CE, during the Medieval Warm Period, Newfoundland was much warmer than it was when the first alternative theories were proposed, during the Little Ice Age that lasted into the 1800s. Because early scholars knew of Canada only as an icy waste, they could not fathom that the Vikings could have found a warm, comfortable environment.

Reaction from scholars to the No Man’s Island stone was almost uniformly critical. The rock features both runes and what Wolter called Roman numerals (actually numeric runes), something not typically found in genuine Viking inscriptions. Wolter, however, told Jeff Belanger of Weird Massachusetts (2008, p. 38) that he had no trouble with this detail because—wait for it—the Kensington Rune Stone had the same thing! The trouble with that is that the Rune Stone uses the numerals differently than any known European inscription. Calendar runes are “cumulative,” meaning that, like Roman numerals, there is one numeral to represent a two-digit number, such as fourteen. However, the Rune Stone lists numbers as digits, writing fourteen with the runes for 1 and 4 (two separate runes). Richard Nielsen has identified an Arabic-formatted runic inscription from Greenland dating to 1314, which could therefore support the Arabic-formatting on the Kensington Rune Stone, but this does not bear on the question of the Nomans Island stone, which is supposedly 300 years older. This style is simply not used in European runic calendar inscriptions until Western (Arabic) numerals were introduced and adopted, and even then they are first used with Arabic figures, not runes (see Stephen Chrisomalis, Numerical Notation: A Comparative History, Cambridge University Press, 2010, 131). Arabic numerals were first brought to Europe around 970 but were not widely used for centuries afterward and were still a novelty mostly confined to accountants and scholars when Fibonacci learned them in the 1200s. It is just possible that Leif could have learned the Arabic system, but highly unlikely.

The No Man’s Island inscription, however, is not even this complex. It simply uses “MI” (1001), a Roman numeral, and such numerals do not appear in conjunction with runes. (Imagine, for example, writing your name in English but using Greek for the date.)

The No Man’s Island stone is widely believed to be hoax, according to academic experts in Norse history and Norse runic inscriptions. Professional historian F. Donald Logan reported that a hoaxer from New Bedford was widely suspected of faking the inscription (Vikings in History, Routledge, 2005, p. 79). Additionally, Stephen Chrisomalis declared it an “undeniable” forgery based on the fact that the stone uses the wrong style for recording the year. Wolter, as we saw, has no trouble with this because he believes that the Kensington Rune Stone (nominally dated 361 years later) is somehow proof of the authenticity of the “earlier” inscription.

IV. The Episode

Our episode opens in North Carolina in 1971. A young girl stands in a graveyard wandering through the stones amidst fallen leaves. Suddenly many children appear, as if playing hide and seek. The girl runs into the woods and finds on the ground a stone with Norse runes.

Suddenly we’re on to the opening credits.

We open with a dramatic overhead shot of L’Anse-aux-Meadows as on screen graphics inform us that the Viking settlement there contains evidence of southern voyages by the Vikings. Instead of explaining this, loud music plays us to a boat where Scott Wolter is racing to No Man’s Island, which Scott Wolter visited in an earlier trip discussed in his previous book.

We then bounce back three previous weeks in order to confuse the viewer unnecessarily, substituting cinema-style drama and editing for clear storytelling.

Wolter describes the known voyages of the Vikings, and he plans to view a boulder in Oklahoma where he thinks the Vikings left an inscription. Wolter visits the Heavener Rune Stone, which Scandinavian runologists have declared a modern forgery. Until 1951, locals believed that the carvings were Choctaw ideograms, but a local woman named Gloria Farley devoted her life to making the site famous as a Viking relic, sending the inscription to the Smithsonian, which said that the letters were Norse. Wolter says that the Smithsonian has “a history of dismissing these mysterious anomalies.” The Smithsonian said it says “GNOME DAL,” Gnome Valley, but Richard Nielsen translated it as GLOME DAL, or Glome’s Valley. Wolter says Glome was a known personage, but the only evidence for him appears to be this inscription.

The rune stone uses Elder Furthark, a type of rune that stopped being used in the 700s, three centuries before the Norse sagas themselves claim that the Vikings first discovered the New World. Two of the runes are also written incorrectly. Nielsen noted that the runes were from the 700s, not the 1000s. No evidence of Viking artifacts has ever been found in Oklahoma, which casts doubt on the idea that Glome was staking a land claim.

Wolter says that the carving, which he plans to date geologically, is “possibly a land claim,” derived from Nielsen’s translation. (What isn’t for Wolter?) He tells us about the rock’s geological history, but he concedes that he is unable to date the stone geologically any more specifically than the period between 1000 CE and 1900 CE (he fudges this by saying it isn’t ancient but also isn’t modern) and without bothering to check the runes, he concludes it must be a Viking original because “no one” could have carved the runes “as a joke” in the 1830s. Funny, that’s exactly the period when everyone was busy making rune hoaxes thanks to Carl Rafn’s Antiquitates Americanae.

I swore I was going to try to be nice tonight because this episode seemed like it would be close to the mainstream, but God damn it, Wolter is thumbing his nose at the audience’s intelligence by telling us that his much-vaunted dating technique can’t prove that the stone is older than 1830 but that he feels it is because his complete lack of interest in researching the runes or the area or looking for any kind of material evidence of Vikings leads him to think that nobody could have hoaxed the stone. Archaeologists Ken Feder and Lyle Thompson, who have both examined the evidence for the stone’s authenticity, both concluded it is a modern forgery and that no evidence of a Viking visit (artifact or otherwise) exists in the area. They are the wrong runes.

After the first break we get a recap, and Wolter imagines two sailing routes to Oklahoma, neither of which would have worked before the existence of canals connected various rivers.

Wolter says that the runes “make perfect sense,” which no Scandinavian runologist has ever confirmed. Again, they are wrong runes for the period, being at least 200 years out of date for the purported period in which they were carved.

Wolter then examines photographs of two other stones with runes found in the area. Wolter pretends to “recall” in a staged conversation an email about the rune stone in North Carolina that opened the episode. Wolter does not examine the other Oklahoma stones, which archaeologists such as Lyle Tompsen have concluded are modern forgeries. By not examining the stones, Wolter avoids having to admit that, as archaeologists concluded, they are obviously modern.

At Wolter’s laboratory, Nancy Millwood listens to Wolter repeat what we just heard before she presents him with the rune stone that she found in 1971. We go to commercial rather than hear more about this.

After the break, we get another recap, and Millwood tells Wolter that she tried to have the rune stone authenticated. She sent a rubbing of the stone to the Smithsonian, but Millwood’s mother refused a request from the Smithsonian (so she says) to donate the stone. Wolter says that the Smithsonian “would have hidden it immediately” because of what he implies is a conspiracy to suppress the truth. No one asks the Smithsonian for proof of any of the assertions made on the show. I mean, seriously: In 1959 the Maine legislature was debating whether to replace Columbus Day with Leif Erikson Day, and we are asked to believe that there was a conspiracy to suppress Viking finds?

Wolter examines the stone and tells Millwood about his belief that Vinland of the Norse sagas was the United States. Now here’s the thing: These same sagas said that Vinland was discovered in 1000, give or take, so authenticating pre-1000 runes would mean that the sagas are wrong and therefore are not literal records of the past. This then negates much of their value in finding Vinland! In examining the stone, Wolter concludes that he cannot date the soapstone geologically. He says he’ll get the stone translated, and Millwood thanks Wolter for rescuing her from the wall of indifference that is academia. We then forget about this for the rest of the show except for a very brief by vital line later on.

Wolter calls Michael Arbuthnot, the archaeologist from last season’s “Giants in Minnesota” episode. He tells Wolter that he will send a copy of the inscription to a colleague for translation. Arbuthnot then tells Wolter about No Man’s Land, and Wolter explains that he already visited the rock in 2002 but will go back because (a) it is dangerous and will make great TV and (b) he would like Arbuthnot’s opinion of the inscription.

We then go to another break.

After the break Wolter takes us to L’anse-aux-Meadows.

Wolter asserts that “academics” had “instantly dismissed” L’Anse-aux-Meadows and refused to believe it was real. This is not true. While some may have waited for the site reports to accept the find, the material I have found in a literature search of the 1960s shows immediate and enthusiastic interest in the site. Several academics visited the site to confirm the reports, and within five or seven years, it was widely accepted.

Wolter claims that the existence of butternuts in L’Anse-aux-Meadows proves that the Vikings traveled at least as far south as Maine to collect them. This is also wrong. In 1000 CE, butternut trees were native to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, areas much closer to L’anse-aux-Meadows and long suspected of having been the site of occasional Viking visits. The best guess (and it is only a guess) is that the Gulf of St. Lawrence was the spot known as Vinland since it had grapes, butternut trees, and was reasonably close to the known Viking settlement in Canada.

Wolter heads to Martha’s Vineyard, where he says the Leif Erikson stone, butternut trees, and grapes all come together in one spot. He describes the MI on the Erikson stone as the Roman numeral for 1001 CE, and he claims that the Spirit Pond Rune Stone, another hoax, points the way to Martha’s Vineyard as Vinland. According to Wolter Martha’s Vineyard must be Vinland because “Vineyard, Vinland”—i.e., they sound alike. This despite Martha’s Vineyard gaining its name only in the 1600s and grapes being native to most of eastern Canada during the Medieval Warm Period. Wolter does not mention any of this, leaving viewers with the false impression that grapes could be found only at Martha’s Vineyard. This is the same problem I keep pointing out with this show: It purposely leaves out important information in order to fabricate a pseudo-historical story that the viewer is invited to believe without being told that it is not a full and fair representation of all the facts surrounding the story.

We head to another commercial break, and somewhere another fact curled up in a ball and waited to die.

After the break Wolter reaffirms his manliness (since this is a program designed to appeal to upscale males 25-54) by telling us how he is taking a risk by traveling to the ordnance-strewn Nomans Land Island. (The spelling was normalized as Nomans thanks to America’s hatred of apostrophes; it used to be No Man’s Land. Martha’s Vineyard is one of the few places to keep its ancient apostrophe.)

Arbuthnot and Wolter both talk about the Leif Erikson stone as though it were genuine and spin scenarios about its importance while assuming that Martha’s Vineyard is Vinland. The show elides the thought process and leaves the impression that this is a solid conclusion, not just ancient Victorian speculation born of wishful thinking, mistakes made by Carl Rafn (his latitude calculations were recognized as faulty in the 1800s), and a hoax.

Wolter tells us that it’s too dangerous to view the Leif Erikson stone thanks to unexploded bombs. Wolter explains that the island is eroding and the rock is sinking into the ocean. Wolter notes that in the 1920s the stone was right on the beach, indicating his familiarity with the discovery of the stone and the claims of its hoaxing. Wolter asks why archaeologists don’t want to preserve it (because it’s widely believed to be a hoax!), and he demands that the rock be removed from the water and preserved.

Wolter concludes that the Leif Erikson stone is genuine, despite presenting no evidence to support this. He also claims that Martha’s Vineyard was Vinland based on all of the “evidence” he’s seen—but that evidence is nothing. He presented not a hint of it. The stones are the only evidence, and they can’t be dated—by his own admission! Wolter briefly mentions that the “translation” of the North Carolina rune stone was “inconclusive” (i.e., gibberish), but he accepts it as genuine anyway.

So, to recap: Wolter authenticated the Heavener Rune Stone based on (a) his super-secret science of “looking at” the stone, which determined it could be dated to sometime after “ancient” times and before “modern” times and (b) his belief that no one could have had knowledge of runes in the 1830s, contradicted by Carl Rafn’s bestselling 1837 book. He also insinuated that the Smithsonian is covering up Viking voyages to America, despite the fact that this claim was so widely accepted that it was literally in school textbooks in the 1900s. He then provided no evidence that the Leif Erikson stone was genuine, or that Martha’s Vineyard had any relationship to the Vikings other than a coincidence of name. But through sheer repetition of his beliefs, this magically transformed into evidence that supported a dramatic conclusion that situates the Vikings in Martha’s Vineyard as part of a continent-wide set of “land claims.”

The sound and the fury were all there, but the evidence still signifies nothing.

141 Comments
Tripps
12/21/2013 03:41:33 pm

I am shocked to see another wolter attack!! Not . I am shocked that so called skeptic refused to see a massive connection that would imply wolter is on right path. a mellon banker heir lives next to the Narragansett stone and his direct relative is paul mellon the son and yale grad who literally took the so called fake Vinland map

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Varika
12/21/2013 04:12:13 pm

So? What, precisely, does this "Mellon" connection prove? That the Mellon family is in on the hoax? Careful, sir, that could be construed as slander.

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Tripps
12/21/2013 05:12:56 pm

Wow are you a knucklebrain ??

Research the mellon family and who they are, they obviously have elite level money and care about this rune stone story unlike this site

Only Me
12/21/2013 05:30:30 pm

If this matter is so substantial, why didn't Wolter mention it in the episode where he was "informed" the NRS was stolen? He would have undoubtedly been interested in the Vinland Map.

Rich people having an interest in a stone, with an inscription of dubious origin, doesn't qualify as smoking gun evidence.

Varika
12/22/2013 07:40:15 am

Tripps, I know who they ARE. I just don't see any evidence whatever from your idiotic statements that their interest--supposing it's real and not you seeing what you want to see--indicates that these stones are genuine. I have an interest in historical clothing, but that doesn't make what's in my closet genuine historical clothing.

Learn LOGIC before you insult someone of superior intellect, nimrod.

