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Revisiting America Unearthed S01E02 "Medieval Desert Mystery": What's in a Name?

3/15/2013

32 Comments

 
As I mentioned the other day, I’m revising my early reviews of America Unearthed to collect them for a book. Once again, I noticed that in my review of S01E02 “Medieval Desert Mystery,” I overlooked a significant problem because I wasn’t aware at the time just how badly the show fakes its material. In the episode, Scott Wolter finds a stone in Arizona covered in runes that allegedly state that the rock marks the burial place of “Rough Hurech,” an Englishman of the year 1200. After hearing from those who can read runes that the rock was actually hoaxed gibberish (no coherent words can be formed from the runes), I didn’t think much about the translation. That was a mistake.

As a side note, in re-researching this episode, I also found that the white supremacist group Stormfront (to which I am not linking do to its extreme nature) discussed this episode on its message boards as a “program of interest to white people,” and users stated that “we have our own media now,” in response to America Unearthed (among several shows). While this is not the producers’ or Scott Wolter’s intention, it is disturbing that the show has been adopted by white supremacists as part of the “white pride” movement.

(Note: What follows contains some text that originally appeared in my first review of the episode.)
In the episode Mike Carr, by phone, tells us that the runes identify the deceased as Peter “Rough” Hurech, a name associated with Staffordshire in England. As we shall see momentarily, this man probably never existed. According to Mike, the rune stone reads: “The body in contrast with the soul fits/lays / Rough Hurech here / He enjoyed entertainment, joy, merriment, the secret stolen / Rough Hurech’s body—fame and glory / Dust beyond Eden / Eden’s temple.” Remember that others with knowledge of runes have analyzed the rock and concluded it was gibberish and does not contain any name whatsoever. We do not hear how Mike translated the runes, but I was able to find parts of the translation appearing verbatim in the Bosworth-Toller Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, where the entry for the word líc (body) gives the specific definition “the body in contrast with the soul or vital principle…” The italicized words were the definition and the roman words explication. The translator of the rune stone appears to have misunderstood the explanatory definition and included the entire explanation in his translation. Similarly, the three synonyms “entertainment, joy, merriment” smack of a dictionary definition, not unlike Bosworth’s “joy, music, musical accompaniment of a song, mirth, jesting” given for gleow. The amateur effort on display in taking all possible synonyms as part of a single meaning strongly smacks of fakery, or at least a translator out of his depth, seeing connections where none exist in ambiguous, random lettering. I also wonder if the otherwise unattested nickname “Rough” came from finding “rough” as the definition for hrio, hrúh, and hreó, words very similar to Hurech.

The odd phrase “Eden’s temple” appears to be a reference, probably of Mike Carr’s own devising, to Beth-eden, the “house (i.e. temple) of Eden,” on the plain of Damascus, in Amos 1:5, which speaks to God’s promise to destroy the pagans of Eden (a Syrian city—not the garden) and the surrounding region, but also implies that Mike means to relate Hurech to the Crusaders, who around 1200 had just lost control of Damascus and the Holy Land to Saladin. It is impossible for me to say at a distance, but the translation appears to be geared toward providing a putative justification for Hurech’s travels—that he had left England for the Crusades. That said, I’m not able to find any other standard use for the phrase “Eden’s temple” or “House of Eden,” a very weird set of words that are not usually used in reference to Paradise.

Readers will recall that Wolter traveled to England to meet with Alan Butler, an alternative history author whose research has focused on ancient goddess religions and his belief that the Knights Templar and Freemasons perpetuate goddess ideology. He also tried to sue me back in 2005 for reviewing in Skeptic magazine without express permission a book he and Christopher Knight wrote about megalithic architecture in which they claimed that an Atlantis-like civilization encoded cosmic information into the measurements of Neolithic stone circles. I didn’t think much of the book, and I thought less of him and Knight after their threatened lawsuit.

