Visitors to America in pre-Columbian time Item Type text; Thesis-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Stanton, Kevin, 1955- Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 01/10/2021 16:25:18 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/291536 INFORMATION TO USERS The most advanced technology has been used to photograph and reproduce this manuscript from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. 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Contact UMI directly to order. University Microfilms International A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 North Zeeb Road. Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 Order Number 1340264 Visitors to America in pre-Columbian time Stanton, Kevin, M.A. The University of Arizona, 1990 UMI 300 N. Zeeb Rd. Ann Arbor, MI 48106 VISITORS TO AMERICA IN PRE-COLUMBIAN TIME by Kevin Stanton A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of the COMMITTEE ON AMERICAN INDIAN STUDIES In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree MASTER OF ARTS In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 19 9 0 2 Statement by Author This thesis has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the library. Brief quotations from this thesis are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Request for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College when in his or her judgement the proposed use of the material is in the interests of scholarship. In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the author. SIGNED: APPROVAL BY THESIS DIRECTOR d on the date shown below: /< Vine DelV0& Jr. 7 Date Professor of American Indian 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page PREFACE 4 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 10 ABSTRACT 11 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 12 2. GENTLE RAIN 17 2.1 Cataclysm from the Eastern Sea. 33 2.2 A Tropical Depression Drifts North 52 2.3 Forecast the Past 63 2.4 Bat Creek Tablet 71 3. RECEDING ANTITHESIS 85 3.1 Symbols,Epigraphy, and Rock Art 96 3.2 Ogam Script in America 108 3.3 Christmas in West Virginia 124 3.4 Oklarado Celts 127 3.5 The New England Stone Chambers 143 3.6 Trading at Peterborough Ontario 167 3.7 On The Fence 174 3.8 Los Lunas 176 3.9 Tucson Artifacts 182 4. RECORD REVISIONS 197 WORKS CITED 212 4 Preface In the second semester of my Masters program, I was afforded a valuable opportunity to participate in a seminar that exposed the group to some uncommon perspectives and theories regarding America in pre-historic times. The intent of our meetings was to review many of the standard scientific precepts that explain the past. However, as we were to discover not everybody is in agreement with the present scientific versions. The basic formula that we followed was to examine and discuss opposing hypotheses regarding the same data. For example, we looked at the geologic principles of stratigraphy. The standard scientific concept that explains how soil is laid down is referred to as the * gentle rain' theory. It is generally thought that the atmosphere displaces particles in a slow and deliberate manner which over a long period of time piles up into a distinguishable stratum. According to this theory, the earth's stratigraphy resembles a layer cake with each segment representing a different geologic period. Some of these periods are seemingly dominated by different soil colors and each new color may mean a new age. The icing on top, or the earth's crust, would be the most recent. Yet, we found considerable opposition to this theory, 5 which appears to have more gaps than consistency. One alternative to this ^gentle rain', is the theory of x catastrophic sequences'. It notes that certain geologic intervals, are dominated by tremendous upheavals and calamities which are sufficiently momentous to be entirely capable of throwing down a material record that is anything but slow and gentle. A minor version of this catastrophic action can be seen in a mud-slide, volcano, hurricane, or flood, all of which can significantly alter the landscape and stratigraphy. During the course of our meetings we surveyed a number of scientific hypotheses which argued for different routes to the same destination. One particularly intriguing category dealt with how the New World was populated. Most of us as youngsters are introduced to the ruling doctrine, that several thousands of years ago, Asian migrants struggled across the Bering land bridge into a mythical Ellis island. Here, they were seemingly dispatched as groups, to nearly every nook and cranny of the hemisphere, gently raining down upon both Western continents. What surprised me the most in our discussions of this topic was not only the fact that there was another theory regarding the ancestry and roots of the first Americans, but that there were several. Furthermore, we learned that until about 1890 many of these theories were still accepted as being 6 possible. However, in 1894 the Smithsonian Institution officially issued a treatise on this subject, and since that time most of us have been raised to accept that Columbus discovered America. As for the aboriginal inhabitants, they came across the now sunken landbridge and remained totally isolated from the outside world until 1492. One valuable benefit of this seminar was becoming acquainted with the Native American perspective that resolves their presence and evolvement in this hemisphere. Not many non-Indians are aware that within nearly every tribal group an account explains how they, as a people, came into a human condition. Furthermore, most tribals believe this evolvement occurred within this hemisphere. In support of this belief are stories which seem to contain elements of past environmental and geologic episodes that would attest to a long existence here. Some of these bygone events are so vividly explained that they appear to be confirmed by present scientific knowledge that describes the same events. However, the most surprising aspect of the oral traditions concerns those legends which tell of other cultures who happened upon them long ago. Some of these visitors were said to have carried on trade and commerce, others engaged the Indians in warfare. Our seminar group was able to locate documents and accounts which asserted that seafarers from other parts of the world had contacted America in pre-Columbian time. There 7 is even an account of a tribal member who stated that his people actually migrated here by boat.1 Initially, all of these precepts were difficult to fathom for those of us who had learned of Columbus at an early age, but right around this time the Vietnamese boat people were prominently in the news. It is reasonable to assume that given the harsh realities of one's existence, that desperate refugees would willingly take to the open sea in flimsy overcrowded vessels, knowing full well that pirates, typhoons, and other like threatening obstacles impeded their path to freedom. Yet, it was a decision that a forlorn and daring people were willing to make, a decision that is presumably not unique to the 20th century. So, if one or more tribes say they came here by boat then it is reasonable and possible to believe that they did. Some of the material covered in the seminar dealt with the possibility that cultures well known in history came here for a variety of purposes, including: Egyptians, Phoenicians, Celts, Ethiopians, Chinese, Japanese, Greeks, Polynesians, Irish, and the well known but still mythical Vikings. To prove theories regarding all this early traffic, researchers have submitted evidence extracted from a variety of scientific sources, including archaeology, biology, architecture, linguistics, astronomy, epigraphy, cartography, and a few 1Joseph Mahan, The Secret. (Columbus: By the Author, 1983), 4. 8 other fields. Pre-contact evidence is said to be widespread and not necessarily confined to any one area. Nearly all of the supporters for pre-Columbian contacts advance the theory that not only did cultures come and go, but in some cases they may have diffused information and influence upon the American Indians.