Tripps
12/23/2013 11:01:11 am

If you honestly are here bragging about your intellectual superiority you really do need your ego cut DOWN. Btw, calling me a mighty hunter and founder of Babylon? I'll take it.

Lastly, I have perused these blogs before and online and I'm the first to point out the MELLON CONNECTION. I think it's significant. The Mellon who bought the Vinland Map was also a Yale Grad and in the other secret society there. Yale is literally modeled off many parts of Rome btw. The Templars represented ROME aka Vatican for a long time. Needless to say, the viking or norse/templar angle is so intriguing in New England that one of the richest elite families in northeast America thought it was WORTHY of their wealth and TIME. IN fact...a heir and relative of this same man chose to specifically live in in the very house and in exclusive private older neighborhood...Directly next to it. You literally cannot find a closer house and more relevant connection to WHAT THEY THINK. Actions speak. Btw, the vinland map has been proven pretty real and not a clear cut hoax.

Wolter cannot possibly cover everything nor is he local to the narragansett stone to know more history of land and adjacent area...I'm the one bringing up the connection as a significant thing to consider. And I don't agree with everything wolter does he is obviously using speculation and intuition a lot to make claims especially on the show as it makes GOOD TV. Oh, and in case you thought no way..no coincidence with the mellon heir there....the "KNIGHT" Family in RI, ( as in Knight Campus of CCRI) and i think the BROWN family via intermarriage( as in BROWN UNIV) have a connection to the original LAND ownership of Scalabrini Villa if my DD memory from one year ago still holds truth.. . Also "Pretty" funny there is a "DOUBLE CROSS" on top of the villa as well as a jesuit connection along the way I believe. Scott likes to bring up the double cross stuff as well:)

Discovering America
12/21/2013 08:48:42 pm

Asians discovered America long before the Vikings. They ARE the ancestors of the American Red Indians.

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Discovering America
12/21/2013 08:52:47 pm

It is stupidly Eurocentric to pretend that Erickson or Columbus discovered a land that was already full of people.

LynnBrant link
12/21/2013 09:54:16 pm

"Discovered" is the wrong term. What should be said is that there was European contact in North America before Columbus. Columbus "did" discover America in this sense - he "un-covered" what was previously generally unknown, and opened it to further exploration and settlement. Columbus didn't discover America as much as he commercialized it.

Discovering America
12/21/2013 11:12:26 pm

And the Kensington Runestone is as good an example of a modern forgery as you can get (forged by a former stonemason named Olof Ohman)

LynnBrant link
12/21/2013 11:25:36 pm

Olof Ohman was never a stonemason and he didn't carve the stone. It is a sophisticated forgery, way beyond his ability. The likely scenario is that Ohman merely cooperated with others in agreeing to "find" the stone on his property. This scenario is detailed in my short story, "Far to the West of Vinland."

Discovering America
12/21/2013 11:30:37 pm

Never a stonemason. I believe you.

LynnBrant
12/21/2013 11:37:44 pm

You seem to think the carving per se was the hard part. It wouldn't have taken a stonemason to do that. Olof could have done it - IF he had a clue what to carve. The runes and the linguistics were composed by someone with much more knowledge than Ohman. Someone who was very skilled, especially for 1898, in knowing how to make it appear as authentically medieval. The only scenario in which Olof could have carved it, is if he had been provided with the inscription on paper and merely copied it. That is possible, but then he would have had to artificially age the inscription. Too big a job for this simple farmer. No, what is most plausible is that he was provided with the stone, carved and aged, to put under the newly grubbed tree and say, "Look what I found."

Discovering America
12/22/2013 12:04:34 am

Wallace points to several letters and other manuscripts written by Ohman in Swedish which demonstrate his skillful mastery of words when using his native language. Interestingly enough, many of these passages, which were written in a Swedish Halsingland dialect, actually show consistencies in Ohman’s writings and the runic text on the stone (Wallace, 1982, pg. 60)

Further research into the life of Olof Ohman show that his first trade was as a mason, not a farmer which he became much later in his life (Blegen, 1968, pg.9).

LynnBrant
12/22/2013 12:12:29 am

If you want to believe Ohman carved the stone himself, have at it. (shrug)

Steve
12/22/2013 12:37:25 pm

Hi there Mr. Brant.

Is it true that you helped Darwin Ohman, son of Olof Ohman, write the letter on the Kensington Runestone website known as "Take A Stand"? In fact, while Darwin originally started this letter, didn't you have a huge hand in the wording of it? Weren't you also working with Scott Wolter to craft this letter and on other research?

Mr. Brant, can you please explain what happened with your relationship with Scott Wolter and help us understand why you're so vehement against him now? From what I've heard, you were very close. Perhaps you could add some color to the story of your previous friendship with Scott and Darwin Ohman so that we might be better able to evaluate your comments on this blog.

That letter is at this link -
http://www.kensingtonrunestone.us/Take_A_Stand.pdf

LynnBrant link
12/22/2013 01:49:44 pm

Gosh Steve, where do I start? You sound a little hysterical :). Yes indeed I edited the majority of what is on that website, and much that I took off before leaving the enterprise. By the way, Darwin is the grandson, not the son, of Olof Ohman.

I've told the story of my final straw with Scott to people I know, but I don't know you. It sounds as if you've heard it anyway. The short version is that he called me one evening minutes after I had disagreed with him in an online discussion about the KRS being a land claim. He said I had no right to disagree with him. He screamed so loud I held the phone up and my wife could hear him across the room. I hung up on him. Suffice it to say it damaged his credibility with me. Like I said, that was the final straw, not the only straw.

Brent
1/7/2014 07:01:22 am

WOAH!
A family of smart rich people are interested in this? IT MUST BE TRUE.

MIND = BLOWN

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John Marks
10/24/2016 10:29:11 am

In your statement

"I am shocked that so called skeptic refused to see a massive connection that would imply [W]olter is on right path."

I assume you are referring to the Butter Nuts, Grapes and the Ericson Stone. I live in Southern Ontario, wild grapes are quite prevalent and white walnut (butter nut) also grows wild. It would not be improbable and more then likely that they would have grown along the St. Lawrence given a warmer climate at that time. Given the location of L’Anse-aux-Meadows further exploration would have taken them down the St. Lawrence long before landing at Martha's Vineyard. The could have traveled as far as the Montreal rapids before hitting any true navigable obstacle. This would include a possible foray to Lake Champlain which may have taken them to Northern New York and Vermont. Any case there are a number of places for them to have found grapes and white walnuts long before reaching Martha's Vineyard.

As to the Ericson stone I cannot comment first hand. However, given the preponderance of opinion that it is a fake I will side in that direction, but with an open mind.

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CFC
12/21/2013 03:57:30 pm

Is there any truth at all that there are unexploded bombs on the island and in the water?

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Varika
12/21/2013 04:14:55 pm

http://www.fws.gov/refuge/nomans_land_island/ <--The US Fish & Wildlife Service says yes, but I don't blame you for seeking independent confirmation. To quote: "About the Refuge
Due to the potential safety risks associated with unexploded ordinance and the value of this island as a relatively natural island habitat, the refuge is closed to all public uses." So the truth is that there is at least a healthy risk that there are unexploded bombs in the area.

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Jon
12/21/2013 04:29:27 pm

So were they trespassing? Or did they get permission to go there and not disclose that, because it might give the impression that the government isn't remotely interested in the "artifact" or in covering anything up?

CFC
12/21/2013 09:14:28 pm

Thanks for the link Varika!

Jason Colavito link
12/21/2013 10:37:37 pm

The Chilmark selectmen approved a request to film on Scott McDowell's boat back in April, so they had permission for filming in the water. I don't know about Fish and Wildlife, but presumably they must have given permission unless the rock being under the authority of Massachusetts gave Chilmark jurisdiction over any part with water on it.

Varika
12/22/2013 07:46:27 am

They may not have needed permission to go to where they were, and just been mendacious about the full reasoning behind not approaching the stone in the water.

Jon
12/21/2013 04:06:09 pm

My favorite quote from this episode: "The Smithsonian Institute has a history of dismissing these mysterious anomalies." Unsaid: "I'm not going to provide ANY evidence to back up that claim, I'm just going to assert it."

Wolter then goes on to date the Heavener inscription to at least the time it was known to be discovered. So it's as old as we historically know it to be. Shocking!

When watching this show and Ancient Aliens I feel like Becky watching the donkey show in Clerks 2: "I'm disgusted and repulsed, and.. and I can't look away."

At least I finally figured out the reason I can't look away. Hate-watching, the activity of watching a television program that you think is bad because you get enjoyment from criticizing it. Someone needs to study their ratings to find out how many people are hate-watching it like I am, and how many are actually falling for this crap.

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Varika
12/21/2013 04:15:38 pm

Put a checkmark next to my name on that poll.

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Jose Simental
12/22/2013 08:11:26 am

A check mark for me too...

Steve
12/22/2013 12:40:02 pm

Jon, I watch MSNBC in exactly the same way. "Rachel Maddow, I'm disgusted and repulsed, and.. and I can't look away."

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Brent
1/7/2014 07:12:03 am

I've often wondered how many hate-watch it too. I know I do. Same with my friends. Same reason I watch The Walking Dead (bad writing) and why I used to watch Deadliest Warrior (inaccuracies coupled with awesome destructive demonstrations).

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Varika
12/21/2013 04:10:34 pm

...it says something about this show--and this episode in particular--that despite the fact that it says right in the guide on the screen that it is "new" she STILL swears, hours after it's over, that she has seen this episode before, that it is not new.

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Only Me
12/21/2013 04:43:20 pm

"and somewhere another fact curled up in a ball and waited to die"

Best line ever!

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Big Mike
12/23/2013 04:44:51 pm

I suspect that there are now hundreds of depressed little fact balls weeping at the prospect of imminent demise surrounding the works of Scott Wolter and other fringe "historians."

Either that, or these amateur "history sleuths" march facts out in a line, hand them a blind fold and a cigarette and execute them on a firing line.

I too enjoyed that particular line very much Jason. It was well written and positively dripping with vitriol.

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Sabrina Urquhart
12/21/2013 06:53:20 pm

Jason, thanks so much for this blog. I started watching the America Unearthed series with excitement and interest. I really wanted to like the show. I really wanted to like its host. But I quickly grew confused with his leaps in logic and disenchanted with his personality.

I went online to see if someone was talking about this--and found my faith in good sense restored by your blog's great questions, research and humor!

As I watched this episode in particular, I kept wondering why translations of all the rune stones weren't shared. I wondered why intelligent researchers would go through all the time, cost and effort of travel to a dangerous island without first consulting a tide table to ensure a fair chance of seeing the rock in question?

In every episode I've watched, I've waited for hard evidence to be presented. The overall disconnect with this show is that if it's indeed aimed at a mature, intelligent audience--doesn't H2 know that audience will question the show's many holes?

So yes, at this point, I'm considering AU an unintended dark comedy--and then I come to your blog for catharsis. Please keep it up--it's appreciated!

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The Other J.
12/26/2013 06:40:03 am

That tide thing had me wondering as well. I'm not familiar with the area, so I don't know what it would look like at low tide. But that's not all that hard to find -- here are the tides for Nomans Land at the end of this month: www.capetides.com (direct link to Nomans Island: http://www.capetides.com/index.cfm?isSearch=true&locationType=tides&locationID=168&startDate=12%2F26%2F2013&endDate=1%2F1%2F2014)

It looks like there's about a 2-foot difference between low tide and high tide at Nomans Land. So it all depends on what time of year Wolter and Arbuthnot visited the island, and what time of day. If we knew that information from the production notes, we'd know if they visited at low tide or high tide.

Judging from the clothing they wore, they visited the island during warmer months, so we can assume this was done probably in the spring or summer time, which means low tide would have been at midnight and noon. So the next question is what time of day did they visit the island?

There are a few ways to go about finding this. You could just call up the company they used to charter the boat and ask the captain what time they went out. Or you can look for watches or some other time-keeping implement. But the Wolter and Arbuthnot aren't wearing any watches. The only time we see anything else that might tell us the time is when the captain says he can't get closer to the shore; then we can see his depth finder, but it's too hard to see whether or not it gives the time.

So what else? How about the sun: The supposed rune stone is located off the southern shore of the island, so when our intrepid heroes are standing in the water looking at the stone, they're facing south, and the sun seems to be in the east; as our heroes stand facing the sea (south), Wolter (facing west) has more shadow on his face and Arbuthnot (facing east) has more sun on his face. Plus the rocks are casting shadows toward the west. All that suggests the sun is in the eastern sky at that point.

What's that mean? It means they were likely there in the morning, which means the tide wasn't at its lowest point. It probably had another foot to drop. Since the top of the stone could still be seen, they could have waited a few hours and seen a bit more of it. (Conversely, if they were there in early fall, it means the tide was still rising.) Or they could have taken the boat that dropped them at the shore up near the stone and grabbed some snaps there. Or they could have donned scuba gear like REAL MEN and swam out to that five feet of water and snapped a picture or looked at the stone real hard to determine its exact age.

I know I'm guessing at the time of day and year here, but I'm doing so with more evidence than the show itself provided for the stone's authenticity.

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Jason Colavito link
12/26/2013 07:18:09 am

They filmed on May 2 and May 3, according to the local newspaper.

The Other J.
12/26/2013 07:43:43 am

Alright then -- that means high tide would have been at 10:30 a.m., low tide at 4:10 p.m. If they were there in the morning -- and the sun in the east suggests they were -- then they were there right around the time the tide was at its highest.

