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There were also, some interesting pics that didn't
copy, in this email mdog sent to some Choctaw,
or Chickasaw tribal historians, I believe...
Thanks for all that you have shared,
of your interesting research Rick...
Subject: Latitudes
Hello Ladies,
I live in Iowa, right by the Mississippi River and four years ago I found an old cache site about a mile away from the river. I believe it was a Spanish site from the 1700s. Spain claimed this area during the last half of the 1700s. I wanted to learn as much as I could about the old trails that passed through the county and the people who used them. The county was in a perfect area for north-south, east-west trade. There is an east-west trail that starts close to the Detroit, Michigan area and goes as far west as the Rocky Mountains. There is a break away trail that goes to the Kansas City area where it joins the network of trails that became the Santa-Fe Trail. There is a north-south trail that moves north from Missouri and follows the west bank of the Mississippi River up to the ancient lead mines by Dubuque. There is also the Mississippi River as well as the Rock River which flows from central Wisconsin into the Mississippi about ten miles upstream, and across the river in Illinois, there were thousands of mounds from the Havana Hopewell Period so this could have been an important area for them.
After three years of studying the Spanish and trying to figure out why they would have a cache site here, I was looking for something else to study for a change. During my research I came across a theory that there might have been some trade between the old Copper Culture and ancient civilizations from the Mediterranean region. I never believed this theory because I couldn't find any archeological evidence that would support it. But I was looking for something new to research so I thought I would look into it.
The trade was supposed to have taken place during the middle and late Bronze Age and at that time the Phoenicians were the only civilization that might have had the naval capabilities to cross the Atlantic Ocean, so I started looking at them.
The Phoenicians were very secretive about their trade routes and navigation techniques but some historians believe that they knew how to determine latitude using the cross staff. The cross staff was shaped like a large extended cross and the cross bar would slide on the main staff and was used to find the distance from the North Star to the horizon. The distance showed your position in the Northern Hemisphere. I suppose the same thing could have been done with a long staff by marking spots on the staff that were important to you. Here's a picture of a Phoenician coin that shows one of their goddesses standing at the front of a ship holding a large extended cross.
Here's a picture showing an extended cross above the image of some type of character.
I do not know what this character represents but there is a Ho chunk story about a small creature called a Herok'a. I've sent this picture to several archeologists but with no opinion about what it is. I guess my next move would be to send it to the Historical Preservation Office of the Ho chunk Nation.
I began to look for more examples of the extended cross and found an example from the Etowah Mounds that shows the cross inside a mace.
There were also several examples from the Mayan city of Palenque. Here's a drawing of one of them.
Here is a drawing of some shell artifacts shaped like extended crosses that were found at a Great Oasis site at Des Moines, Iowa. They were dated to about 900 AD and were found at a place close to the east-west trail I mentioned above.
Here's the link.
Illustration » The Great Oasis » Shell Crosses « Iowa Pathways
After finding these examples of crosses similar to what a cross staff would look like, I began to look for evidence that would show that Native Americans knew how to determine latitude. With the absence of Phoenician construction I figured that I would have to look at sacred Moundbuilder earthworks.
When the Phoenicians traded in unfamiliar territory they would go to a certain spot just like traders have done for thousands of years. I thought that if they knew how to determine latitude they might use latitudes that were familiar to them like the latitudes of their cities in Canaan. I started plotting locations along the Mississippi River that had the same latitudes of the Phoenician cities of Byblos, Tyre, Sidon and the sacred site of Mt. Carmel. Because the Phoenician cities were so close, I used a margin of error of 5' latitude. I figured that was pretty tight considering a crude instrument of navigation was used.
Mt. Carmel covers a big area so I chose the area of the headland which was the sacred area and close to the sea. That latitude is 32 deg 44'. Right away I saw that Poverty Point was real close at 32 deg 38'. Outside my margin of error by 1' latitude.
Byblos is at 34 deg 07' and the Etowah Mounds are at 34 deg 07'. This is where the artifact with the extended cross inside the mace was found. Leake Mounds, which was much older than Etowah Mounds is a couple miles away at 34 deg 08'. From what I've read, the Leake Mounds have been destroyed.
I extended these latitudes further north by using the important Mississippian trade center of Cahokia as the spot for Mt. Carmel 2. The latitude at Cahokia is 38 deg 39'. The Portsmouth and Biggs Earthworks are at 38 deg 43' and 38 deg 44'.
Sidon 2 is at 39 deg 28' and Fort Ancient is at 39 deg 24'. Marietta Earthworks are at 39 deg 25'.
Byblos 2 is at 40 deg 02' and the Newark Earthworks are at 40 deg 02'.
I used the Effigy Mounds in Iowa as Mt. Carmel 3 at 43 deg 05'and Aztalan, Wisconsin is at 43 deg 03'.
After this I started looking at the stories of the different Native American tribes and that's how I found the migration story of the Choctaw and Chickasaw.
The Omaha Tribe has a sacred pole that was supposed to have been set in such a manner as to point at the Pole Star,(North Star). This is important because you will remember that the cross staff was pointed at the Pole Star to determine latitude.
This is what I've found so far. As far as I know, there is no archeological evidence that the Phoenicians traded with the ancient Moundbuilders. I would appreciate your thoughts and please ask questions if you have any.
I'll send more information as I find it, if I think it might interest you.