Butler claims that county records in Staffordshire associated a certain Peter Hurech with the Whittington Inn, a manor house built in 1310, converted into an inn in 1783, and now serving as a pub. The building stands atop land that paranormal researchers looking into the inn’s alleged ghosts say was purchased by Hurech for 20 shillings for a farm back in the 1100s. However, according to William Page’s History of the County of Stafford, the land actually belonged from the 1160s to Philip de Kinver, also called Philip Helgot, who was in debt and had to forfeit the land to Thomas fitz Bernard from 1181 until Geoffrey fitz Peter took over in 1183, before returning six months later to Philip de Kinver, who held it past the point when Hurech would have left. Philip was compelled to pay £20 to build a hunting lodge for King Henry II to settle the back rent he owed on the farm; it is this lodge that eventually grew into Whittington Inn when a nobleman of that name expanded the lodge into a manor in 1307-1310. Peter Hurech, should such a man have existed, would therefore have been a tenant of Philip, though only the elite could own significant property such as a manor, but Butler claims he actually built the Whittington Inn, the present form of which is not older than 1310, and mostly rebuilt after the 1600s. Since we know who actually owned the property, this Peter Hurech could not be an actual nobleman of any note, raising the question of where a tenant farmer got the money to fund an expedition. Hurech, Butler asserts, can be traced in English records down to around 1200, but he left no offspring and his surname died out in Staffordshire after 1200. We never see a single actual record, only Butler reading a text message he asserts came from the county records office. This is highly suspicious.

Obviously, I was not willing to take Butler at his word given our history. I contacted the Staffordshire County Records Office and inquired about the claims made on the program. The duty archivist at the records office was unfailingly polite but quite obviously concerned about the claims made for information provided by her office. Not only did the county records office not provide any information about the Hurech family to America Unearthed or to Alan Butler, but there is no existing record for anyone of the name Hurech in Staffordshire or Stoke on Trent in any extant index for any century, not in the electronic index nor the manual index. No record of “Hurech” or any similar name appears in any of the indexes to twelfth century records in the four volumes of the Collections for the History of Staffordshire series published by the Staffordshire Records Society (formerly the William Salt Archaeological Society) that cover the relevant century. While the archivist cautioned that such indexes are compiled based on archivists’ judgment and therefore are partial, so an obscure name may exist within the body of the records without being indexed, the county has no record of any family by the name of Hurech. On the program, the research discovering the “Hurech” records is presented as having taken but an afternoon (by 4 PM!), an impossibility given that the name is not indexed.

This is only to be expected, of course, since surnames only began to be adopted among the Norman nobility in the twelfth century and only filtered down to the common people in the thirteenth and fourteenth. It is only after 1300 that we see surnames passed from father to son, thus creating family names. So where did America Unearthed get its name from? That I do not know for sure. It is possible that the name was created backward from Mike Carr’s fanciful reading of the fake Arizona runes. It is also possible that the “Hurech” Butler was referring to was an attempt to retroactively Anglo-Saxonize the Norman name of the known Staffordshire nobleman Hugh fitz Peter (died c. 1210), the son of Peter de Birmingham, who was active around this time and held lands in Staffordshire. Although no such name appears in Anglo-Saxon records, Hu- (“mind”) is a Saxon first element cognate with Hugh (Old French Hue, meaning “mind,” “heart,” or “soul”), and –ric (“ruler”) a second element, so the name Huric is a possible construction that someone might mistake for a Saxon form of Hugh, especially in back-constructing a moniker for a ruler named Hugh. It might also be a mistake for other Peters operating in the area, like Peter de Broc (de Brok), if the “B” was misread as an “H.” This family shares many of the traits ascribed to Hurech, for Peter de Broc, who died in 1219, was the last of his line, after which his family vanishes from Staffordshire—his lands reverting to Hugh de Loges. The last occurrence of the de Broc name occurs in the Book of Fees in the 1300s, but not in Staffordshire but rather in Hampshire.

The most likely scenario, however, involves a British ghost hunting group, Elite Paranormal, who investigated the manor for ghosts in 2011. Their website is the only other place where the name Peter de Hurech appears, and they claim he held the land (as a “manor,” or estate) prior to 1187 as a tenant of Philip of Kinver, although they give no source for the claim. They correctly note that the current manor house itself was not built until the 1300s. I would imagine that the America Unearthed team read this webpage, misunderstood it, and derived their claims about Peter from that. I tried to contact Elite Paranormal to find out where they got their information, but I haven’t heard back yet.