It's at least bad planning, if not purposeful obfuscation of the objective.

LynnBrant link
12/21/2013 07:58:23 pm

I think Scott Wolter needs to spend some time with Bobo from "Finding Bigfoot." Bobo has mastered the art of sniffing around a tract of woods, and then declaring it to be "Squatchy." This is not so different from the magic eye of Wolter, who can divine the age of stones and the existence of vast conspiracies. Both have an uncanny ability to "just know" (by seeing or sniffing) that eludes the rest of us. Truly brothers from another mother.

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Steve
12/22/2013 12:43:30 pm

But Lynn, you and Scott were so close. Now you're just being mean. Pray tell us what happened between you two.

Is this another case, much like that of Crabby, of jealousy because someone else wound up with the microphone??

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Jason Colavito link
12/22/2013 12:50:40 pm

Steve, do you listen to yourself talk? You're really not the person to accuse others of being "mean." One might equally ask if your close relationship with Wolter affects your views of his work. Oh, right: You told me you disagree with his conclusions about Sinclair-Oreo Cookie conspiracies and see no evidence for them, but you want to attack those who agree with your own stated conclusions anyway!

LynnBrant link
12/22/2013 01:57:54 pm

The only thing I'm jealous of is that backpack - got to get me one of them!

Varika
12/22/2013 02:43:48 pm

Lynn--Duluth Trading company? ~.^

Dr. Leo Spahchemin
2/6/2014 11:21:00 am

Lynn, the difference is that Bobo generally bases his declaration of evidence of a sasquatch on something, even if it is just an unidentified noise, pixelated blob in a digital photo, or a shifty, non-credible witness. Wolter, in contrast, is fully capable of misstating the obvious truth and repeatedly demonstrates that he is willing to claim he has conclusive evidence when he has none whatsoever. I get the impression that Bobo genuinely believes, whereas sometimes Wolter maintains a position because his ego will not allow him to back down.

I get the impression that if you gained both of these reality show hosts' full confidences and asked them "Do you really believe in what you're claiming on the show?" Bobo would respond "I really have seen them - I don't believe, I know." I think Wolter's response would be "Do you know how much money I'm making off this show or have any idea how the sales of my books have skyrocketed since the show first hit the air?"

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ducati
3/13/2014 08:46:58 am

Lmao, I'm peeing my pants right now. Finally someone else interprets these shows for what they are. B.S.!!!!!

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Sacqueboutier
12/21/2013 11:11:44 pm

Amazing. Mainstream archeology has maintained Viking presence in the New World for many years now, so this subject SHOULD have been a slam dunk for Wolter. Yet, he still manages to make it into some Magical Mystery Tour through a series of hoaxes, speculation, and outright fiction.

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Michael Haynes
12/22/2013 01:41:43 am

I wished that America Unearthed had provided a translation of Nancy Millwood's rune stone, even if it was inconclusive. However, I suspect that Scott might have realized it was gibberish when he first saw it. Although the stone was covered in runes, he only focused on one letter, M, which somewhat resembled his hooked-X, but we find out later that the M he's talking about in this episode is the Roman numeral for 1000.

I was also curious why the opening segment of the show only stated that the location was in North Carolina. Usually their re-enactments will also give a town- or place-name to the locales. However, when Miss Millwood said that she discovered the stone in Saluda, NC, that must have been another red flag for Scott. Saluda is located 30 miles south of Asheville, near the soutwest border of NC and the northwest border of SC, which would have been a pretty ridiculous place for Vikings to venture. It's in a mountainous region with no easy water routes that would have required a long overland trek for explorers, and it's my impression that Vikings didn't like straying too far from their longships. Had she found the stone in coastal NC that would have been more plausible -- I'm not saying that she is perpetuating a hoax, but she may have accidently found one.

Still, this episode left a lot of strings untied when it didn't need to. The Viking presence in North America is an established fact which is a lot more than most of the claims that the show usually investigates. They could have done a lot better with this.

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LynnBrant link
12/22/2013 02:06:58 am

I actually remember when he did first see it (that's when we were talking every day). He pretty much shrugged it off as no big deal at the time. But... just like Monster Quest runs out of monsters...

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Varika
12/22/2013 07:50:34 am

I knew that stone was a fake the instant I saw it. Why? Because it has WORD SPACING, something that no genuine Viking-era runestone uses. This was clearly someonyeu u54rttttttttttttttttttt....hello, kitten. someone who used some sort of rune-generator from the Internet, or possibly a rune "dictionary," to look up words and translate them into runes, then carved them onto the stone, in a completely ignorant modern hoax.

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RLewis
12/22/2013 02:40:16 am

So the Smithsonian is hiding evidence and SW won't tell us what the translation on the NC stone says? Sounds like another conspiracy.
I'm not really sure about the point of this episode (re: "all the history we've been taught is wrong"). Throughout my years in public school I've been taught that the Vikings probably landed in North America well before Columbus. So what? Even if they got as far as Marthas (screw the apostrophe) Vineyard - again, so what? Doesn't really change much, does it? I mean, since we have found absolutely no evidence of any settlement it would only mean they stopped just long enough to carve "Kilroy was here" then went back home. Surely no one can sanely extrapolate that to some convoluted voyage to establish a land claim in Oklahoma. What on earth for? Why wouldn't they claim some of the much closer and more easily - accessible lands along the way. And whom were they trying to protect this land from? They obviously did not have any considerations for the Native Americans, and no one else in the world knew Oklahoma even existed. Were they afraid other Vikings would lay claim to a probably-impossible-to-get-to-by-longboat site? Or was it to hold the Lost Tribe Mormons?

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CFC
12/22/2013 03:13:50 am

What a troubling and outrageous message this program is sending to the viewers:
DON"T trust the Smithsonian Institution;
DON"T trust academics;
DON"T trust what you've been told by your history teachers; but
and I quote from the H2 website...
"If you have an artifact you think Scott would be interested in or know a of a site that you would like Scott to investigate"
contact America Unearthed."
And this is because you should trust Scott Wolter???
Sure! That is if you want Mr.Wolter and his company, A&E, History Channel, H2, and Committee Films to exploit what you've found for their commercial gain.

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LynnBrant link
12/22/2013 04:03:30 am

Good point. If I found a rune stone, I'd crush the damn thing to bits and spread it in my driveway. :)

Steve
12/22/2013 11:33:38 am

CFC, I know the fact that you comment on Jason Colavito's blog makes you an inarguable expert on all things historic, however you might enjoy the comment posted on a YouTube video which takes a very different view using some of the same themes you mentioned in your oh-so-astute comment. Of course, he's wrong because he doesn't comment here among this esteemed group of Jason Junkies, and he's wrong because he doesn't agree with you -

pedalcar1008 wrote, "Mr. Wolter, thank you for proving the folly of having coaches teach History to junior high and high school kids for fifty years. History is so rich and you add yet another dimension that makes it irresistible. Your research is fascinating. Thank you for me, my children and my grandchildren. No more "dumb downed" teaching acceptable."

Every now and again it's good to let this mob know that being surrounded by your like minded mob members doesn't mean you're in the majority. It just means you've all learned to sing from the same hymnal that your close-minded friends follow.

The "mob" reference is from Ann Coulter, someone Jason no doubt follows closely, being as "independent-minded" as he is.

Jason Colavito link
12/22/2013 11:53:23 am

I'm a bit confused, Steve. You spent the last week arguing that I'm too liberal, but now I'm a follower of Ann Coulter? You just finished telling me again that you saw no evidence of a Sinclair Holy Bloodline conspiracy, or for Henry Sinclair in America, so how is that different from examining the evidence (as I did above) and concluding Wolter is wrong? You did it yourself. Doesn't that make you just as "close-minded?"

I'm also unsure what you mean for us to get out of the YouTube comment. It sounds like the commenter is complaining about budget cuts and a watered-down curriculum, which is hardly something to disagree with. His or her acceptance of Wolter's views is not proof they are correct, no, not even if all the people in the world agreed with them. Only evidence can make a claim true, and Wolter doesn't have it, as you have repeatedly stated in regard to Henry Sinclair.

If you'd like to assert that there is a Smithsonian conspiracy, please do provide facts rather a YouTube comment.

Steve
12/22/2013 01:00:54 pm

I know you're confused, Jason.

My Ann Coulter reference was clearly meant sarcastically.

As to your interpretation of the YouTube comment - No, he wasn't making a budget cut reference. He referred to the last 50 years. What I mean for you to get out of the YouTube comment is that your little group here feels the certainty that comes from a mob. That's why I said, "Every now and again it's good to let this mob know that being surrounded by your like minded mob members doesn't mean you're in the majority. It just means you've all learned to sing from the same hymnal that your close-minded friends follow."

There are in fact, many more people who follow AU and love it. Thus its ranking as one of H2's best shows.

As to your reference to Henry Sinclair, I didn't' mention that here, so I won't bother answering it.

As to your reference to 'a Smithsonian conspiracy," I strongly suspect just that. From what I understand, they seem to have misplaced some rather important artifacts from Cyrus Thomas' dig at Loudon County, Tennessee - the Bat Creek site. They also find it convenient to ignore artifacts that don't fit their paradigm. Before you argue that the Bat Creek find was a fraud and point yet another link to yet another of your blog posts, I'm not arguing for its authenticity. I'm saying that, from what I understand, parts of the findings were "lost" by the Smithsonian. BTW, you don't need to be apologist for them and tell me how very many artifacts they manage. If they're losing artifacts from digs, there's a big problem.

Jason Colavito link
12/22/2013 01:12:10 pm

You just made my point for me, Steve: Even assuming they are losing artifacts doesn't prove the existence of a conspiracy. Never attribute to conspiracy what is better explained by incompetence, laziness, and accident. I worked at the NYS Museum and saw firsthand how things work. Decades ago, after the museum changed locations, many artifacts went missing, not because of a conspiracy (most weren't important artifacts, or very old) but because the movers lost the labels or sent them to the wrong building. To this day, some have never been found. They're there somewhere, but no one has the time or the money to sort through every box (some not opened for 100 years!) looking to see which label is in the wrong place.

I don't really see what the number of people who love America Unearthed has to do with whether its claims are correct. Many people love Storage Wars, but that doesn't mean the A&E show doesn't fake the "finds," as one of the stars admitted.

You're purposely using the "argumentum ad populum" fallacy, a favorite of politicians and political argumentation, but one that carries no weight in determining truth.

Steve
12/22/2013 01:15:28 pm

Not my point at all, Jason. My point is that they likely purposefully keep them, or purposefully lost them.

BTW, according to Scott's report, the Bat Creek artifacts were discovered by John W. Emmert.
This makes good reading - http://www.ampetrographic.com/files/BatCreekStone.pdf

Steve
12/22/2013 01:20:41 pm

The numbers of people who like AU making their theories correct is not my point, Jason. Again, you're either reading too quickly or generally confused.

My point was to let this group know that you're displaying mob behavior. Mobs often take their small band's agreement on their mission as being widely accepted. I think that's why so many here post with such certainty, such arrogance.

Once again, you became an apologist for the museums. The poor museums lost those artifacts. Unlikely.

Jason Colavito link
12/22/2013 01:23:32 pm

But what evidence do you have of this conspiracy? Why, for instance, would it involve other artifacts but not the Bat Creek Stone itself? Surely the conspiracy would want to suppress this, which is why they destroyed... no, wait, put it on public display, on loan to the University of Tennessee.

Apologist for museums? How is talking about, and I quote, "incompetence, laziness, and accident" defending the museum? The onus is on you, Steve, to find us some proof of a conspiracy.

Have you conducted a statistical study of missing artifacts to determine if they are distributed evenly across the museum's collection, or if only "controversial" artifacts are missing? The Bat Creek Stone's continued existence is one strike against you.

Steve
12/22/2013 01:32:41 pm

Quite right, Jason. I can't prove a conspiracy at the Smithsonian. That's why I said, "As to your reference to 'a Smithsonian conspiracy," I strongly suspect just that."

And you're quite right, the Bat Creek stone's continued existence is one strike against me. But the missing jaw bone is one strike against The Smithsonian.

Varika
12/22/2013 02:52:12 pm

Actually, Steve, if I had "certainty," I would not be reading Jason's blog. What certainty I have comes from my ability to think logically and critically about claims being made--something you have not precisely demonstrated that you actually have. America Unearthed takes greater leaps of "faith" than even most religious groups require. And you, you don't even bother to make claims anymore, you just throw around casual insults and nitpick grammar. Why don't you go back under the bridge you shambled out from under? I'm sure there's a trio of goats looking for you.

Harry
12/22/2013 11:04:16 pm

Steve,

I really do not understand the motive for the conspiracy. Can you enlighten me? Scott Wolter's claim that his theories are a threat to "manifest destiny" (a doctrine that only flourished in the mid 19th century) makes no sense and the idea that the scientists of the Smithsonian are agents of such a long-discredited theory makes even less to me. I also do not understand why anyone would seriously fear Scandinavian claims to the United States. Do you seriously think that anyone in the US government thinks that Norway might attack us?

Jason Colavito link
12/22/2013 11:18:55 pm

Obviously, the conspiracy doesn't want a repeat of what happened after the discovery of L'Anse-aux-Meadows, when Canada was returned to the rightful ownership of Norway... Wait, it wasn't? Oh well. Never mind...

Jeanne
12/23/2013 07:23:19 am

This is dangerous because it fits with the current efforts to replace expertise, reason, logic etc with " gut checks" ..." I just know it"..." I feel it"...this assault on reason is dangerous for a modern democracy

Gunn
12/23/2013 08:36:14 am

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think Wolter expects that there would be any kind of legal claims should earlier claims be found. I think his focus on claims stem from believing the KRS is a land claim.

