Burrows Cave

Last updated

Burrows Cave is the name given to an alleged cave site in Southern Illinois reputedly discovered by Russell E. Burrows in 1982 which he claimed contained many ancient artifacts. Because the many inconsistencies and lack of evidence for his claims of discovery and findings, the cave, which has never been located, is considered a hoax by archaeologists and anthropologists.

Contents

Russell E. Burrows

Russel E. Burrows was a former Illinois prison guard. He also served in the Korean War and was a war veteran. Burrows did not have any archeology or anthropology background. During the time of the alleged discovery, Burrows was 42 years old.

Location

Burrows claimed that the cave was located near the Embarrass River in Richland County. During this time, Burrows lived in Olney, Illinois, which is a short distance away from the alleged cave site. Burrows never revealed the precise location and claimed it was because he believed that people would rob the cave of its ancient treasures.

Discovery

Frank Collin, a Nazi and fringe author writing under the name Frank Joseph, was in the Pontiac Correctional Facility in Illinois while Burrows was working there as a prison guard and later wrote articles and books about Burrows with differing and conflicting details. Both versions agree that Burrows claimed to have been a pothunter searching for artifacts near the Embarrass River. In Collin's first version Burrows was using a metal detector which started to ossiculate rapidly and he fell into a vertical narrow pit. Both versions describe him finding long corridors, a series of sealed portals, statues, mummies, bronze weapons, diamonds, parchment scrolls, etc. He also claimed to have found portraits which, according to Joseph, showed "an impossible mix of apparent Romans, Phoenicians, Hebrews, Christians, American Indians, and even Black Africans". [1]

In the second version described by Joseph Burrows finds a 15 foot natural cave entrance which he thought was covered with Native American inscriptions. Trying to remove these the wall broke revealing stone steps lined with oil lamps and the remains of torches. The rest of Joseph's report is the same as the first. [1]

Cave as a "Tomb"

Burrows claims that the cave was a tomb that was meant to hold the ancient artifacts of the dead. Currently, nobody outside Burrows's immediate circle has claimed to have been inside the cave. Anthropologists and archaeologists have not been able to conduct scientific research on the cave due to Burrows' intense secrecy. Many of Burrow’s so-called artifacts have been revealed as forgeries. The cave and its artifacts are widely considered to be a hoax or fraud, [2] [3] [4] [1] even among proponents of other pseudoarchaeological theories such as Barry Fell. [5]

Artifacts

Burrows claimed that the artifacts within the cave were ancient and diverse. He reported that there were life-sized gold statues, gold coffins, mummies, pagan idols, weapons, diamonds, coins, portraits, burial urns, scrolls, swords, weaponry, and suits of armor. Many of these treasures have never been inspected by archaeologists or anthropologists due to Burrows' extreme secrecy. Although, perhaps the artifacts he is best known for are the carved stone tablets with writing in various unknown languages, many with image depictions. The stone tablets are said to represent Old World people, such as Romans, Hebrews, Egyptians, Sumerians, Greeks and Phoenicians. Thousands of these tablets have been sold to private collectors.

Media

Burrows cave was one of the subjects in the show America Unearthed , [6] [7] in season 2, episode 5 and on the show Holy Grail in America on the History Channel.

Thomas Emerson, the Illinois state archaeologist and former head of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, warned that the claims being made by Burrows cave proponents were sensational, and not backed by evidence. [8]

With no evidence of the cave and its existence, many archaeologists quickly dismissed Burrows and the alleged cave.

Phoenician ship scenario

Until about 1993, the predominant claims about Burrows Cave involved a Phoenician ship. Part of the evidence for this claim involved a stone tablet claiming to depict a Phoenician ship vessel found in Burrows cave. Frank Joseph, a key figure involved with the Burrows Cave, reproduced this claim in his book The Lost Treasure of King Juba: The Evidence of Africans in America before Columbus. Alongside this claim, he included a legitimate image of a Phoenician vessel and combined it with the picture of the alleged Phoenician ship from Burrows Cave. In doing so, he cropped the image from the Burrows stone making the paddle end of a steering oar unidentifiable but leaving the steering oars that are shown on what he calls (and the artist depicts as) the prow of the boat. This would have been unnoticeable, except Joseph included steering oars at both ends of the ship on this tablet, which is impossible in real life. Essentially, this mistake made by Joseph contributed to the belief in inaccurate claims, until it was ultimately squashed by critics.