Again, it is possible that a Peter de Hurech exists in the Staffordshire county records, but it’s up to Alan Butler and Scott Wolter to show where since the county archivist was unable to find it and is not able to confirm that the office provided any Hurechs to America Unearthed or Alan Butler, much less by 4 PM on the day of filming.

32 Comments
The Other J.
3/15/2013 06:44:10 am

This is an excellent piece of media detective work. What's more, I know your area is archaeology/anthropology, but here you're using the basic tools of good journalism to verify a story.

I don't know the inner workings of H2 (or really outer workings, for that matter), but this raises some other questions: First, do they have no one in production that's double-checking any of this information as it's scripted and presented? Do they not have any fact-checkers? Or do they rely on Sir Wolter Scott's production company for that?

Second, if they do have someone to double-check the information, they must have known it was sketchy, so why risk company reputation by letting it go out? Aren't they putting themselves at risk of a law suit? Or do they think little enough of their audience that no one will check or care?

Third, if they don't have anyone to double-check information, doesn't that still leave them just as open to recriminations or possible law suits? Wouldn't the Staffordshire County Records Office have at least a complaint against Butler if he fraudulently presented information about them on international television?

Fourth, if such complaints are a real legal possibility, and there is a pattern of guests on the show with gripes about how what they said when filmed was edited to make them say the opposite of what they believed, are there even more possible legal issues at stake?

Because the only way I can really see them defending deliberate and active misrepresentation is either by clearing announcing at the start of the program that the findings are simply opinion and/or conjecture, no matter what conclusions they come to, or it's satire and therefor protected under the first amendment.

Either way, it seems Sir Wolter Scott might be digging his way into some territory his arcaeopetrography can't help him with.

Reply
The Other J.
3/15/2013 06:47:06 am

Clearly announcing, not clearing announcing. Duh.

Reply
Jason Colavito link
3/15/2013 07:07:39 am

In the United States, there is no penalty for broadcasting untruth so long as it does not meet the legal definitions of fraud or libel. In the episode, Alan Butler very carefully says that *he* was in the records office doing research and that *a lady* in the office would get back to him. While the impression is that the records office was texting him, the literal meaning of the words could be construed as someone not affiliated with the office was working for Butler and physically present in the office, so as legal matter it probably isn't misrepresentation. Further, should the office have confirmed for Butler that Peter de Broc disappears after 1219 (when he was murdered), Butler would have honestly reported the findings. He carefully pronounces Hurech as "Hr-OAK," leading me to think that he was misreading de Broc as "de Hroc."

The H2 network merely buys the program from Committee Films, who are solely responsible for the accuracy of the content. H2 can attempt to exercise quality control, should they wish to do so, but I can't imagine that they really care about accuracy. They broadcast Ancient Aliens, after all.

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The Other J.
3/15/2013 08:12:59 am

Got it on Butler -- although it seems disingenuous and sneaky, I can see where what he said and did has plenty of wiggle room.

And I'm not familiar enough with the legal definition of fraud, beyond what would count as academic plagiarism. But I imagine it's defined clearly enough that a show about unprovable assertions could skirt that issue. (I'm thinking mainly about if their active misrepresentation of guest experts statements might fall in that category, but like I said, I'm not familiar enough with the legal definition of fraud in the U.S. -- although I believe it's more far-reaching in the U.K., despite the tabloid culture.)

Point taken on H2 and Ancient Aliens, although AU seems to be a bit of a different animal. I've never really given it much attention, but AA always struck me as the pseudo-historical equivalent of different interpretations of what a cloud looks like. It seemed so clearly in the world of speculation that they could get away with more weird theories. AU seems to be challenging more or less established facts with countering facts -- except they're producing the facts themselves, not discovering them, and their methodology is suspect at best and deceptive at worst. It just feels a bit more devious.