Personally, I think the KRS is ASSOCIATED with land claiming, based on the message of the KRS, but I don't think it is a land claim...more like a memorial...which is why I now think it may never have been buried at all, originally. So, I think Wolter is focused on the issue of claims in an unsubstantiated way, but I don't think anyone should think he actually believes any modern legal claims might be made.

I don't understand this extrapolation, and it may be another misunderstanding about Wolter. He's smarter than that. You make his sound ignorant.

Jason Colavito link
12/23/2013 08:42:27 am

The problem, Gunn, is that Wolter has stated on AU and in interviews and in his books that he believes the US government is afraid of these alleged land claims and is trying to suppress them because they would undermine US sovereignty. He's doing a good job of making himself look ignorant by making such extreme and unfounded statements.

Gunn
12/23/2013 09:12:44 am

Well, if that's true, I agree with you. He should wisely backtrack on this one. But I do think it started because he thinks the KRS is a land claim, and that's probably his baseline. I don't think it's a land claim, but Wolter and I both believe it's genuine. That's primarily where I support him. He sees the runestone as an actual medieval stone document, and I do too.

I've looked at this issue from almost all the angles available, and I can't help coming to the conclusion that there actually were Scandinavian explorers/land acquirers roaming around here in the absolute, exact MIDDLE of nowhere. That's one of the nearly inexplicable aspects of this issue. It makes little sense, unless one is purposely seeking to attain land in this otherwise unlikely place. It doesn't make sense, but it should be explained, not hidden away like they've done in Maine.

Wolter should explain why it is important to correct the record, but avoid connecting it to land claims or sovereignty. For example, one could fantasize about what could have been...but not apply it to today, the modern world.

Coridan
12/25/2013 09:48:20 am

Steve, most of us here have read Loewen (I know Jason has, he has referenced him), and are aware of the sad state of history education in schools. That is not the same thing as academia by a long shot.

Amber Miserreri
3/24/2020 06:55:52 pm

Jason Colavito, can you provide links to where "Wolter has stated on AU and in interviews and in his books that he believes the US government is afraid of these alleged land claims and is trying to suppress them because they would undermine US sovereignty."

Cheers.

Seamus
12/22/2013 02:49:32 am

Comedy Central could pick up this show without changing much. Wolter is like a combination of Forrest Gump and Mr. Magoo.

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Titus pullo
12/22/2013 03:51:54 am

Why is every rune stone a land claim on this show? I see an underlying theme here.

Good catch by jason on the problems of Vikings navigating by the great lakes or Mississippi to Oklahoma. Same problem with the great copper heist, you coud not get to ech great lake via a water route before modern canals.

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Jason Colavito link
12/22/2013 06:01:39 am

At this point, Wolter has had pre-Columbian Europeans stake a "land claim" to every bit of territory east of the Rockies. "All your states are belong to us," to coin a phrase.

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Harry
12/22/2013 09:10:37 am

That sounds a lot like "manifest destiny," the very thing Scott Wolter claims he is arguing against. How ironic!

Brent
1/7/2014 07:14:44 am

"Someone set up us the stone"

Nancy C Lea link
12/22/2013 05:01:11 am

I really enjoy your column. I watched a couple of episodes of Mr Woltons little exercise in vanity tv..I was appalled. I guess the world is full of people who want to believe his claims, esp since we do such a terrible job of teaching THINKING in our schools. I was fortunate enough that my own education included "question everything." Anyway, keep up the debunking. I just wish you could reach more people out there.

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Gunn Sinclair link
12/22/2013 05:54:05 am

I think Wolter should have concentrated more on the KRS to prove his points, since it has more acceptance than the other items he showcased. And I was disappointed that we didn't at least end up with a translation of the runestone in pieces, especially since so much of the show focused on it. There is no doubt in my mind but that a professional runologist would be able to say if the message makes sense or not. I'm just saying that he could have made his point about Vikings and Vinland in other better ways, too. I would have inserted some earlier KRS footage in place of things that turned out to be nothing...I guess.

Everything turned out to be nothing, or else nothing much new. Vinland doesn't have to necessarily be a spot of geography, like a relatively small island; it may have grown over hundreds of years to become larger and larger as an ill-defined area, which very well may have included portions of the northern US East Coast. I don't feel that much was added to in the debate. I had hoped for a more convincing argument. I'll have to admit that it was pretty lame.

Some comments on a few other asides related to the blog subject:

I thought Jason did a good job of wrapping things up about the show, even though he didn't need to use the offensive GD language. He included a lot of good background information, in a pretty fair way, I thought.

He did, though, introduce a troublesome parody, a troublesome cartoon improperly associating Vikings with the Newport Tower. I was expecting this one since a reference was made to it a few days ago. I'm assuming the Newport Tower was built after the Viking age ended, so this is reminiscent of Big Ole casting his shadow on the KRS museum. I know its a joke, but the time periods obviously don't match up...something I guess missed back then, when they foolishly thought Newport Tower was a common windmill.

Did anyone notice all the drinking horns the Vikings were using? A deeply-carved, aged image of one of these can be seen (on a rock) in Wolter's X book, from nearby SD. (Near stoneholes.)

By the way, I have a proposal for the WATER journey from the East Coast to Kensington (See website, above.) It's funny to hear people talk about sailing on smaller rivers. Also, the larger sailing ship at Duluth (1362) may have been dismantled and portaged. Just something to consider.

(Jason, I think you may have meant to say butternuts, not butternut trees up above. Also, I think you may have meant to say North America rather than America once or twice.)

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Jason Colavito link
12/22/2013 06:00:26 am

I fixed the first reference to butternuts.

The cartoon was published in 1894 and was a joke about the Victorian idea that the Tower was a Viking church, an idea from 1839. It's not "troublesome" to acknowledge that this is what people used to believe. Sir Daniel Wilson also made fun of the claims, slyly referring to the Tower as the "world-famous" windmill of Newport.

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Gunn
12/22/2013 06:16:43 am

I know exactly what you mean. The "Viking Altar Rock" found near Salk Lake, MN, wouldn't be connected to the Vikings for the same reason, unless they intended to sacrifice innocent Native Americans. More likely, it was a shelter. Even more likely is that it had more to do with land-marking, especially since its so close to Sauk Lake...above the Sauk River.

But they're not joking about it up here, unlike about Vikings and the Newport tower. Unfortunately, they're serious about connecting it to "Christian Vikings" (?) who would use an altar for spiritual reasons. They have what they call "The Viking Trail" up here, which may have more to do with Fourteenth Century Swedes and the KRS than anything else. Now Templars, that's another possibility, too....

Gunn
12/22/2013 06:06:23 am

Native American Structures...

http://www.stonestructures.org/html/pedestal_boulders.html

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Gunn
12/22/2013 07:01:19 am

LynnBrant, I wholeheartedly disagree with you about the KRS being faked, which I know doesn't surprise you. For my own curiosity, would you mind telling me what your own person opinion is about the dozen or so stonehole rocks which basically encircle Runestone Hill?

I only ask this because they need to explained. They're very old and not for blasting. They SEEM in my opinion to be associated with land-marking or branding if you will, probably associated somehow with the KRS. Both are oddities grouped together. Another question, if you don't mind. I honestly don't know the answer. I wonder what Olaf would think about all these stoneholes being on or near his property, if he knew about them--or any of them--while working the farm?

I wish you didn't sound so sure of yourself about tarnishing Olaf as a trickster, albeit you attempt to lighten his load a bit by suggesting he was only semi-guilty, or at least semi-innocent, of hoaxing the stone. I wish you would consider that the runestone apparently had a visible root-mark on it (at least at first) and that Olaf suffered a lot because of the runestone, yet went to his grave proclaiming it to be genuine. And, of course, one of his children committed suicide, not a frivolous matter at all. I think you should back up away from this man's reputation, as you know nowhere at all the full story...nor do I.

It's easy to impugn the reputation of a dead man. I question and challenge you back on his behalf.

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LynnBrant link
12/22/2013 07:49:42 am

Thanks for the opportunity to respond to fair questions about my story, which is also my opinion on the KRS.

First, I think there are far too many stoneholes scattered over too much territory to, if one wanted to stipulate that there were Norse explorers, attribute them all to those explorers. That, IMO, makes it hard to attribute any of them to Norse explorers. What? some of them were done in 1362 and then 500 years later settlers began making many more in other areas? Not plausible for me. Why is there a concentration on the Ohman farm? Because one or more of the Ohman boys was known to have made them for practice. All this is why I make no mention of stoneholes in my story.

Secondly, I don't portray Olof as a trickster at all. I portray him as a victim, a patsy. Remember, in my story, he believed the rune stone to be authentic, and that it needed to be re-found on his property in order that it not be suppressed by "they" who would want to hide the truth of Scandinavian discovery of America. He waited all his life for the vindication he was sure would come, but never did. A tragic figure stuck in the mire, unable to move in any direction. Olof was not at all the villain of my story. That was Oskar Moberg.

Root marks? Put simply, I agree with those who say the marks are from the glacier and 12,000 years old. They just look like tree roots. If they are tree roots, it is far more likely they are from an ancient tree in the stone's early history, than from that little tree that could only have had roots down 15 or 20 years. In other words, even if the stone was carved in 1362, those marks were already there.

I can agree that it is technically possible the KRS is authentic. It can't be proven a forgery. But I find the chances of forgery to be about 99%, and my story is of course based on that. It's my opinion that if Olof was not the innocent and well-intentioned patsy I make him out to be, then the only likely role left for him would be outright scoundrel.

I'm not just trying to be kind in believing the former. The KRS is a very sophisticated forgery. It was created by persons who knew how to make it pass muster as authentic, even including artificial aging. Those persons took the discovery seriously, and planned a believable scenario with a tree being felled by a simple farmer, and the stone being in its roots. It has the ring of truth, but I still call it fiction.

I won't comment further but would welcome comments from others who have read the story.

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Discovery of America
12/22/2013 08:04:49 am

" Olof as a trickster" - another modern myth

Gunn link
12/22/2013 01:14:01 pm

The ring of truth to it? You mean like how Wolter is accused by you of "just knowing." "This is not so different from the magic eye of Wolter, who can divine the age of stones and the existence of vast conspiracies. Both have an uncanny ability to "just know" (by seeing or sniffing) that eludes the rest of us. Truly brothers from another mother."

Yet you can hear a ring of truth to your hypothesis, I guess by some special ability...which, unfortunately, involves slandering the name of a dead man and his family.

I think I hear you saying Ohman was a patsy, kind of like how Oswald was a patsy, or else he was a scoundrel. It sounds like you kind of figured he was a liar from the beginning and went from there.

I haven't read your story, nor can I see any reason to, based on your poor taste to heap on this man, whom many see as innocent, especially local people and his descendants.

I would like you to name your source for saying that one or more of the Ohman boys made the aforementioned stoneholes for practice. I'm pulling a Jason here, looking for original source material. Even as Jason is striving to protect the integrity of history as we know it in history books, I find myself striving to protect the integrity of a man who is no longer here to protect himself. Since I believe in the authenticity of the KRS, I also believe Olaf was telling the truth. I guess because you don't believe in the authenticity of the KRS, you think it is okay to proclaim that Olaf was either a stupid patsy, or else a scoundrel.

So, you think there are too many stoneholes for them to be medieval Norse? Not really, when you start hooking them up to specific patterns, such as the pattern that emerged along the Whetstone River in SD. The most logical purpose I can think of for them is that they used in conjunction with other image carvings to claim land...most of them. Nothing else for them to exist in such numbers makes sense, however, this land acquiring concept does make sense, and I'm not the first and only person to believe this.

Personally, I think the KRS party knew Runestone Hill was already marked with stoneholes, and people might be coming back in association with those stoneholes, which might explain why they left the memorial stone where they did. In other words, they knew others were intending or had intended to come back to that spot, so they put the runestone there. This is of course pure speculation.

I will say this: I'm disappointed that America Unearthed and Wolter don't get further into trying to age the various items they look at. This is how he got into show business, by dating the KRS, basically. I would like to see more effort going into the age-detecting process, like mineral degradation within carving grooves, and also by using scientific methods to examine a slew of these stoneholes, for comparison, and just to determine that they are at least a certain age. These stoneholes are in some way related to the KRS and other evidences up here, so they can't be relegated to obscurity or made-up stories about children making them.

We can discuss some of these things further, if you'd like to. Very rarely does this particular door swing open this widely.

Discovery of America
12/22/2013 08:02:22 am

The only folks willing to accept the KRS as being genuine are the same folks willing to believe in the Rosslyn myths and the claim that Henry Sinclair discovered America in 1398.

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Prince of Rosslyn
12/22/2013 08:12:43 am

Will Grant's book "Rosslyn, The Chapel, Castle and Scenic Lore" (at pages 61 and 62) refers to a letter of 29 February 1460 from the local Orkney authorities to King Christian excusing Earl William Sinclair (founder of Rosslyn Chapel) for his non-attendance at the Norwegian Court: The letter is quoted as saying, in part,

"We know no defence after God, but your Highness, unless our so gracious and noble prince, William, Earl of Orkney, who for our defence has laid out himself and his in our deadly struggle to his no small suffering ........."