Thank you for your time, ladies
Rick
copy, in this email mdog sent to some Choctaw,
or Chickasaw tribal historians, I believe...
Thanks for all that you have shared,
of your interesting research Rick...
Subject: Latitudes
Hello Ladies,
I live in Iowa, right by the Mississippi River and four years ago I found an old cache site about a mile away from the river. I believe it was a Spanish site from the 1700s. Spain claimed this area during the last half of the 1700s. I wanted to learn as much as I could about the old trails that passed through the county and the people who used them. The county was in a perfect area for north-south, east-west trade. There is an east-west trail that starts close to the Detroit, Michigan area and goes as far west as the Rocky Mountains. There is a break away trail that goes to the Kansas City area where it joins the network of trails that became the Santa-Fe Trail. There is a north-south trail that moves north from Missouri and follows the west bank of the Mississippi River up to the ancient lead mines by Dubuque. There is also the Mississippi River as well as the Rock River which flows from central Wisconsin into the Mississippi about ten miles upstream, and across the river in Illinois, there were thousands of mounds from the Havana Hopewell Period so this could have been an important area for them.
After three years of studying the Spanish and trying to figure out why they would have a cache site here, I was looking for something else to study for a change. During my research I came across a theory that there might have been some trade between the old Copper Culture and ancient civilizations from the Mediterranean region. I never believed this theory because I couldn't find any archeological evidence that would support it. But I was looking for something new to research so I thought I would look into it.
The trade was supposed to have taken place during the middle and late Bronze Age and at that time the Phoenicians were the only civilization that might have had the naval capabilities to cross the Atlantic Ocean, so I started looking at them.
The Phoenicians were very secretive about their trade routes and navigation techniques but some historians believe that they knew how to determine latitude using the cross staff. The cross staff was shaped like a large extended cross and the cross bar would slide on the main staff and was used to find the distance from the North Star to the horizon. The distance showed your position in the Northern Hemisphere. I suppose the same thing could have been done with a long staff by marking spots on the staff that were important to you. Here's a picture of a Phoenician coin that shows one of their goddesses standing at the front of a ship holding a large extended cross.
Here's a picture showing an extended cross above the image of some type of character.
I do not know what this character represents but there is a Ho chunk story about a small creature called a Herok'a. I've sent this picture to several archeologists but with no opinion about what it is. I guess my next move would be to send it to the Historical Preservation Office of the Ho chunk Nation.
I began to look for more examples of the extended cross and found an example from the Etowah Mounds that shows the cross inside a mace.
There were also several examples from the Mayan city of Palenque. Here's a drawing of one of them.
Here is a drawing of some shell artifacts shaped like extended crosses that were found at a Great Oasis site at Des Moines, Iowa. They were dated to about 900 AD and were found at a place close to the east-west trail I mentioned above.
Here's the link.
Illustration » The Great Oasis » Shell Crosses « Iowa Pathways
After finding these examples of crosses similar to what a cross staff would look like, I began to look for evidence that would show that Native Americans knew how to determine latitude. With the absence of Phoenician construction I figured that I would have to look at sacred Moundbuilder earthworks.
When the Phoenicians traded in unfamiliar territory they would go to a certain spot just like traders have done for thousands of years. I thought that if they knew how to determine latitude they might use latitudes that were familiar to them like the latitudes of their cities in Canaan. I started plotting locations along the Mississippi River that had the same latitudes of the Phoenician cities of Byblos, Tyre, Sidon and the sacred site of Mt. Carmel. Because the Phoenician cities were so close, I used a margin of error of 5' latitude. I figured that was pretty tight considering a crude instrument of navigation was used.
Mt. Carmel covers a big area so I chose the area of the headland which was the sacred area and close to the sea. That latitude is 32 deg 44'. Right away I saw that Poverty Point was real close at 32 deg 38'. Outside my margin of error by 1' latitude.
Byblos is at 34 deg 07' and the Etowah Mounds are at 34 deg 07'. This is where the artifact with the extended cross inside the mace was found. Leake Mounds, which was much older than Etowah Mounds is a couple miles away at 34 deg 08'. From what I've read, the Leake Mounds have been destroyed.
I extended these latitudes further north by using the important Mississippian trade center of Cahokia as the spot for Mt. Carmel 2. The latitude at Cahokia is 38 deg 39'. The Portsmouth and Biggs Earthworks are at 38 deg 43' and 38 deg 44'.
Sidon 2 is at 39 deg 28' and Fort Ancient is at 39 deg 24'. Marietta Earthworks are at 39 deg 25'.
Byblos 2 is at 40 deg 02' and the Newark Earthworks are at 40 deg 02'.
I used the Effigy Mounds in Iowa as Mt. Carmel 3 at 43 deg 05'and Aztalan, Wisconsin is at 43 deg 03'.
After this I started looking at the stories of the different Native American tribes and that's how I found the migration story of the Choctaw and Chickasaw.
The Omaha Tribe has a sacred pole that was supposed to have been set in such a manner as to point at the Pole Star,(North Star). This is important because you will remember that the cross staff was pointed at the Pole Star to determine latitude.
This is what I've found so far. As far as I know, there is no archeological evidence that the Phoenicians traded with the ancient Moundbuilders. I would appreciate your thoughts and please ask questions if you have any.
I'll send more information as I find it, if I think it might interest you.
Thank you for your time, ladies
Rick
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