You should start a meme with Wolter: I'm not saying it was Templars, but it was Templars.

Mike
7/3/2014 05:42:16 am

Jason,
You are definitely correct that there is no penalty for broadcasting untruths in the United States. Obama does it every time he speaks to the American people, and CNN makes billions doing it every day.
But I'm curious if you can provide links to your sources that refute the translation or other parts of the story. I saw this episode as well and found it interesting. Yet I'm not inclined to blindly believe what I see on TV, or what I read on the web. But before I dismiss the Hurech story I'd like to see the evidence that it's a hoax first hand. You stated that "others" (who?) analyzed the rock and concluded it was jibberish. Is your position is that someone in the 1200's took the time to carve random illogical words into a rock? Perhaps an insane person? Are there many archeological discoveries where people carved jibberish into rocks, statues, or other artifacts? Was carving jibberish common in many cultures?
I'd also like to ask why you included the fact that white supremacist groups have taken a liking to the show in your review. Are you suggesting that this fact is relevant in a discussion of the credibility of the show? If not what was the purpose of including this fact? Do you monitor white supremacist web sites regularly?

Jason Colavito link
7/3/2014 06:37:19 am

Mike, you're starting from the premise that the carving is authentic. If you go back to my original review (this page is a follow-up), you'll see that earlier archaeological surveys found no evidence of this carving, suggesting it was added recently. The people who looked at the runes are posters on this blog who read runes, as well as professional runic scholars who communicated with me after the episode aired to note the nonsense. If you Google the material, you'll find rune experts on other websites who came to the same conclusions.

May I ask why my inquiry to the county records office in Britain doesn't seem to count as evidence that the story as given is untrue? Butler made a specific claim, and his source denied it.

Mike
7/3/2014 02:42:00 pm

Jason,
With all due respect, your claim that you talked to an unnamed source in the county records office isn't necessarily more credible than the show's claim they did the same, although I am inclined to believe you're telling the truth. It's just that by trying to tie the show to white supremacist groups it comes across as though you're motive is to discredit the story / show at all costs, as opposed to trying to find the truth. It's like if one person calls another a racist for criticizing the president, they are usually trying to attack the person in the most damaging possible way, because they can't attack the content of their statements. What better way to cast doubt on someone than even suggest they are a white supremacist? If you look at the rest if the comments on this post, they are centered around that hot button topic, as opposed to whether or not the story was factual. By including that little nugget about support from white supremacists, which I still don't understand how you would know unless you frequent their web sites, you took the focus off what would be an interesting debate in favor of trying to slander the show.

Mike
7/3/2014 02:42:07 pm

Jason,
With all due respect, your claim that you talked to an unnamed source in the county records office isn't necessarily more credible than the show's claim they did the same, although I am inclined to believe you're telling the truth. It's just that by trying to tie the show to white supremacist groups it comes across as though you're motive is to discredit the story / show at all costs, as opposed to trying to find the truth. It's like if one person calls another a racist for criticizing the president, they are usually trying to attack the person in the most damaging possible way, because they can't attack the content of their statements. What better way to cast doubt on someone than even suggest they are a white supremacist? If you look at the rest if the comments on this post, they are centered around that hot button topic, as opposed to whether or not the story was factual. By including that little nugget about support from white supremacists, which I still don't understand how you would know unless you frequent their web sites, you took the focus off what would be an interesting debate in favor of trying to slander the show.

Jason Colavito link
7/3/2014 02:58:18 pm

My remit is to cover the culture of fringe history, which includes how it is used. I found out about the white supremacists by doing research: I did a Google search for the show title. ... If you don't believe I called the records office, you are welcome to contact them yourself. But why would you then assume the show is telling the truth? They showed no one from that office. ... I can provide copies of emails if necessary, but I don't publish those online.

Cathleen Anderson
3/15/2013 07:00:00 am

I'm curious Jason, what did happen with that threatened law suit. Sounds pretty ridiculous that they would even try something that stupid.