In the original Latin text (published in Diplomatarium Norvegicum, vol. 5 p. 599) William Sinclair is referred to as "nobilem principem dominum nostrum Vilhelmum comitum Orkadie ac dominum de sancto Claro". In Medieval Latin (c. J.F. Niermeyer et al "Medie Latinitatis Lexicon Minus", vol. p. 1107, Brill 2002) "princeps" refers to different categories of noblemen such as dukes and counts together with the "real" princes, i.e. those who had sovereign rights to a territory. So, princeps does not necessarily means a territorial prince, and in the letter to King Christian of 1460 count William are referred to as a prince due to litterary convention. Besides in a letter to the real Lord of the Land (Orkney) Christian, any hint to the Earl of Orkney as a real prince the archipelago is unthinkable.

Gunn
12/22/2013 02:43:08 pm

I can assure you that there are people who believe in the KRS who have never even heard anything about Rosslyn myths and the claim that Henry Sinclair discovered Americia in 1398. Some of these people are local to the KRS, but have no outside interest in history or alternative history.

I myself believe the KRS to be genuine, yet I have seen no credible proof for Henry Sinclair coming to America. I've read suggestions, but I guess they came out of thin air. I still wonder a lot about the Chippewa migration, though, since it fits in so well, time-wise with possible "Glooscap" events from that time-frame. The Chippewa arrived here in MN around 1500 or so, and I assume it took them a hundred years or so to migrate, so maybe they left the Vinland area around 1400.

There is in my mind just barely room for speculation, and the door is not positively closed to Sinclair coming here, especially when considering the Westford Knight/Sir Gunn hypothesis.

Let's not rush to judgment. There might be a grain of truth yet to this St. Clair/Sinclair stuff...

Moogie
12/22/2013 08:21:21 am

WOW, someone finds new information that could,(possibley), change some of the history of America and what happens, dim wits have to try and not just discredit the person, but the facts that are right there stareing you in the face!

You keep reading all of the information to the negative, and that is all you will find.

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Discovery of America
12/22/2013 08:43:05 am

I like "Amazing Stories" very much, but that doesn't mean I have to believe it

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Only Me
12/22/2013 09:34:14 am

The "facts", as presented don't add up, so, yes, they're easy to discredit. But then, you would know this if you had read the review in its entirety.

1) The inscription on Nancy Millwood's "runestone", as revealed by Wolter himself, came back inconclusive. That means no one could make sense of the inscription.

2) Richard Nielsen, who worked on translating the runic inscription of the KRS, said the runes on the Heavener Stone were out of use 300 years before the Vikings came to North America. Wolter couldn't determine the age of the stone, because he didn't take the time to study it as he had done with the KRS. Even if he had, the language is still incorrect.

3) The Spirit Pond runestones, which Wolter claimed showed the way to Vinland, are at best, according to Nielsen, datable to 1401. Why make a map on stone 400 years later, in Maine? Wouldn't the Norse already have conventional maps available if Vinland was, indeed, Martha's Vineyard, off the coast of Massachusetts? Not only that, but they were studied in 1974 by Einar Haugen, who said the runes were inconsistent with 11th century Norse.

So there you have it. Three "facts" that are dubious, at best, and outright hoaxes, at worst. The only dimwit is the one who refuses to allow reality to temper his flights of fancy.

"Truth will not disappear because certain facts are ignored." Aldous Huxley

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Jason Colavito link
12/22/2013 09:36:22 am

Sometimes the best thing to do is to accept all of the fringe evidence at face value and show that even in doing so it still fails to add up to the story they're trying to spin from it.

Rev. Phil Gotsch
12/22/2013 11:15:37 am

"Vinland" was in reality … "Sri Lanka" … ???

Gunn link
12/23/2013 03:56:47 am

"Why make a map on stone 400 years later, in Maine? Wouldn't the Norse already have conventional maps available if Vinland was, indeed, Martha's Vineyard, off the coast of Massachusetts?"

No, not necessarily. If we can suppose for the sakes of illustration, maybe no maps were made--or survived--representing the late Viking age. Also then, if there were no Norse activity for a stretch of time, some of those coming may have come based on maps which no longer exist. It's easy to see how an explorer/sailor back in that day may have lost his personal maps, which would've entailed then using the best medium available...which COULD survive. Perhaps that is the case with the Maine runestones.

Only Me
12/23/2013 05:12:28 am

Your illustration is plausible, but it also seems to reflect the translation offered by Suzanne Carlson of NEARA. She claims the stones say the Vikings were caught in a sudden storm and tried to save their ship from "the foamy arms of Aegir, angry god of the sea". Even if the translation is accurate (Einar Haugen said it contained "a few Norse words in a sea of gibberish"), Wolter saying the map stone points to Vinland may not be true.

Paul H. Chapman proposed in 1992 that the map stone depicts the northern tip of Newfoundland. He then proposed in 2005, that it depicts the landscape visible from atop White Mountain, the highest point near Spirit Pond.

As with any of the runestones, I'm not going to say outright that the Spirit Pond stones are hoaxes, because I'm not an expert, so I don't know. I just look at both sides of the argument and try to draw a reasonable conclusion.

RLewis
12/22/2013 11:15:19 am

What NEW information? These rocks have been around (and studied/discredited) for decades. I, for one, would love to see some new information. The opening of each episode implies that there are hundreds of sites/artifacts throughout the US that have not been fully investigated. Can we have a look at just one of those?

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Gunn
12/22/2013 02:17:38 pm

Yes, we need to see something of substance. I think one of the problems for Wolter is that he had "beginner's luck" with getting to study an authentic artifact, the KRS, and then he was able to link several other sources to it, such as making suggestions related to the hooked X rune, which is found on the KRS and other runestones as well, not to mention on that submerged rock that had been stolen or misappropriated for several months.

What else is there now? I do believe there are still good ideas, and artifacts to look into. I don't know if anyone suggested this one to America Unearthed, but if not, I think the Roseau Stone of MN, found near the Canadian border, is worth checking out in detail.

http://dominorus.narod.ru/roseau.html

The artifact is surprisingly small, and there's not a lot of references to it, but it seems to suggest early Russian travel here, probably as part of exploration and fur trading, possibly associated with Scandinavians, because of the tendency towards Russian runes. I think this carved stone has a story to tell which hasn't been very well told yet.

I would like, also, to see a show where Wolter examines in detail the various weaponry now to be seen at the Runestone Museum in Alexandria, MN, as well as looking into the various accompanying stories related to the medieval-appearing iron objects. There are other metal objects and items of interest to consider, too. I think these iron objects should be analyzed to find out what their specific iron composition is, to see which ones may have originated in Europe. They don't have good provenance, but it would still be interesting to find out specific dates and details, in case some of them turned over to the museum over the years are actually credible...like possibly the battle axe given to a "first pioneer" farmer by a local Native American. There is a lot of collective information available for study...enough to produce a whole show. Wolter can go back and make reference and comparisons with museums in Sweden.

I think he should also go back somewhat to the roots of his success with the KRS, instead of "moving on." He seems to have better credibility with the KRS aspects in his X book than he does now with all these obscure artifacts that are coming his way.

Also, I would like to see him work more with archaeologists and other professionals, to see that more sites are explored below the surface of the ground...more digs. Even if nothing much turns up, there would always be the possibility of an unexpected surprise, if good spots are chosen. For example, more exploration around the Newport Tower, and around the Westford Knight carving spot. Also, perhaps more around the KRS discovery site, or even around some of the more prominent stonehole rock sites. Much evidence has been found and turned over to the museum over the years, so I believe there's a good likelihood more artifacts will turn up, eventually one or more with good, in-situ provenance. But one has to actually look. This could also increase the suspense of some shows, to show time-lapsed digs. Eventually, something might be found, but the right places have to be checked out.

RLewis
12/23/2013 04:52:43 am

As supposedly part of the shows target audience, I can say that I am sick of hearing about the KRS. It's has been noted in multiple shows and has been debated ad nausea. SW believes it's real, most archeologists don't. There we stand, If SW /9or the producers) want to add more support for the Vikings/St Clair/Templar, pre-Columbian claims, then fine - but this last episode was not it. Without actually measuring, I bet over half of the episode (minus the numerous recaps) involved the Milwood and Nomans stone - NEITHER OF WHICH provided any further evidence of anything. Frankly, I don't care if the Vikings were here first and established land claims on every acre. We're not giving it back. Isn't there something more interesting to research at these "hundreds of sites"?
Honestly, the only reason I watch this show now is to provide background for Jason's in depth research he provides afterwords (Jason, you should be getting a cut of the series).

LynnBrant link
12/23/2013 05:01:59 am

RLewis, You've hit on some good points. First it isn't most archaeologists, it's virtually all archeologists. In fact, there "is" no archaeology vis a vis the KRS. There is no archaeological context to explore, and there is no provenance. There is just the stone and an un-ending line of those trying to peer into it like a crystal ball.

You are also right that there is no new information, save for a little on the linguistics side re the KRS. There are plenty of claims, but they wither under any exam at all. It is unlikely that any of these stones and sites can ever be proven authentic, but also they cannot be proven hoaxes and forgeries. And THAT is exactly what keeps it alive. Think cottage industry.

Andy
12/22/2013 01:30:10 pm

Swing and a miss on this one. Can't wait for the next episode.

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Joyce D.
12/28/2013 10:54:00 am

The next episode appears to be as boring as this one was. Egyptians in the grand canyon? Seriously? I don't think the alien guys have taken on such a preposterous topic.

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William M Smith
12/22/2013 04:33:23 pm

I have not posted on this site for some time, however some facts I have found by hands on research may bring a new look to some that are searching for the truth. I will address some issues and try not to discredit other peoples research. I am not a author, just a retired engineer looking for the truth. I will address the KRS, Newport Tower and Mystery Stone of New Hampshire.
The Kensington Rune Stone
The .022 in. depth of the mechanical wear line just below the last row of runes should address the stones age. In studying 60 tomb stone ground lines dating from 1850 thru 1930, I find they all have a mechanical wear line and a ..003 wear can be expected every 50 years. This indicates the KRS stood as a tomb stone or land claim on the west side of Vinland for over 300 years before it fell on it's face and covered with dirt to be lifted from the ground by the grubbing of a poplar tree. This places the date of the KRS way before the 1800's. Their are over 10 stone holes of triangular shape around the hill at Kensington alone. The only other cluster is located about 65 miles west of this location. My study of these holes show they have nothing in common such as elevation, position on the stone, depth of hole and more, however one fact exist and that is the deeper the hole the stronger the magnetic effect on a compass. This is created because of the variance in magnetite from stone to stone. The main use for magnetite for early explorers was to load their stone in what is called a lodestone compass. In 1362 the lodestone compass was used to sow the magnetic declination when one made a change in longitude. The lodestone compass at that time was not the prime tool for longitude. The lunar compass was one of the prime tools as well as the cross staff. The lunar compass worked at mid day detected with a double gnomen sun dial located on the face of the lodestone compass. The longer of the two gnomens on the sun dial was set to a height that allowed the traveler to maintain latitude by the ability to raise or lower it to the starting latitude by reading a scale on the bottom of the gnomen and the face of the holding plate, It had the ability to detect mid day within 4 min. At mid day the traveler would mark the position of the moon. He knew the moon circled 12 degrees counter clockwise each day. He set his day count and the moons position at mid day on his first day of travel. As he traveled and viewed the moon position (only visible about 22 days in the month at mid day) He would compare its calculated position to its observed position. The difference gave him his longitude from home. The variance in his magnetic declination supported this reading. When he left Europe (Sagril, Portugal - home of Henry the Navigators school of Navigation) he wanted to mark Vinland as new claimed land as far as the eye can see. This is 90 degrees around the earth at the 45 degree latitude or 4,035 miles west. at his destination. The KRS. This trip took place in 1472 and it's departure is documented. Three ships of Caravel design led by Josh Cort real and commissioned by the King of Portugal and the King of Denmark. The KRS is also located on a latitude which is the center of the combined northern latitude of Denmark and the southern latitude of Portugal. When they arrived at Kensington they were aware of the cluster of stone holes 65 miles west of Kensington as the location Pal Knutson claimed as the west Vinland Marker. He also sailed with the commission from King Magnus of Denmark, At their new location they could not drag their swords in the sand to obtain magnetite so they drilled holes in rocks that produced the same material in order to reload their lodestone compass for their return trip.
The Mystery Stone of New Hampshire
This egg shaped stone has a sister stone in the Bermuda museum, which was donated to them by the family of George Somers who in 1611 brought a fleet of ships to save the colony of Jamestown. The difference in the two are the symbols carved into the Mystery stone of NH. They show the face of the Native American, the food they ate (corn, fish, bird and deer or bison), the houses they lived in (the teepee and the round house of the Mandan), it also shown the symbol for magnetic declination with two pointers, the lunar compass symbol with the moon and sun and the lunar month symbol as a spiral of 2 and 1/2 turns, indicating the inland journey took that long. The double size hole thru the center of the stone allowed the powder magnetite to be loaded and orientated to make a strong magnet by drawing a steel rod thru the stone before sealing the ends. The sealing of the ends and magnetite does not exist in the NH stone like it does in the Somers stone in Bermuda. Only one place on earth in 1362 or 1472 will match the symbols for food and shelter shown on the Mystery Stone. That is the Kensington area where the Mandan and Plains Native Americans lived side by side.
The Newport Tower
The Newport tower was buil

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Mark E.
12/22/2013 04:33:29 pm

Let me know if I got this right. There was a Viking that went across North America carving rune graffiti that says "Ole was here"?

