Book of Mormon Archaeological Forum

Could  they be the Nephites or Lamanites?

by Douglas K. Christensen

Recently there has been a renewed interest by some Latter-day Saint hobbyists in promoting the area around the Great Lakes of North America as the lands of the Book of Mormon.  I define a Book of Mormon hobbyist as one who becomes convinced with a few (or many) persuasive arguments for a geographical proposition and then energetically pursues their hypotheses without thoroughly digesting the existing scientific literature extant.  As of this writing, there are literally whole libraries full of scientific and pseudo-scientific findings regarding any and all proposed Book of Mormon areas.  Of course no one can become expert in all the material about Mesoamerica, Ancient North America, Peru, Chile, or wherever else you want to propose the book took place; but there is enough literature on the FARMS website, the AAF website, the RAMAH website, this website and many others plus books like Exploring the Lands of the Book of Mormon by Joseph L. Allen, Decoding Ancient America by Diane E. Wirth, Book of Mormon-Mesoamerican Geography: History Study Map by V. Garth Norman and Mesoamerica and the Book of Mormon by John L. Lund to illustrate the current position on Book of Mormon geography.

Many Book of Mormon geography proponents publish and sell books, hold meetings, create websites, sell tours and hold conferences.  Some, unfortunately, ignore or refute current scholarly evidence and instead proselyte and testify of their position.  This approach has no place in Book of Mormon scholarship.  All LDS prophets from Joseph Smith to the present day have expressed their approval with lay members of the church researching scientific discoveries, doing archaeology and using all approved scientific methods in an effort to bolster the credibility of the most correct book on the face of the earth. (See John Tvedtnes' article "A Brief History of the Limited Geographic View of the Book of Mormon"on this website.)  But, none of them have ever stated an official Church position.  Joseph Smith suggested that we look to Mesoamerica, Howard W. Hunter was president of the New World Archaeological Foundation (centering in Mesoamerica) prior to his presidency; but none have ever made a binding statement regarding Book of Mormon geography. Therefore, no member of the Church should be "bearing testimony" regarding Book of Mormon geography or any other assumption they have made no matter how strongly they feel about it. Such testimony-bearing is inappropriate at best and deceptive at worst.  All students of the scriptures should use such words as "propose, suggest, theorize, projected, etc." in their writings and presentations.  It behooves all to have open minds, kind hearts, conciliatory words and a sense of humor.

Since the early days of the Church, there have been four seriously proposed Book of Mormon lands:  Northeastern United States, Mesoamerica, Pacific Cordillera (primarily Peru and parts of Chile) and the entire American hemisphere.  Joseph Smith was aware of all these proposals and before his death become very interested in a newly published book by John Lloyd Stephens regarding the author's travels in the Chiapas and Yucatan regions of southern Mexico. Several articles were published concerning Book of Mormon geography in the Times and Seasons between March 1, 1842 and November 15, 1842.  In them, Joseph suggested that we look to this area of the world, and made some proposals as to certain specific sites.  Critics have charged that Joseph was using a surrogate as editor of the Times and Seasons when it published these enthusiastic articles about Stephen's Mexican ruins.  This is still an open issue, however, and studies on the original manuscript papers may reveal the answer.  (Dr. John L. Lund will give a presentation on this question at the upcoming BMAF conference in October of 2009.)

Because the early Saints knew the Book of Mormon plates came out of the hill in upstate New York which they all called Cumorah, it was natural for them to assume this was the hill named Ramah/Cumorah where both the Jaredite and Nephite cultures met their demise. Apparently Joseph Smith did not discourage the use of this name, but neither did he ever call it Cumorah so far as we know.  Consequently, most members of the Church grew up accepting Northeastern United States as the lands of the Book of Mormon, and by extension, the Native American Indians as descendants of the Lamanites.

Of late, "Great Lakes" proponents have become more and more persuasive, publishing books and pamphlets, holding seminars and conducting tours.  They are not to be dismissed off-handedly by me or anyone else.  They are genuinely sincere, love the Church and the Book of Mormon and feel they are "anxiously engaged in a good cause."  Their proposal is that the Hopewell Indians are descendants of the Nephites/Lamanites.  The Hopewell is a Native American culture that flourished along rivers in the northeastern and midwestern United States from 200 BC to 500 AD. 