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Jason Coalvito link
3/15/2013 07:12:52 am

The U.S. publisher of "Civilization One" (U.K.: Civilsation One) sent Skeptic magazine a review copy, and Skeptic assigned me to review it. The review was published prior to the official release date of the book, and Knight and Butler threatened legal action as a result because the U.K. publisher had embargoed the book until publication. In the U.S., however, the American publisher had placed no embargo on the book, nor is one legally enforceable without a signed contract, which of course I had never signed.

So, their lawyer wrote me a nasty letter threatening legal action for publishing a negative review that could damage sales before the official publication date, and Skeptic replied forcefully, reminding them of the law in the United States, with copies sent to the publisher's P.R. flak, who immediately and profusely apologized for the "mix-up" between the U.S. and U.K. publishers' plans and Knight and Butler's ignorance of the difference.

And with that, it ended.

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tim lazenby
4/8/2015 12:04:05 am

Dear Jason

I've just watched this show and am frankly amazed at the audacity of this guy, the levels that people will sink to earn a crust are appalling. My question however is, who do we have to thank for the fake headstone History channel or matey in the show. Surely there is a law somewhere preventing this type of thing happening?

Christopher Randolph
3/15/2013 09:16:46 am

Excellent post once again.

I should think History is fully well aware from a marketing perspective that the show has a (super?)majority white audience and sends messages comforting to them. I'm sure advertisers are made aware of this as part of the usual demographic data.

For me it's always far more interesting and revealing to look at who actually supports an idea, piece of entertainment or product than to look at the groups to whom the promoters of that idea, entertainment or product like to say they are marketing it.

At the end of the day the Stormfront people are absolutely correct in the assessment that this is a show which aids and comforts them. I actually find formally declared racists in some small way to be oddly honorable in their honesty, if only for that reason. This is better than making or supporting a show shot through with racist assumptions and then not owning up to any of it, and pretending to be promoting science and history.

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The Other J.
3/15/2013 10:11:52 am

"I'm sure advertisers are made aware of this as part of the usual demographic data."

In previous life I worked in cable advertising, and you wouldn't believe how precise and broken-down those demographics are. We had a library of three-ring binders filled with demo data. That data was used by sales to create a weird kind of immoral virtuous cycle during the era of Clinton scandals: A scandal would emerge, and it didn't matter if it was manufactured or not; sales knew what demographics would be watching what news channels at almost 15 minute intervals, and they pushed sales on those stations to mid to middle-upper-level advertisers, at a premium; the advertisers couldn't pay us enough to get ads on at the right times, and as a result more people saw their ads, shopped at those locations, and the advertisers' sales increased, as did ours -- all based on scandals. It was pretty icky, and hearing sales discuss it in such greedily clinical ways was the slime on top. It was effective, but so is venom.

Also, I think you're right about looking at who supports an idea. At least with pop history/archaeology/anthropology, the sociology behind the people supporting an idea is more often than not more interesting than the idea itself.

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John J. McKay link
3/15/2013 04:09:11 pm

There is a whole Celtic subculture within the white supremacist movement. Hitler, himself, had a special resect for the Scottish, having been stationed across the trenches from a battalion during WWI. They were recognized as honorary Aryans in the official race theory of the Reich. This is a fairly obscure fact and I don't think it has had a large influence among American racists.

How it does work into American White supremicism is through British Israelitism, the theory that the lost tribes of Israel wandered around Northern Eurasia before arriving in Britain making the British God's chosen people. The Aryan nations, who existed in Northern Idaho until their members began engaging in outright terrorism, adopted this theory and assigned different tribes to the ten pure white nations as they saw them. This was nothing new. As early as the 1690s proto-nationalists in Northern Europe were claiming lost tribes as their founders. British Israelitism grew out of this naive search for a historical lineage. The murderous, White supremicist version was mostly an American continuation of this type of nationalism.

Where do the Celts fit into this? Britain has had it's own form of bitter nationalist racism since the end of the empire. Naturally, it has it's strength among the most bitter and dispossed groups, which includes portions of all classes. The National Front gets street fighters from the poor, money from the rich, and votes from the middle class. As early as the sixties, there were attempts by the most ambitious to unite the Anglo-Saxon, Celtic, and American White supremicist groups, with limited success. Even today, their are leaders who try to turn that into a international movement, but the era of popular fronts is over, and an international nationalist coalition was always an oxymoron. <Insert gratuitous moron joke here.>

One of the places where the Celtic White supremicists and the Aryan White supremicists have hooked up has been in the ancient gods realm. The Aryans have various versions of Asatru and the racist Celts have been developing their own version of warrior druids. I'm not sure if they have come together into something other than video game nonesense, but they will. This isn't mother goddess worship. They want good old phallic worship. Gods of war! Beer! Swords! Women and minorities in their places! And, they mean phallic worship in a completely non-gay way! Don't even think that.

The fantasy novel warrior/wanderer fits right into their narratives, so it doesn't surprise me that they love these shows.

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L Bean
3/15/2013 07:46:58 pm

I made a similar comment about "Stormfront" here a few posts ago. Unfortunately I cannot believe that the History Channel is not complicit, since memes like this show up at places like SF first, not vice versa. And the whole Templar/white nationalist crap is practically an American demographic at this point. It's due to the various tracts by various cranks who also happen to have a very "Victorian" view on humanity, much like their inspirations, and all of this started before the internet. A lot of the crap the old-school "skinhead" pampleteers used to push through mail order often mentioned this Templar/Viking/Pure Christianity bs. You could probably make a pretty solid case that Wolter et al are focusing on a "group" if you were able to research the ADL/SPLC archives of this crap. I only hold knowledge of it in my memory.

My first thought after I watch these shows is not; "Oh no, the folks at Stormfront will LOVE this", because these memes are old hat over there!! The History Channel *may* be simply giving the people what they think is desired, but what I wonder is who was the initial liaison...someone had to say; "Ya know, there's this certain demographic and I know just the perfect material for them", but the original materials(the ahistorical tracts written by old men on disability that Wolter pores over at least) itself is tainted with White Nationalist kook involvement. So who is that "in touch" with The History Channel? Is Scott Wolter a flaming nazi or did someone talk HIM into what he's doing now?

What's the word - they doth protest too much? I'm sure I'm not the only one who noticed the "fair treatment" given to skinheads, KKK, Hitler etc on the channel a few years ago. Hours and hours of doc footage and sympathetic-ish interviews. Well, now they've sort of backed off on that schtick in favor of ... I hate to keep repeating it; White Nationalism. Whether it's aliens teaching the brown folks how to compete with their mythical white superiors, or viking magicians who were able to vaporize all traces of their early American colonies and wipe clear the mind of the red savage while they were at it, it all comes back to the same, simple principle for "that" demographic. I'm loath to go "check it out" over there, but I'm sure there are more gems than the one you noticed. Horrible.

The problem is that there is no real history taught in American schools and people do have a natural thirst for it. When whatever they find in the Crystal Skull/Templar section of their public library dovetails with their already inherent racism, it's not surprising that the advent of the internet has been like throwing a match on a fuel-soaked pyre of ignorance.

"We have our own media now" should not be discounted. The culture vultures can and will whore out to any client. Aren't there laws against hate speech? I know this is a losing battle of course, all one need do is turn on Fox News or the 700 Club to see that the dog will never hunt.

I know you probably don't want to get political, to "go there" but when good men do nothing, evil prevails. I'm amazed at all of the wanderers who've arrived at this website, myself included, all in the name of what I'm sure we all thought were some pretty basic facts, being memory-holed with the help of corporate programming.

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Tara Jordan
3/16/2013 04:18:49 am

"The problem is that there is no real history taught in American schools" & even the most educated amongst educated Americans have the irritable tendency to politicize everything .....

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T.
3/16/2013 01:57:37 pm

Tara, I'm just curious as to what your firsthand experience with the American school system and with the "most educated of the educated" in the United States is that you can so confidently make that kind of broad statement? While I would agree that it can be irritating when politics creeps into places I might not want it I would point out that I don't believe this to be a strictly American problem.

John J. McKay link
3/16/2013 03:39:36 pm

"Aren't there laws against hate speech?"