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william smith
12/22/2013 04:42:00 pm

Sorry the post was to long to give you all the facts on the Newport Tower. In simple words the Newport Tower was built in 1472 to process cod fish. It was built by the Portuguese who left their mark as a triangle stone at the top of the tower 14 degrees west of true north when the magnetic declination was the same. The details and photos that explain all the facts of the tower are posted in a paper in Migration and Diffusion.

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Michael Haynes
12/23/2013 01:05:55 am

Went over to Scott Wolter Answers. He's posted his blog on the episode and talks a little more about the inconclusive translation of Nancy Millwood's rune stone, although he still doesn't provide a translation. He also believes it is post-Viking but genuine nevertheless. I won't rehash his words or comment on the posting, but go to his site and read it for yourself.

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william smith
12/23/2013 04:21:00 am

Michael - If you are recommending that I go to Scott Wolter's site and read his theory's that's fine. He like most other researchers has a lot of points that are interesting and has merit in some cases, however as a retired engineer not qualified as a geologist or runic expert I have my own findings. I met Scott many years ago when he spoke at a conference in Ohio. Then again in Rhode Island when he spoke at a NEARA conference, Then again when he was studying the KRS after my THOR team made a 3D image of the KRS for the Alexandria museum. The THOR team then went to Kansas City to study a runic stone which Scott had studied 4 weeks before we studied it. When we found solid scientific facts that dated the Kansas City stone to after 1888 and filed our report with the state of MO. Scott and his film company lost interest and did not follow up on the $50,000 offered to the owner of the stone. Scott states the Newport Tower will cast a light on the oval stone of Venus on Dec. 21 st at 9:00AM. This is not true because of the latitude of the tower an the position of the sun on that day. He said the Newport Tower is a church with no facts, He said the Mystery stone in NH was an Indian artifact. Not true. He said the KRS has a hidden code with the dotted R (Not true) he said the KRS was buried to be located by linking the lines made by the stone holes, Not true. He also said the KRS is older than the 1800s True, He said the rune stones with a hooked X are made by the Templars or Knights of Christ (likely true) He said the holy grail is likely in America (Likely true). Scott has done a lot of good work as well as bad. He has always stated that it is others to prove him wrong. I and others have in many cases, however he must be given credit where credit is true.

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RLewis
12/23/2013 04:34:26 am

Adding "Not True" or "True" to the end of each statement without supporting references really doesn't add anything to the discussion.

william smith
12/23/2013 06:40:11 am

Identify what true or not true you are interested in and I will provide the evidence for that specific item.

RLewis
12/23/2013 07:03:39 am

Well, to be fair, I suppose all of it. However, since your "not true" statements align with (as I understand it) mostly accepted facts - then the "true" or "likely true" are of most interest to me.

william smith
12/23/2013 11:41:15 am

Lewis - Answer to the true and likely true about SW claims on the KRS.
Older than the 1800s (True) - In addition to what Wolter stated as it is old is two other geologist Stewart and Winchell. Age of standing tomb stones can be estimated by measuring the mechanical wear line on the stone where it is in contact with the ground. The mechanical wear line on the KRS is in its sides and front about 2 in. below the last row of runes. Excluding the line of pot holes this line was measured with a straight edge, toothpick and micrometer at .022 in. The normal wear on hard and soft stones from 60 grave stones shaw an average wear of .003 in. per 50 years. (Study done by THOR group in 2002). Using 6 sigma criteria (one chance in 1000) with plus or minus of 100 years indicates the stone stood upright for at least 300 years. Add the 115 years to its finding makes it 415 years old. This does not indicate how long it was in the ground other than the poplar tree age estimate of 40 years old. (2013 - 415) places the age to be at least 1598 or older.at a 99.9 % confidence level.
Hooked X (likely true) In addition to the X Columbus documents 1492 it was a custom for stone masons and explorers to modify a letter when building a building or claiming property in order to get paid for their work. Many structures using more than one craftsman on a project identified their work from others by a unique signature on their work. (ref. Building practices of the Masons in ancient stone works in Europe)
Holy Grail in America (likely true) - In 1362 or 1472 the Templars and the Knights of Christ (one in the same) were looking for a place to hide or keep the treasure artifacts from the Pope. The Decaloge stone, Holy stone and the Stone cup found in Ohio could be part of these artifacts. (ref C Gordon, D Deal, H McCullah, B Fell) identify letters are a form of ancient Hebrew. The Holy stone is made like a sun dial bob with the sides making a 26 degree angle.(ref: J Michel) This angle is the same as the Holy latitude of ancient Egypt, This angle is the slope of the great hallway in the great Pyramid in Egypt (ref: C Dunn). It is also the center angle produced in a sun dial mold found in Ohio called The Ohio Rock (re: Me and B Fell). Note : The Ohio Rock was found buried face up so it would function as a time stone to allow the carver to return and recover the artifacts. Other material has been found that support this, however no dating has been confirmed at this time. It does have a shield of the Portuguese design carved in its corner. The site indicates abnormal activity took place and it is dead center of the land called Vinland. East coast to the KRS. It is also located at the south end of the 100 mile Hopewell road from Manchester Ohio to Newark Ohio. Better known as the killing field the native Americans used to contain the migrating bison from Kentucky into Ohio. (re; Me and the THOR group) The Hopewell Road has been addressed by B Lepper in his book with the same title.

RLewis
12/23/2013 01:40:57 pm

“Older than the 1800s (True) “
John F Stewart is described as an “amateur geologist” . Regardless, both he and Winchell studied the rock more than 100 years ago. As I understand it, there is little debate that the actual rock is very old (which is what the above geologists confirm). The bigger question is the linguistics and the provenance . I think one would have to admit these have been HEAVILY debated since it was “discovered”. Therefore, I challenge your level of confidence to flatly state it as True.

“Hooked X (likely true) “
Given the possible fact that stone masons modified letters intentionally (I have no reason to dispute this) – it’s quite a leap to claim these changes were made by the Templars. Masons and Templars are not one in the same. Likely True seems more like wishful thinking.

Holy Grail in America (likely true)
There is very little proof of a Holy Grail actually existing. The Ohio artifacts are HIGHLY disputed. I see no evidence to link these dubious artifacts rather than complete conjecture. I’m not sure why you offered the Holy Latitude as support, since I understand this related to Sun Worshipers (unless it’s a pun?). BTW, the resources I found on the Holy altitude put it at 23 degrees, not 26. Again, I can’t see how you get Likely True out of this jumble of sun dials, Pyramids, Portuguese shields, and bison killing fields.

J.A. Dickey
12/23/2013 05:50:56 am

Horrid thought! If the whole thing is inside a cipher or code
that was done up after the early 1500s and as late as the
1790s, how would you break it if its slightly ungrammatical
and the cipher is more complex than a Caesar's cipher? A
sentence could read one way to a lay person but indicate
something totally different! We might see a slightly wooden
prose being a hint as to a hidden layer. Technically, this is
and is not a hoax, merely a most curious "animal" thusly!!!

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william smith
12/23/2013 11:52:20 am

The cipher code identified by SW is based on dots located in specific letters and the Easter Sunday tables. The dots in the R when magnified using topographical photography done by Dick Neilson shows these dots are not man made when compared to known dots on the stone and natural porosity holes in the stone. (re: D Neilson). Another code is under study which indicates modern day Masons (Cooley) may have carved the KRS in the late 1800s. (re: Paul Steward)

J.A. Dickey
12/23/2013 09:11:30 am

i happily checked out scottwolteranswers.blogspot.com -- i wish
he was more bold & certain, to whit-- if he only would connect up
the N.C. runes with the Dare stones and think colonial time period.
Roanoke & CROATOAN, yes!!! did the French "borrow" a way more
ancient trading network, and is there a forgotten lore? SW tries to
place the confusing stones prior to the great plague of the 1300s...
was there once a grove of poplar trees over the KRS and does this
imply the early 1800s? Lewis & Clark are more official than other
bold travelers! Russians finding the Great Lakes after going thru
Siberia makes as much sense as footloose Pagan Vikings having
no way to get back to Europe save by getting lower down into the
Gulf Stream. Why snub Nantucket & focus on M'sV above all else?

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Rev. Phil Gotsch
12/23/2013 10:49:35 am

And lest we forget …

MAYBE "Vinland" is REALLY "Sri Lanka" … ???

J.A. Dickey
12/23/2013 11:54:14 am

Hi Rev. Phil Gotsch!!!

Maybe maybe maybe New Brunswick fits the Vinland lore if
its close to the Hudson's Bay area but does have wild grapes,
butternut trees and possibly even butternut squash during the
milder years prior to the onset of the Little Ice Age. I think if you
look at a map, lil ole Nantucket is almost due south of the Cape's
"elbow" and very near the Gulf Stream. Its the fast ticket home.
The Vikings may have missed Bermuda but did get to N.C + S.C
but if we see LATIN letters and runes mixed, think immigrants as
well as dates after the early 1600s. New England got colonized
further when the Puritans were loosing in the Mid-1600s but the
opposite happens as the Cavaliers are loosing ground to Cromwell.
The New World gains immigrants each time Europe has a religious
war. Our Civil War in the 1860s grew out of the U.K's one 215 years
earlier. The courtiers around James I & Charles I would have known
about the clever codes of the Thirty Years' War from 1618 to 1648
that utilized variations on extremely ancient runes to conceal intel.

william smith
12/23/2013 12:08:35 pm

The first outbreak of pneumonia in the USA has been suggested by research performed by a grad student of Rhode Island ( cant identify her name at this time) Her study consisted of the study of 60 native American skeletons that identified the first outbreak in America was in the latter part of the 13th century. It broke out in Narragessit Bay R.I. and in western Ill. at the same time. The 10 men dead and red with blood was studied by Dr. J Baker and I in 2001) His opinion from experience in this indicated that if the native Americans with no body build up to fight off this plaque the death would be from 10 to 12 days after contact. The last two or three days would consist of coughing up blood until death.

J.A. Dickey
12/23/2013 03:49:00 am

Museums in the past sometimes do not update their security
systems fast enough to keep up with the art thieves. The Gardner
in 1990 and Rembrandt's Sea of Galilee is a case in point. A very
clever hoax has a black market worth and value, so is poor SW
by bringing a focus making possible a thriving business that takes
advantage of lapses in judgement across the board? Someone
who has an obscene amount of illegal cash to burn is more open
to not questioning something that looks very authentic. Lets now
assume wild grapes do imply brief voyages to N.E. + Nova Scotia,
but that in the 1500s cod was an industry and that the George's
Bank drew vessels from Portugal, France and the U.K. and that
curious carvings could have been made prior to Jamestown up and
down the coast. Actually finding something Viking has the odds
stacked against one. We also might assume the Bubonic Plague
loused up travel in the mid-point of the 1300s dreadfully. Clearly an inscription that mixes styles in a semi-literate manner is later and
not earlier. The time-frame between the year 1500 and 1800 is a big
WHEN question if its not a hoax. Also, if ships often had stones as ballast then the area a stone came from and where it was found is
a most curious question. The explosion of literacy and semi-literacy
that is the legacy of the printing press suggests that earlier voyages
often were unrecorded and may not have had a saga about them!!!

Reply
J.A. Dickey
12/23/2013 11:23:27 am

this site gives a quick summing up of the runes over the centuries
http://www.canadianmysteries.ca/sites/vinland/vikinglife/runes/indexen.html

if this quote is accurate, its only by degrees that they fade away
in the rural areas of sweden & norway. they also lend themselves
to codes & cyphers. lets think of the years between A.D 1500 to A.D 1900 and the mixing of dialects, formats and dating systems!

"By the 16th century, Danes had largely stopped using runes, but the runic writing lived on in rural areas in Norway and Sweden, where they were used by otherwise illiterate people. There are about 350 such late inscriptions. In Sweden, special calendars based on runes were also in use from about 1200 well into the 20th century. Swedes in remote areas used runes until the 20th century. These late inscriptions have Latin letters mixed in with them, and the individual runes change significantly as well. During the thirty-year war 1618 to 1648 in Europe, in which Sweden was a major player, officers used runic script as a secret code when communicating on the continent. In the mid-19th century a special form of runes were developed for a similar use among itinerant tradesmen in the province of Dalarna in Sweden."

Reply
william smith
12/23/2013 12:12:57 pm

Their is an Indian legend about a Chief rowing his stone boat west to east across Lake Ontario to tell the five tribes of the new laws of the land.

Reply
Clint Knapp
12/23/2013 02:34:26 pm

The presence of a legend does not necessitate its truthfulness. There's also a Sauk legend that says a beautiful woman descended from the clouds to eat and visit with a pair of hunters who the next day found maize, tobacco and beans growing where she'd sat. This was to have been the origin of corn to the Sauk. (Autobiography of Ma-Ka-Tai-Me-She-Kia-Kiak, or Black Hawk- 1833)

Are we then to believe there are actually sky women who excrete corn from their backsides? Of course not. It's a legend.

The legend to which you refer is The Peacemaker, an Iroquois tale of the unification of the five tribes. It has nothing to do with Vikings at all. It speaks of a youth born of a virgin who in his eighteenth year built a canoe of white stone and sailed it around the shores of Lake Ontario to convince the warring tribes to accept peace. At the end of the tale, the Peacemaker (whose birth name is considered sacred and never spoken) uproots a tall tree and has the leaders of the tribes bury their weapons under its roots before replanting it.

Nothing of this has a thing to do with lost European voyages. It's a perfectly standard example of Native American storytelling by which a mundane event is given divine significance to impress its importance on future generations.

william smith
12/23/2013 03:32:18 pm

Yes Clint - we should not put any truth to Native American legend's. We should focus our attention on the experts who said we are in a man made global warning and the ice and snow at the north pole will be gone in short time. What bothers me is where is Santa Claus going to live.

