>From the time Europeans arrived in the Americas, they encountered the native peoples inhabiting the land. These American Indians were not expected and had to be explained. Too, the explorers and settlers saw earthworks they couldn't explain, some of them simple burial mounds containing skeletons and grave goods, some in the shapes of animals, and some as huge pyramid-shaped structures rivaling the pyramids of Egypt. They didn't believe the Indians could have built such magnificent structures. Instead they proposed a range of fanciful explanations for who the Indians were and for who built the mounds. Indians, too, have had their own explanations for their origins. Both conflict with archaeological evidence. The links that follow present some of the speculations and our brief comments about them.
Mormonism & the Lost Tribes
The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints (the Mormons) believes
that Jaredites came to America about 2000 B.C. building a thriving
civilization that was destroyed in a great battle at Hill Cumorah.
They were followed by the Lamanites and Nephites who became the
Moundbuilders. The Lamanites became red-skinned to mark their sins.
Warfare broke out, with the Lamanites eventually winning. There is no
archaeological evidence to support this claim. The links on our page are
largely critical of Mormonism. You will need to judge for yourself.
The Mystery of the
Great Serpent Mound
No question about it, the Great Serpent Mound in Ohio is a spectacular
earthwork, usually attributed to the Adena culture. This blurb for a new
book puts it in a New Age context but with a Moundbuilder bent. For
example, the Great Serpent Mound shows:
"...a strong Egyptian connection to the serpent image indicating its precedence to important Egyptian symbolic geometry and measurement"
As archaeologists, we are sensitive to concerns expressed by Native Americans about what archaeology does in terms of constructing histories of their peoples. Archaeologists can only deal with the material evidence excavated from ancient sites. Like other cultures, Native groups have their own origin stories. Archaeology, frankly, has been exploitative and many Indian people do not understand the limitations of its science. Some have openly criticized archaeology.
Red Earth, White
Lies
Vine Deloria, Jr. is a frequent critic of scholars who deal with
American Indian history or culture. This homepage advertising his
new book contains blurbs from others, and alludes to Goodman's
American Genesis. Sadly, the archaeology is very dated and
inaccurate. If you would like read what others have said, you can read