My own personal research and travel have persuaded me that the lands of the Book of Mormon lie in Mesoamerica, an archaeological area ranging from approximately the Mexico City Valley southward to Guatemala, Belize, Honduras and parts of El Salvador. So with this background, let me share a few items (by no means exhaustive) gleaned from cruising the internet in one evening.  All quotes listed below were taken word for word from one of the websites listed below:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hopewell_culture
www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/northamerica/culture/plains/hopewell2. html
www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/271480/Hopewell-culture
www.northamericanindians.info/moundbuilders/
cuyahogafallshistory.com/mound_builders.htm

Who are the Hopewell? "It is widely accepted that the Hopewell are the “next generation” of the Adena. That is to say that the Adena gave rise to the Hopewell, who had, as speculated, migrated into the Ohio River Valley from Illinois. The Hopewell have been described as a more elaborate and flamboyant version of the Adena.  The Hopewell flourished in the Middle Woodland from 200 BC to 500 AD (see the conflicting dates in the last paragraph below). The environment was nearly what it is today. Temperate with lakes, streams, wetlands and flood-plains, the people took advantage of the seasonal weather in the Ohio River Valley via foraging as well as hunting and gathering. The cultivation of domestic strains of beans and maize (see point number 4 below) was well on its way as it was implemented in small amounts, catching on later in the time period. The vegetation was a prairie/forest mix of deciduous trees, walnut, oak, various grasses and shrub. The fauna of the region included many species of waterfowl, turkey and other species in great abundance that are found today. Larger fauna included buffalo, bison, deer, and elk and smaller animals such as rodents, raccoons, beaver and the like. Aquatic life included freshwater mussels and clams, many fishes (bass, catfish, etc.) and turtles."

The following list shows what I perceive to be the major differences between the Hopewell and the Nephites/Lamanites which I discovered in these few internet articles:

1.  No evidence of a written language.  "There is no reliable evidence that the Hopewell were literate.  There is no evidence they used mathematics or geometry in their structures.  Again, because of the lack of written evidence, it is difficult to make any definitive conclusions as to their origins." "The Mississippians had no writing system or stone architecture."

2.  No evidence of widespread warfare. "No evidence of use of metal other than raw copper or iron. Their use of stone for tool-making remained primitive. Even the use of the bow and arrow came late in their history." "Around 500 AD the Hopewell Exchange system seems to cease, moundbuilding stops, art forms were no longer produced. War is unlikely, and there is no evidence of fighting (even during the era). Colder climatic conditions could have driven animals north or west, as weather would have a detrimental effect on plant-life, drastically cutting the subsistence base for these foods. (No such weather phenomenon is mentioned in the BofM. Cold is not found.) "It's also possible the introduction of the bow and arrow caused stress on already depleted populations." "There is no evidence that the Hopewell culture was a warlike one, and it appears that their culture spread because it was a free society."  "Many tools have also been found within the burial mounds. Stone hoes, flint blades, projectile points, and stone scrapers are among the most common items found. The typical projectile point was long, straight, and did not differ from the Archaic prototype by that much."

3.  No evidence of refined culture and art forms until late in their history.  "Whether the Hopewell overpowered the Adena or simply mingled with and mixed into the culture, is not certain, yet there has been no evidence of warfare to support the former. The result was a cultural explosion encompassing a vast majority of North America east of the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic coast."  To the right are examples of the comparatively simple art styles of Hopewellian pottery.