Clint Knapp
12/23/2013 03:58:46 pm

No one is saying there is no truth at all, only that the surface tale cannot be taken as literal fact. But one should definitely not be mutilating such legends to espouse events that the legends themselves have absolutely no context for.

If the legend says an eighteen year old boy built a stone canoe and sailed around the shores of the lake to convince warring tribes to accept peace, one cannot turn that into a "chief" sailing across the lake to tell the tribes the new laws of the land. It's not at all what the legend states, and it further still has nothing to do with any European voyage. The legend itself states the Peacemaker was born of the Huron tribe, not that he was a white stranger from parts unknown passing out new laws.

But this is exactly the sort of wanton, uncritical reassignment of beliefs one expects from fringe hypothesis supporters. Read the legend for yourself, and if you still see Vikings there's nothing I, or anyone else, can say to help you:
http://www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Legends/ThePeacemakerAndTheTreeOfPeace-Iroquois.html

WinstonP
12/23/2013 07:38:15 am

Edmund Delabarre, who was more than happy to think Dighton Rock was the work of lost Portuguese sailors, unambiguously called the Noman's Land inscription a hoax - http://www.jstor.org/stable/361538 (

Reply
william smith
12/23/2013 12:56:41 pm

The date of 1511 and the Name of Michael Cort real are a few of the words translated on Dighton rock. The work of the late M DaSilva and his wife are the latest work I am aware of that include moving the rock to a high ground and building a museum to protect it. Recorded records from maps on copper and the tools of the cartographer who made these maps and other recordings were found in a cave in NY. When I completed a 64 page engineering confidential report on these artifacts for the owner it was reviewed by SW without my permission. When I ask SW if he had read the report he stated it was wrong and he had convinced the owner of a new theory he has. I told the owner the property should be turned over to the state for academic study and dating as well as it was priceless in the study for the truth about America before Columbus. The assembly of these artifacts make a lodestone compass as well as records of the last journey of the explorers. Their is no complete lodestone compass in existence with datable material other than these items. I am sure the History Chanel will expose these items in the future to fit their own intent and not the truth. I do not speak to the owner any more, however hope he does the proper thing by allowing the academics to study the artifacts and my report before we see the History Chanel version.

Reply
B L
12/23/2013 09:56:35 am

I think the remarkable thing about this episode is what is missing (what Scott Wolter conveniently fails to mention)....five new North American runestones Wolter has never addressed on any of his television shows up until now, and not a single hooked "X" on any of them. Kind of blasts his own Templar theory to bits, doesn't it?

Reply
Rev. Phil Gotsch
12/23/2013 11:37:13 am

Ummm … Were ALL Scandinavian explorers members of the Knights Templar … ??? Were ALL "Runes" entirely "standardized" in the Middle Ages … ??? Who says so … ???

Reply
J.A. Dickey
12/23/2013 12:04:32 pm

I'm trusting a loose description of the changes over 1500 years
but it looks like every 200 to 300 years the system used changes.
the www.canadainmysteries.ca site has broken things down into
epochs and has tried to sum up the changes in a "reader's digest"
way and manner. we all are novices and not experts, but there are
times when a style or look seems to predominate. i think each of
the regions where they were used had a degree of standardization.
there are changes over time & they are more obvious than Ogham.

J.A. Dickey
12/23/2013 12:14:12 pm

curiously enough, Oxford's J.R.R. Tolkien once knew many of
the old sagas & legends by heart and he would have known who
of his fellow professors to take an inscription to!!! if only S.W
could place online the feedback from at least 5 different experts
as to what the new N.C runes can indeed be thought to be saying!

B L
12/23/2013 01:37:49 pm

Rev:

"Were ALL Scandinavian explorers members of the Knights Templar?"

Nope. In fact, contrary to Wolter's belief, none of the imagined Scandinavian explorers would have been members of the Knights Templar. There is roughly a fifty year gap between when the Templars disbanded and the dates on the American rune stones. So, unless a group of geriatric 70 year old men set sail on a blind voyage and managed to penetrate about 1300 miles into the interior of an up-until-then unknown continent then.......

"Were ALL "Runes" entirely "standardized" in the Middle Ages?"

I'm no runologist, but I would guess they were not. However, I would suppose that they would be standardized enough that at least one single example of a hooked "X" could be found on a genuine European Runestone.

tripps
12/24/2013 05:22:04 am

BL- you are either nuts or naive if you think all these orders magically disappeared on certain official dates my friend

B L
12/24/2013 06:57:08 am

Neither nuts nor naive, tripps.

I'm sure it took awhile for each and every member of the order to give up for good, but....please follow my logic here....the Templars were officially disbanded in 1312. The date on the Kensington Runestone (the earliest dated American runestone) is 1362. That is exactly 50 years. Life expectancy during the 1300's was around 55 years. This means that there would have been about 3 whole generations between the Templars disbanding and the carving of the KRS. And, by the time the KRS was carved there would have been virtually no survivors of the original Templar order. So, anything close to surviving Templar ideology would have been three generations removed from actual Templars. And, we're supposed to believe, without any proof (just the gut instinct of Scott Wolter) that the Templars and their original goals lived on for at least three generations? There is no written account of this. As time went on their numbers would have dwindled. Members of the order wouldn't be bumping into each other on every country road anymore. Word of mouth wouldn't have been enough three generations after the fact. To make sure plans were carried out there would have had to have been some kind of written communication. C'mon, man!

This is to say absolutely nothing about the supposed vast Templar fleet that, according to myth, disappeared (and, as Wolter would have us believe, probably brought the holy grail to North America). This vast fleet of war ships was hidden and maintained for fifty years by a group of people three generations removed from the original Templars? Do you have any idea what kind of maintenance and money would be required to keep ONE fifty year old wooden ship in tip-top shape let alone an entire fleet? All of this done in secret for fifty years?

Two experiments I want you to try:

1. Tell a secret to THREE people and see if the secret can be kept for fifty DAYS let alone fifty years!

2. Get married. Have children. Convince your children to have children. When your grandchildren are 16 years old sit them down and tell them that they need to spend the remainder of their lives carrying out a plan you devised 50 years ago. See how successful you will be in convincing them to keep your dream alive.

This Templar story is great entertainment. It's exciting. I get it! If it were presented in a novel, I would buy it, read it, and enjoy it. But, when you pick the whole story apart none of the parts stand on their own merit. Hence, the entire narrative needs to be acknowledged as great FICTION.

Hidden Hooked X
12/24/2013 03:02:59 am

There seemed to be an upside down hooked X they kept focusing on, but it was most likely a natural flaw and not man made since the show didn't extrapolate. However, I have noticed a less 'evangelical' tenor to the show in its second season -- possibly due to Jason Colavito? Has anybody noticed -- at least slightly -- a shift toward less implausible grandiosity?

Reply
william smith
12/23/2013 01:22:41 pm

I am not aware of any time Scott Wolter has made claim of being an expert on runic letters. He has identified some runic stones with a hooked X and spent endless hours looking for European runes with this mark. I understand his logic (the wheel that gets the grease will last the longest). If the academics will not give him the time of day then go where the bread is put on the table. It is easy to voice an opinion to his work by pointing out the mistakes. One thing for sure, you can not be a quarter back sitting on the sidelines. He has called some good plays and stirred the interest of all watching the game.

Reply
Discovery of America
12/23/2013 11:44:29 pm

Scott Wolter is also a member of the Fringe Community

Reply
Discovery of America
12/23/2013 11:47:22 pm

This Thread has established three categories of people

1. The Gullible
2. The Critical
3. Those who exist on the twilight world between the gullible and the critical

Gunn Sinclair link
12/24/2013 06:56:52 am

Discovery of America, this thread has established more than the three categories of people you listed.

There is also the category of those like me. To wit, I am not gullible, yet I believe wholeheartedly in the authenticity of the KRS. I was formerly a corrections officer, and co's are not gullible--or they don't last long.

Neither am I a naturally critical person--except towards those who are first being critical or otherwise ignorant towards me. In my mind, I try to base as much as possible on facts and logic. I leave no room for adding anything to the message of the KRS, which we can recognize as being the main problem with most people commenting or writing about it. I don't add anything to it, unless it is at least very logical, such as with the stonehole rock evidence in the region.

It is already plenty mysterious enough without adding stupid material to it...vain theories that don't make any sense, or are flat-out crude, such as the example of the person above in this thread, who doesn't mind crapping on the gravestone of an innocent man. Towards people like this, with views like this, I am overtly critical. Jason himself spends most of his time being critical, and if the energies are directed the right way, there is nothing wrong with this...since he's chosen to make a hobby or eventual living doing this kind of work.

I guess you must fit snugly into the #2 category, yourself, right? So there must not be anything wrong with occasional criticalness, unless you choose now to be a hypocrite. I didn't think so. The end result is that you are, in your comment-- with list--throwing a broad net over everyone at once. Why throw a net out at all? (Or at least be willing to throw a few protected species back.) What kind of fisherman are you, any way?

Reply
An Over-Educated Grunt
12/24/2013 07:16:58 am

No idea if I'm the only one seeing this, but the headline here says S1E04, rather than S2E04.

One of these months I'll get around to actually seeing the episode. Sounds magical.

Reply
Jason Colavito link
12/24/2013 07:34:59 am

Oops... Thanks for catching the typo. I've fixed it.

Reply
John McGrath
2/17/2014 12:09:01 am

this was the first episode of America Unearthed I ever saw. I only watched it because I am interested in the topic. I grew up about a half mile from the site of the "Mill River Runestone" in Weymouth, MA, located in a swamp next to railroad tracks we used to walk along as a shortcut when I was a kid. The shortcut ended maybe 100 yards from the rock. I could have discovered it, as it was unknown back then. The ridiculous theory is that Vikings sailed down the Mill River from what is now Boston Harbor and marked their turf. I say ridiculous because the Mill River is an extremely small stream that us kids could easily cross with little effort. A Viking rowboat couldn't make its way down the stretch near my house and the stone site. As ridiculous as that claim is, it pales with claims of Vikings in Minnesota and Oklahoma. At least it was possible for Vikings to reach the Weymouth coast although the rock is ten miles inland. I suppose they could have hiked in, left the rock and hiked back out.
Of course the so called runes are scratches on a rock. Many runic claims come from an era when the Norse would have been using the Roman alphabet (like Kensington) so why didn't they? Sometimes they claim the scratches were Ogham, early Irish writing which was literally just coded scratches on rocks, that was only used for a brief period of time.
Anyway when I tuned in I didn't realize how charlatan-esque this show was but the very beginning was a tip-off with the use of the word "truth" obviously in the Jessie Ventura sense of the word (i.e. nonsense).
Anyway my take is that the odds of Norse in New England is slim. It was just too darn far away from Greenland and too hard a trip to make once, let alone repeatedly. The Vikings sailed along coastlines, not across the ocean. So such a trip would follow the Greenland coast, cross the Davis Strait where it was narrowest, then follow the Labrador coast down. Getting to Newfoundland would be an arduous trip. The trip would be doubled to get to southern New England. People have interpreted the saga geography, with a pond and a stream flowing into the ocean to be almost any lake close to the Atlantic coast. I've seen Machais, ME, Yarmouth, MA (guy found mooring holes there!), and Narraganset, RI (S of where the hooked X runestone was found) mentioned, as well as three or four more likely sites in Newfoundland.
Thanks for these commentaries. I yell at the tv when watching the show at the guy's logical fallacies. Maybe they can merge it with that other ridiculous but popular show and call it Unearthing Bigfoot.

Reply
Prudence L. Kuhn link
4/6/2014 03:05:34 pm

I have a rune stone story about Martha's Vinyard. Call me at 801-731-7080

Reply
Loke
7/15/2015 06:09:35 pm

Well, Scott don't know much about runes but he still makes more sense in this episode than he usually does.
There is actually one runestone in America where the Scandinavian rune experts agree with Walter: The Kenzington stone. Not for his reasons but the way it's creator used to date the thing. The cisterner monks of Wisby had their very own specifik system for dates in back then and the farmer who found it might have been able to falsify the runes pretty easy but there is no way he would have gotten the date like this, if he would have forged it he would have used the regular AD dating.
In fact did the Swedish version of Illustrated science have a pretty long article about it a few years back and most runeexperts here do agree.

That particular stone was however made in the 14th century and had nothing to do with Leif Ericsson.

Another thing to comment on is that a few later Scandinavian runestones actually use the old Futhark, Rökstenen is the most famous one who uses both types of runes and some special runes as well. It was made somewhere in the late 900s. The runemasters who knew the old runes tended to use both ways on the same stone however, probably to show that they had knowledge of the ancient way or just to show off so Scotts stone there is very likely a forgery anyways.

The theory that the vikings did reach Maine do differ with Scotts other theories about templars, the grail, the lost tribes of Isreal and such because they at least are possible.

But I surely wouldn't quote Adam of Bremen much, he talked about Centaurs in Nothern Sweden as well.
But a note about the winter grapes is that Adam were talking about the holy tree in Uppsala, a tree that were green the year around. Many scoolars have said it was pure hogwash but the holy Scandinavian tree was the Yew which actually is green all year round. Maybe it wasn't actually a grape but something else.

It certainly isn't impossible that the vikings reached Maine, it is just that Scotts "evidence" doesn't hold up to scrutiny. Most likely however is that Vinland was somewhere in Canada and it is far from impossible that some actual archeological finds in the future will prove that.

