4. Reason for the Lies If proof surfaced of any other Christian culture reaching America before Columbus, the Land Claims of the colonizing countries would be null and void.
5. Who, What, Where, When, Why, How, How Long, How Much? If there was a pre-Columbian Christian culture in America, the questions above become central to any further investigation. The evidence that we have is enough to address some of these in depth.
6. Convention “ Who” = core culture indicated by evidence “ What” = type of evidence “ Where” = location of evidence discovery “ When” = given or discerned dates of evidence “ Why” = perceived reasons for presence in NA
8. Who What Where When Why Romans 9 th Legion Coins, swords, fortresses, amphorae, Tablets / writing / languages East of the Rockies, mostly Ohio Valley 2 nd to 5 th centuries CE Secret trade network, religious repression (?) Crosses, Latin inscriptions Tuscon, AZ Inscribed 560 Religious persecution Welsh Armor, languages, native accounts, Welsh records Ohio Valley and tributaries 6 th ~7 th Centuries CE Famine, Holy Grail Irish St Brendan Church Records, petroglyphs, skeletal remains Ohio Valley 6 th ~7 th Centuries CE Famine, evangelizing Vikings/ Greenlanders Longhouses, shops, ship nails, buttons L'anseux Meadows, Boston Harbor 10 th ~14 th Centuries CE Political and religious repression Medieval Norse Cistercians Sagas, KRS, Spirit Pond, Hevenor, maps, etc Mostly East of Mississippi R, OK, MO & Kansas ca 1280~1400 Land claim Knights Templar KRS (associative, S. Wolter) Kensington MN 1362 Holy Grail, land claim
9. One important type of artifact is not on the list We don’t have a date for them We don’t know who made them But we can probably figure out why
10. Fortresses Forty five or more fortresses guarded the Ohio Valley and tributaries – only one remains comparatively intact: Lawrenceburg, IN Materials were systematically removed from nearly all and reused (most became rail road grade & ballast) Traces remain of others: Marietta, Ohio; Charlestown, IN; Merom, IN; Fort Mountain, GA; Fayette City, PA
12. Edward T. Cox... and William Borden...reported—and speculated about—a "stone fort" located on top of Devil`s Backbone. A steep bluff spur at the confluence of Fourteen Mile Creek and the Ohio. Cox recognized long, artificial walls ten feet in height built at the edge of a 75-foot-high cliff that provided a natural stone wall. He also noted interior ditches and a series of at least five small stone mounds within an enclosed area of about ten to twelve acres. Further, Cox and Borden both reported shell-Tempered pottery and stone box graves at the site, which point to a Mississippian use of the locale, though not necessarily one associated with the stone mounds or the stone walls. The site locale, itself a fortified area on the Ohio River bluff offers a high vantage point for tracking movements along the river. Prather Report
13. ― These features were subsequently reported by F. W. Putnam of the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology but later questioned by Gerard Fowke, another geologist interested in archaeology. Fowke was highly critical of Cox`s assessment of the walls, saying his report was: 'The worst publication of this character which has ever appeared in a scientific disguise … It seems incredible that a person connected in any capacity with a geological survey, even as a cook or mule-driver, could ever have made such a ridiculous blunder as to suppose them artificial.‘ Cox`s description is not unambiguous, but it does recognize that the artificial walls relate to the natural walls of the cliff. Prather Report
14. Traces at Devils Backbone Photo credit / courtesy Lee Pennington
15. More Traces at DBB Photo credit / courtesy Lee Pennington
19. So we have the what and where, a good inkling of the why Still need the who and the when
20. The investigators at the Prather site, Cheryl Munson and Rob McCulloch, gave us a clue without realizing it. “… artificial walls relate to the natural walls of the cliff.”
22. “ It is a very substantial wall, and it does a very Roman thing where it incorporates defensive aspects of the landscape that are already present…”
27. Soldiers of 9 th Legion Oldest members from Iberia (grandsons or great grandsons of original recruits and later West Hispania Revolt) Some from Rhine area of Netherlands A handful were likely Macedonian Possibly a few individuals from West or sub-Saharan Africa By 117 CE, 9 th had been in Britannia for >70 years continuously By 117, Most 9 th soldiers were either native Brit or were fully habituated and acculturated to Brit language, foods, beverages, art, writing
28. 9 th Legion History Recruited in Hispania, shipped to the Rhine, Macedonia, Britain, North Africa, Sicily, back to Spain, to Gaul, Back to Britain in 43 CE Built Julius Caesar's bridge across the Rhine, Built both the wooden fortress (70~71 CE) and later stone fortress at York (dedicated 108 CE) Disappeared from history in 117 CE (first year of Hadrian's reign), all except one officer who became governor of Arabia Petraea – the City of Petra -- in 142 CE (Lucius Aemilius Karus)
29. Languages and Scripts Among 9 th Legion Latin – both Capitol and Provincial Alphabets Cumry – Coelbren Alphabet Basque – Early Basque Script (Arabic letters new since c. 880 CE ) Unknown name – Tartesso Script Ptolemaic Greek, Macedonian dialect – Greek Alphabet Aramaic/Hebrew – Hebrew Alphabet Various Celtic Dialects – Ogham All of which show up in North American Out of Place Artifacts
30. 9 th LegionTech What tech would we expect to find and how to identify
34. Waterwheels Rome, Greece, Welsh, Norse used waterwheels extensively “ Overshot” most common / efficient, “undershot” found more in Scandinavia & Greece Used to grind grain, saw wood, saw stone, hammer mill ore All found at Miami Fort, Ohio, but denied by establishment Remains: eroded / corroded metal hubs & bearings, fasteners, aqueducts, mill ponds Millponds at East Fork
41. Ballista Remains 8, 16, 32 pound stone spheres Square cross-section bronze or iron projectile points Metal parts- triggers, pawls, stays (scutulas) Perforated crania, scapula – other large bones (square perforations), indistinguishable from pike wounds unless accompanied by projectile Several such perforated remains found in 1702 at “Massacre Island”, later renamed Dauphine Island, AL
46. Used 1 st thru 3 rd centuries in Britain, Pompei, Hispania Archies say it had a cow's horn shaved thin, used as wind break that rotted away, functioned just like a hurricane lamp High quality bronze construction, one foot is mismatch indicating repaired (soldered with lead/tin) Now displayed at Ipswich Museum (free admission)