No. There are not, not in the US.

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Konrad Hartmann
3/23/2013 03:39:17 pm

Hello, I enjoyed the article and wanted to say thanks for the research.

There exist a number of problems with the Arizona runestone episode. Firstly, what identifies these as Anglo-Saxon runes? AS runes have a number of distinctions from Elder or Younger Futhark systems, but I don't recall seeing anyone of them. Secondly, I don't remember what all of them looked like, but I do recall the sowilo or sig rune (the S equivalent), which has been carved in different ways throughout history, was also carved two different ways on the stone in question, as though the forger thought they were two different characters. Thirdly, the use of the AS Futhorc seems fairly anachronistic at the date claimed.

These aren't all the problems with the episode, but they are a few that stuck out.

Lastly, I just wanted to mention something in regard to Celtic paganism and Germanic heathenry, which got slagged pretty hard above as being racist. I wanted to point out that, although racist groups exist, most practitioners of these religions are not racist. By way of comparison, my Mom is a Christian, and the KKK is Christian, but that doesn't put my Mom in the KKK, if you follow.

Thanks, and keep up the good work.
Konrad

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Sunday Rambling
7/15/2013 12:25:22 am

Thanks for this post I just saw this last night via the Web, and got rid of the TV a few years ago. I appreciate the at least someone is trying to spread some truth to what the Televison Industry is doing. What one Greedy Network does the others follow, Its a sad time in entertainment and education. Even PBS has at time bought into some of these badly produced shows. And There should be limits set to some of the things airing these days. A prime example was a recent MERMAID special which brought some raised eyebrows from officials but was passed off as a "Mockumentary". I don't think prosecution will follow but perhaps should have. My concern is the path of such shows that lead to other behaviors within the population. As an example I give you "Survival shows" and "Apocalypse "shows Which I personally feel may be leading unchecked Schizophrenics (free in society, with no one monitoring their medications or self medication) and the like to behave in dangerous ways. Recently, I had my own encounter with one such viewer of one of these shows, who threatened others, based on things they learned from such a Television shows. I fear for our what these types of shows are doing to our society as a whole, as well as to its "fringe elements" that might put others in danger. I promise I am no flesh eating zombie. Even without the Free schizophrenics running loose I have real concerns over less educated/ Less capable people left with the fears instilled and the costs the bear for that fear. I poor guy does not need to spend 10 grand on a "bunker" for example, in fact he will most likely have to borrow the cash to do so or build his own unstable shelter that is not up to code. Its the fleecing of America one show at a time. The Psychology of TV at work. Furthermore, it almost seems like a bit of abuse of the system when complaints are lodged with these networks, and the networks threaten lawsuits against citizens for bad reviews and truths pointed out and documented by John Q Public and Journalists. In fact a few of the stars currently have Prison records ranging the gambit from drugs to sex offenders, ( Now you know why I got rid of the TV)..Regardless, this post was refreshing read with useful information for others to know. Be very careful and save yourself the cable or satellite bill$. If its on TV these days..its an Advertisement called a TV show...they are selling you on a mindset and all that follow$$$$ Thanks Again.

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Debora Norton link
2/22/2014 12:36:47 pm

I am not an expert in Runic writing but even I could see that the translation was wrong. The first clue was the 'repeat' of the name, supposedly Rough Hurech. There is nothing to indicate this.
If it was a learned person carving a name into a memorial he would have more likely used a proper name.
I am disappointed with this show. Too bad because the truth is out there.

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v
1/20/2015 02:14:08 am

Your comment reminded me of the movie "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" and the cave wall carving scene. "Perhaps it was dictated..." :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiT_5cr3tYI

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p13
7/3/2014 06:15:03 am

Thanks for the info you provided, PLEASE KEEP it up! Seems you have stirred a lot of ideas, views, questions. They are all from very educated individuals of whom wish to "jumble" their knowledge with ideas they have concluded from viewing some of these so called "HISTORY/SCIENTIFIC" shows (from The History Channel, H2, etc.). This has unfortunately produced an array of "schizophrenics", racists, alien loving, apocalyptic zomie mermaids and more. Thus in point, it is ultimately a crying shame this is what these once credible (or so it seemed & individuals still believe) networks and shows have done to innocent, knowledge seeking, good hearted people...an evocation of nothing but an ultimatum of FEAR!