4.  The jury is still out on their use of maize (corn) but would tend to indicate it was not a major dietary source.  Corn is mentioned 10 times in the BofM from 1 Nephi thru 3 Nephi and was a major dietary component of the Nephites.  "Corn played a very minor role in the Hopewell diet (Further Light on Carbon Isotopes and Hopewell Agriculture;  Bender, Baerris and Steventon;  Society for American Archaeology, 1981)."  "The view that Hopewell earthworks were built by hunter-gatherers has become predominant in North America, because there has been little evidence of domesticated plant use, including maize. Maize is more commonly known as (Indian) corn in the US. This has led to the paradigm that the Hopewell earthworks are empty centers for a dispersed population. However, recent pollen analysis at the non-geometric Fort Ancient earthwork suggests considerable use of other domesticated plants."  Referring to times late in the Hopewell culture: " In most places, the development of Mississippian culture coincided with adoption of comparatively large-scale, intensive maize agriculture."  "Beginning about AD 1, agriculture became the central focus (not just a supplement to hunting and gathering) of many Hopewellian subsistence economies. These earliest farming systems were based on indigenous seed-bearing annuals: sunflower, squash, chenopodium, knotweed, marsh elder, little barley and maygrass were among the most important plants. Maize, if present at all, was only a minor crop and did not become a staple until about AD 800-1000, when it largely replaced the earlier indigenous crops. - Bret J. Ruby, an archeologist at the Hopewell Culture National Historic Site."

5.  The Book of Mormon cultures were patriarchal and most of the leaders were powerful.  Only 4 females are even mentioned by name in the book. "They (the  Hopewell) lived in long-houses dominated by the oldest female member of the family and when a couple was married, the husband would move into the wives’ house and become a part of their social unit. These new husbands had very little if any say in household matters. The children “belonged” to or were affiliated with their mother's family, the males owing allegiance to that unit. There were, however male chiefs who represented households and villages in tribal affairs." "The Hopewell culture had leaders, but they were not like powerful rulers who could command armies of slaves and soldiers. Many people from different villages worked together to build these large mounds and enclosures."

6.  Book of Mormon cultures were true civilizations with cities, temples and houses with fences and gates.  "The subsistence base of the Hopewell consisted of hunting, gathering and to a lesser extent cultivation of local plant species, depending upon where they lived.  The Hopewell people lived in small villages, or hamlets, scattered throughout the river valleys of southern Ohio where they grew a variety of crops, including sunflower, squash, goosefoot, maygrass, and other plants with oily or starchy seeds. They also gathered wild plants, hunted for deer and other large and small game, and fished. The earthworks also must have served as places for these dispersed groups to gather periodically to renew friendships and socialize."

7.  No evidence of smelting ore.  "They used copper quite frequently, as well as iron and silver. But while they were skilled metal workers, they never mastered the techniques of smelting ores. Their metals were all derived from either native copper or silver nuggets or iron-rich meteors. The Hopewellians never discovered the technique of casting molten metal, and instead hammered copper, iron, gold, and silver into tools and jewelry."  In all fairness, though the Book of Mormon calls for some degree of sophisticated metal use, no concrete evidence dating to Jaredite or Nephite time periods has been shown in Mesoamerica. 

8.  The Nephites and also the Lamanites were family-oriented and held morality in great esteem.  "Skeletons recovered from Hopewell mounds show lesions characteristic of syphilis."

Interestingly enough, there may, however, be a tie-in between the Book of Mormon cultures and the Hopewell in an unanticipated way.  I found this very interesting observation: "Archeological evidence might suggest that these ancient cultures came up the Mississippi Valley from the Gulf of Mexico. There are also similarities between artifacts recovered from Ohio that mimic similar artifacts found in the Mayan Culture of Central America.  The Hopewells started to inhabit the Ohio and Illinois River Valleys beginning about 300 A.D."  So, it seems possible that the Hopewell emigrated from Mesoamerican Book of Mormon lands, but given the date above, such emigration would probably be late in Nephite history.  The statement continues:  "There are a couple of theories on how they got there. One was they developed from the Adena culture that was before them. Another theory is that they came from Mexico up the Mississippi River."  This latter theory seems to be reinforced by the fact that the Hopewell culture enjoyed a rather sudden burst of metal work and art styles later in their history.
                                                     
I came across a somewhat discouraging side-note to the wide array of Book of Mormon geography theories extant in the LDS community as expressed in an item found on Yahoo Answers: