Hudson Valley Humanists

Member directory
and writings

HOME

What is reproduced below is only the introduction to a longer article.
Download the full article as a Word doc file.

Ancient Visitors and Settlers in the Americas
A Commentary on Barry Fell’s America B.C.
by Neil De Rosa

America before the Common Era?

Have the American continents been explored and even settled by Europeans long before Columbus or Leif Erickson ever set foot on these shores? If so, then our knowledge of ancient history is ruefully lacking—especially of our own American history. One scientist, a world authority on many of the dead languages of the Bronze Age, thinks so. Although the title of Harvard professor Barry Fell’s Bicentennial book, is America B.C., the ”B.C.” can be equally interpreted as “before Columbus”  or “before Christ,” but the latter seems more appropriate since most of the facts brought to light as a result of his researches apply to the earlier time frame. This well-known epigrapher is the principal scientist of the current paradigm challenge under discussion. His theory is applicable to our ongoing theme that one highly qualified individual in a particular field or discipline employing well substantiated evidence and a careful scientific approach, can present an impeccable case for an extraordinary hypothesis that should be taken seriously by mainstream science—but normally isn’t. This article does not dispute the credible evidence that other, non western peoples, especially the Chinese, have explored and influenced the Americas before Columbus’ arrival; but since Fell’s 1976 work does not deal with this issue, it is not included in this article.

History begins wherever we find the written word; and here in America, if you know what to look for, there is an abundant record written in stone, dating from the millennium before the Common Era. But the stone inscriptions that Fell uses as evidence are scoffed at by institutional archeologists, if not as outright forgeries, then as “marks made by farmers’ plowshares,” or “scratches made by Indians sharpening their spears,” or “drill marks made by colonial stonecutters.” These inscriptions however, are often identical in shape, size, location, and scientific dating to known inscriptions in stone found in Europe and other places. There they are recognized by scholars as written words carved out in Ogam, the alphabet of the ancient Celts, or in any one of several other Bronze Age alphabets and languages such as Libyan, Egyptian, Punic, Iberian, and Basque. Various standard dating methods of these artifacts indicate extreme antiquity. Moreover, the monuments, bronze implements, the pottery shards, and other art relics found in conjunction with these inscriptions are known to be associated with these same cultures and peoples.

Here then is another extraordinary, but most likely true hypothesis being relegated to subjectivity. Why? Because the evidence is discarded with the explanation that it is not what it appears to be. This evidence has been gathering piecemeal since colonial times, but until recently most scholars did not know how to interpret it. Now that they do (or should) know, as several ancient languages and their alphabets have since been deciphered, mainstream science still refuses to take it seriously; thus reinforcing our ongoing theme that there is something wrong with science. This theory, along with other credible theories already discussed, must be entered into in the record of Apocryphal science for future reference. Perhaps more generations will pass before the opportunities missed to add to our knowledge of the world around us will be recognized.

Download full article as a Word doc file.