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Alex D
7/28/2014 12:24:30 pm

I doubt if many people from Stafford would have known how to write runes, never mind read them in 1200, the system was introduced to England around the 5th century by the Scandinavians and used up until the 11th century. An 'ordinary' chap certainly wouldn't have been educated in it, and not a hundred years after it was last recorded. As for the pub, there's written records in the UK for public houses from the late c 13 and these places are famous for being the earliest pubs in Britain, but this one in Stafford isn't recorded as such, I also googled ancient english name hurech and got nothing, except a load of sites about this programme and finally I started to think this show might be bs when he got a text from Mike, in the middle of no where, in a cave. Perhaps you have amazing network coverage in America, but here in Blighty you might loose your signal walking round the shopping centre. In conclusion, yes guys, we get to watch this rubbish here too. And sorry, UA, but your claim that medieval Brits ventured to the USA and were the first settlers/visitors all seems pretty far fetched to me.

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v
1/20/2015 02:23:25 am

Remember, also, that Hurech (why does that sound like someone dry heaving?) not only made it to America in the 1200's, but made it all the way from the East Coast to Arizona! Lewis and Clark needed an expedition of many men for that little excursion. Now, if he were to be abducted by aliens and deposited in the Sonoran Desert... I think I see a crossover series in the works. hmmmmm......

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V Douglas
1/28/2015 02:36:52 pm

I grew up and lived 10 miles from this cave in Elgin. We used to camp all over the Mustang mountains. I know for a fact that these markings were made by a good friend of mine in high school about 15 years ago. He found it from and old book and now that I think it might have been something from a dungeons and dragons manual. He thought it looked cool and fit with all the other markings in the cage. He became an artist and was always doing this sort of thing for fun. He did it with an old railroad spike because it looked cooler that way. It is such a joke that they have a whole show on this!!

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Christoffer Berg
6/16/2015 03:15:44 am

Interesting new report (draft) on this subject: http://files.webb.uu.se/uploader/267/Mustang%20Mountain%20Stone%20-%20release.pdf

I found it through this Swedish article: http://www.svt.se/nyheter/vetenskap/svensk-forskare-avslojar-amerikansk-runbluff

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Varley
11/20/2017 02:41:03 am

Ah, thanks for this. Riddle solved. Not total jibberish but a documented, mostly-made-up language.

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Varley link
11/20/2017 02:13:30 am

I, too, had my doubts about this episode, which is how I ended up here. When you start by misquoting someone, however, in order to then tear those misquoted words apart, that is where I stopped reading. If you can't pay enough attention to detail to get that much right, then I can't trust anything else you say. So, if by some chance you want to know, this how the translation of the runestone was really read on the show (adding parentheses where they were indicated when he says "in parentheses..." and removing other commentary on character positions): "The body (in contrast with the soul) fits/lays / Rough Hurech here / He enjoyed (entertainment/joy/merriment; maybe means 'a good life') the secret stolen ... / Rough Hurech's body -- fame and glory / Dust beyond Eden -- Eden's temple." Or, in brief, without parenthetical notes: "The body lays / Rough Hurech here / He enjoyed the secret stolen / Rough Hurech's body -- fame and glory / Dust beyond Eden -- Eden's temple." So, please, quote that correct and then maybe tear it apart.

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V Douglas
11/20/2017 10:34:56 am

I know the guy who did this and it was from a old book we used for D&D. I am sure if you did some more digging you could find the actual book and I think it has a page that looks just like this. I think he fudged a few characters to make it look cooler but it is funny his work caused all this fuss. It was done around 1993 or 1994.

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Suzanne
11/25/2018 04:35:01 pm

I agreed with you, I'd thought the show and Scott were full of themselves. When he narrates the intro saying "History is a lie", I find that hard to believe. History is what we did in the past, and we lived to tell about it.


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