Reply
Sarah Kate
8/12/2015 08:52:07 am

Not sure if this is in any way relevant, since I know nothing of 11th Century Newfoundland or the Medieval Warm Period (and Wikipedia - overlords of all things research - states that the concept was "forgotten" between the Romans and 18th Century), but Canada is well known for its Icewine. You can read more about it here: http://winecountryontario.ca/wine-101/story-icewine.

Point being, grapes don't have to grow and be ripe year-round for them to exist on vines, and be capable of being made into wine, in the Winter.

As a side note, I find it interesting that America's hatred of apostrophes has evolved into America's favorite way to incorrectly pluralize.

Reply
Clara Kious
1/24/2016 06:55:50 pm

They came all the way to Alaska. My grandfather Edverd Edverdsen made his family in Barrow Alaska.

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      • Native American Discovery of Europe
      • Interview: Scott Sigler
      • Golden Fleeced
      • Oh the Horror
      • Discovery of America
      • Supernatural Television
      • Review of Civilization One
      • Who Lost the Middle Ages
      • Charioteer of the Gods
    • Collection: Ancient History >
      • Prehistoric Nuclear War
      • The China Syndrome
      • Atlantis, Mu, and the Maya
      • Easter Island Exposed
      • Who Built the Sphinx?
      • Who Built the Great Pyramid?
      • Archaeological Cover Up?
    • Collection: The Lovecraft Legacy >
      • Pauwels, Bergier, and Lovecraft
      • Lovecraft in Bergier
      • Lovecraft and Scientology
    • Collection: UFOs >
      • Alien Abduction at the Outer Limits
      • Aliens and Anal Probes
      • Ultra-Terrestrials and UFOs
      • Rebels, Queers, and Aliens
    • Scholomance: The Devil's School
    • Prehistory of Chupacabra
    • The Templars, the Holy Grail, & Henry Sinclair
    • Magicians of the Gods Review
    • The Curse of the Pharaohs
    • The Antediluvian Pyramid Myth
    • Whitewashing American Prehistory
    • James Dean's Cursed Porsche
  • The Library
    • Ancient Mysteries >
      • Ancient Texts >
        • Mesopotamian Texts >
          • Atrahasis Epic
          • Epic of Gilgamesh
          • Kutha Creation Legend
          • Babylonian Creation Myth
          • Descent of Ishtar
          • Berossus
          • Comparison of Antediluvian Histories
        • Egyptian Texts >
          • The Shipwrecked Sailor
          • Dream Stela of Thutmose IV
          • The Papyrus of Ani
          • Classical Accounts of the Pyramids
          • Inventory Stela
          • Manetho
          • Eratosthenes' King List
          • The Story of Setna
          • Leon of Pella
          • Diodorus on Egyptian History
          • On Isis and Osiris
          • Famine Stela
          • Old Egyptian Chronicle
          • The Book of Sothis
          • Horapollo
          • Al-Maqrizi's King List
        • Teshub and the Dragon
        • Hermetica >
          • The Three Hermeses
          • Kore Kosmou
          • Corpus Hermeticum
          • The Asclepius
          • The Emerald Tablet
          • Hermetic Fragments
          • Prologue to the Kyranides
          • The Secret of Creation
          • Ancient Alphabets Explained
          • Prologue to Ibn Umayl's Silvery Water
          • Book of the 24 Philosophers
          • Aurora of the Philosophers
        • Hesiod's Theogony
        • Periplus of Hanno
        • Ctesias' Indica
        • Sanchuniathon
        • Sima Qian
        • Syncellus's Enoch Fragments
        • The Book of Enoch
        • Slavonic Enoch
        • Sepher Yetzirah
        • Tacitus' Germania
        • De Dea Syria
        • Aelian's Various Histories
        • Julius Africanus' Chronography
        • Eusebius' Chronicle
        • Chinese Accounts of Rome
        • Ancient Chinese Automaton
        • The Orphic Argonautica
        • Fragments of Panodorus
        • Annianus on the Watchers
        • The Watchers and Antediluvian Wisdom
      • Medieval Texts >
        • Medieval Legends of Ancient Egypt >
          • Medieval Pyramid Lore
          • John Malalas on Ancient Egypt
          • Fragments of Abenephius
          • Akhbar al-zaman
          • Ibrahim ibn Wasif Shah
          • Murtada ibn al-‘Afif
          • Al-Maqrizi on the Pyramids
          • Al-Suyuti on the Pyramids
        • The Hunt for Noah's Ark
        • Isidore of Seville
        • Book of Liang: Fusang
        • Agobard on Magonia
        • Book of Thousands
        • Voyage of Saint Brendan
        • Power of Art and of Nature
        • Travels of Sir John Mandeville
        • Yazidi Revelation and Black Book
        • Al-Biruni on the Great Flood
        • Voyage of the Zeno Brothers
        • The Kensington Runestone (Hoax)
        • Islamic Discovery of America
        • The Aztec Creation Myth
      • Lost Civilizations >
        • Atlantis >
          • Plato's Atlantis Dialogues >
            • Timaeus
            • Critias
          • Fragments on Atlantis
          • Panchaea: The Other Atlantis
          • Eumalos on Atlantis (Hoax)
          • Gómara on Atlantis
          • Sardinia and Atlantis
          • Santorini and Atlantis
          • The Mound Builders and Atlantis
          • Donnelly's Atlantis
          • Atlantis in Morocco
          • Atlantis and the Sea Peoples
          • W. Scott-Elliot >
            • The Story of Atlantis
            • The Lost Lemuria
          • The Lost Atlantis
          • Atlantis in Africa
          • How I Found Atlantis (Hoax)
          • Termier on Atlantis
          • The Critias and Minoan Crete
          • Rebuttal to Termier
          • Further Responses to Termier
          • Flinders Petrie on Atlantis
        • Lost Cities >
          • Miscellaneous Lost Cities
          • The Seven Cities
          • The Lost City of Paititi
          • Manuscript 512
          • The Idolatrous City of Iximaya (Hoax)
          • The 1885 Moberly Lost City Hoax
          • The Elephants of Paredon (Hoax)
        • OOPARTs
        • Oronteus Finaeus Antarctica Map
        • Caucasians in Panama
        • Jefferson's Excavation
        • Fictitious Discoveries in America
        • Against Diffusionism
        • Tunnels Under Peru
        • The Parahyba Inscription (Hoax)
        • Mound Builders
        • Gunung Padang
        • Tales of Enchanted Islands
        • The 1907 Ancient World Map Hoax
        • The 1909 Grand Canyon Hoax
        • The Interglacial Period
        • Solving Oak Island
      • Religious Conspiracies >
        • Pantera, Father of Jesus?
        • Toledot Yeshu
        • Peter of les Vaux-de-Cernay on Cathars
        • Testimony of Jean de Châlons
        • Rosslyn Chapel and the 'Prentice's Pillar
        • The Many Wives of Jesus
        • Templar Infiltration of Labor
        • Louis Martin & the Holy Bloodline
        • The Life of St. Issa (Hoax)
        • On the Person of Jesus Christ
      • Giants in the Earth >
        • Fossil Origins of Myths >
          • Fossil Teeth and Bones of Elephants
          • Fossil Elephants
          • Fossil Bones of Teutobochus
          • Fossil Mammoths and Giants
          • Giants' Bones Dug Out of the Earth
          • Fossils and the Supernatural
          • Fossils, Myth, and Pseudo-History
          • Man During the Stone Age
          • Fossil Bones and Giants
          • American Elephant Myths
          • The Mammoth and the Flood
          • Fossils and Myth
          • Fossil Origin of the Cyclops
          • Mastodon, Mammoth, and Man
        • Fragments on Giants
        • Manichaean Book of Giants
        • Geoffrey on British Giants
        • Alfonso X's Hermetic History of Giants
        • Boccaccio and the Fossil 'Giant'
        • Book of Howth
        • Purchas His Pilgrimage
        • Edmond Temple's 1827 Giant Investigation
        • The Giants of Sardinia
        • Giants and the Sons of God
        • The Magnetism of Evil
        • Tertiary Giants
        • Smithsonian Giant Reports
        • Early American Giants
        • The Giant of Coahuila
        • Jewish Encyclopedia on Giants
        • Index of Giants
        • Newspaper Accounts of Giants
        • Lanier's A Book of Giants
      • Science and History >
        • Halley on Noah's Comet
        • The Newport Tower
        • Iron: The Stone from Heaven
        • Ararat and the Ark
        • Pyramid Facts and Fancies
        • Argonauts before Homer
        • The Deluge
        • Crown Prince Rudolf on the Pyramids
        • Old Mythology in New Apparel
        • Blavatsky on Dinosaurs
        • Teddy Roosevelt on Bigfoot
        • Devil Worship in France
        • Maspero's Review of Akhbar al-zaman
        • The Holy Grail as Lucifer's Crown Jewel
        • The Mutinous Sea
        • The Rock Wall of Rockwall
        • Fabulous Zoology
        • The Origins of Talos
        • Mexican Mythology
        • Chinese Pyramids
        • Maqrizi's Names of the Pharaohs
      • Extreme History >
        • Roman Empire Hoax
        • American Antiquities
        • American Cataclysms
        • England, the Remnant of Judah
        • Historical Chronology of the Mexicans
        • Maspero on the Predynastic Sphinx
        • Vestiges of the Mayas
        • Ragnarok: The Age of Fire and Gravel
        • Origins of the Egyptian People
        • The Secret Doctrine >
          • Volume 1: Cosmogenesis
          • Volume 2: Anthropogenesis
        • Phoenicians in America
        • The Electric Ark
        • Traces of European Influence
        • Prince Henry Sinclair
        • Pyramid Prophecies
        • Templars of Ancient Mexico
        • Chronology and the "Riddle of the Sphinx"
        • The Faith of Ancient Egypt
        • Spirit of the Hour in Archaeology
        • Book of the Damned
        • Great Pyramid As Noah's Ark
        • Richard Shaver's Proofs
    • Alien Encounters >
      • US Government Ancient Astronaut Files >
        • Fortean Society and Columbus
        • Inquiry into Shaver and Palmer
        • The Skyfort Document
        • Whirling Wheels
        • Denver Ancient Astronaut Lecture
        • Soviet Search for Lemuria
        • Visitors from Outer Space
        • Unidentified Flying Objects (Abstract)
        • "Flying Saucers"? They're a Myth
        • UFO Hypothesis Survival Questions
        • Air Force Academy UFO Textbook
        • The Condon Report on Ancient Astronauts
        • Atlantis Discovery Telegrams
        • Ancient Astronaut Society Telegram
        • Noah's Ark Cables
        • The Von Daniken Letter
        • CIA Psychic Probe of Ancient Mars
        • Scott Wolter Lawsuit
        • UFOs in Ancient China
        • CIA Report on Noah's Ark
        • CIA Noah's Ark Memos
        • Congressional Ancient Aliens Testimony
        • Ancient Astronaut and Nibiru Email
        • Congressional Ancient Mars Hearing
        • House UFO Hearing
      • Ancient Extraterrestrials >
        • Premodern UFO Sightings
        • The Moon Hoax
        • Inhabitants of Other Planets
        • Blavatsky on Ancient Astronauts
        • The Stanzas of Dzyan (Hoax)
        • Aerolites and Religion
        • What Is Theosophy?
        • Plane of Ether
        • The Adepts from Venus
      • A Message from Mars
      • Saucer Mystery Solved?
      • Orville Wright on UFOs
      • Interdimensional Flying Saucers
      • Flying Saucers Are Real
      • Report on UFOs
    • The Supernatural >
      • The Devils of Loudun
      • Sublime and Beautiful
      • Voltaire on Vampires
      • Demonology and Witchcraft
      • Thaumaturgia
      • Bulgarian Vampires
      • Religion and Evolution
      • Transylvanian Superstitions
      • Defining a Zombie
      • Dread of the Supernatural
      • Vampires
      • Werewolves and Vampires and Ghouls
      • Science and Fairy Stories
      • The Cursed Car
    • Classic Fiction >
      • Lucian's True History
      • Some Words with a Mummy
      • The Coming Race
      • King Solomon's Mines
      • An Inhabitant of Carcosa
      • The Xipéhuz
      • Lot No. 249
      • The Novel of the Black Seal
      • The Island of Doctor Moreau
      • Pharaoh's Curse
      • Edison's Conquest of Mars
      • The Lost Continent
      • Count Magnus
      • The Mysterious Stranger
      • The Wendigo
      • Sredni Vashtar
      • The Lost World
      • The Red One
      • H. P. Lovecraft >
        • Dagon
        • The Call of Cthulhu
        • History of the Necronomicon
        • At the Mountains of Madness
        • Lovecraft's Library in 1932
      • The Skeptical Poltergeist
      • The Corpse on the Grating
      • The Second Satellite
      • Queen of the Black Coast
      • A Martian Odyssey
    • Classic Genre Movies
    • Miscellaneous Documents >
      • The Balloon-Hoax
      • A Problem in Greek Ethics
      • The Migration of Symbols
      • The Gospel of Intensity
      • De Profundis
      • The Life and Death of Crown Prince Rudolf
      • The Bathtub Hoax
      • Crown Prince Rudolf's Letters
      • Position of Viking Women
      • Employment of Homosexuals
      • James Dean's Scrapbook
      • James Dean's Love Letters
      • The Amazing James Dean Hoax!
    • Free Classic Pseudohistory eBooks
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