The anthropologist and geographer George F. Carter, a supporter of the concept of trans-cultural diffusion, commented on the image saying

"The 'author' did not recognize the paired oars, and hung an 'impossible' oar over the bow. All others equally botched up. Fanciful stern pieces...Oar over bow - crude fakery by an ignoramus in the world of ships." [1]

Dating

Up until around 1993 the details discussed by Burrows and Joseph suggested that the cave was part of a mid-first millennium colony trading Michigan copper to the Old World. This changed when the Mormon owned Ancient American magazine began to publish articles about the cave. At that point Burrows started to publish photographs of Judeo-Christian artefacts in Ancient American, claiming that he had not revealed them fearing ridicule. Joseph argued that the colonizers using the cave had witnessed Jesus's crucifixion. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Out-of-place artifact</span> Objects that challenge historical chronology

An out-of-place artifact is an artifact of historical, archaeological, or paleontological interest to someone that is claimed to have been found in an unusual context, which someone claims to challenge conventional historical chronology by its presence in that context. Some people might think that those artifacts are too advanced for the technology known to have existed at the time, or that human presence existed at a time before humans are known to have existed. Other people might hypothesize about a contact between different cultures that is hard to account for with conventional historical understanding.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rudder</span> Control surface for fluid-dynamic steering in the yaw axis

A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, airship, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium. On an airplane, the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw and p-factor and is not the primary control used to turn the airplane. A rudder operates by redirecting the fluid past the hull or fuselage, thus imparting a turning or yawing motion to the craft. In basic form, a rudder is a flat plane or sheet of material attached with hinges to the craft's stern, tail, or afterend. Often rudders are shaped to minimize hydrodynamic or aerodynamic drag. On simple watercraft, a tiller—essentially, a stick or pole acting as a lever arm—may be attached to the top of the rudder to allow it to be turned by a helmsman. In larger vessels, cables, pushrods, or hydraulics may link rudders to steering wheels. In typical aircraft, the rudder is operated by pedals via mechanical linkages or hydraulics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">America's Stonehenge</span> Tourist attraction in New Hampshire

America's Stonehenge is a privately owned tourist attraction and archaeological site consisting of a number of large rocks and stone structures scattered around roughly 30 acres within the town of Salem, New Hampshire, in the United States. It is open to the public for a fee as part of a recreational area which includes snowshoe trails and an alpaca farm.

Pseudoarchaeology consists of attempts to study, interpret, or teach about the subject-matter of archaeology while rejecting, ignoring, or misunderstanding the accepted data-gathering and analytical methods of the discipline. These pseudoscientific interpretations involve the use of artifacts, sites or materials to construct scientifically insubstantial theories to strengthen the pseudoarchaeologists' claims. Methods include exaggeration of evidence, dramatic or romanticized conclusions, use of fallacious arguments, and fabrication of evidence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Los Lunas Decalogue Stone</span> Inscribed boulder in New Mexico

The Los Lunas Decalogue Stone is a hoax associated with a large boulder on the side of Hidden Mountain, near Los Lunas, New Mexico, about 35 miles (56 km) south of Albuquerque, that bears a nine-line inscription carved into a flat panel. The stone is also known as the Los Lunas Mystery Stone or Commandment Rock. The stone has gained notoriety in that some claim the inscription is Pre-Columbian, and therefore proof of early Semitic contact with the Americas. Standard archeological evidence contradicts this, however.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Archaeology of Israel</span> Archaeological studies of Israel

The archaeology of Israel is the study of the archaeology of the present-day Israel, stretching from prehistory through three millennia of documented history. The ancient Land of Israel was a geographical bridge between the political and cultural centers of Mesopotamia and Egypt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Archaeological forgery</span> Manufacture of supposedly ancient items

Archaeological forgery is the manufacture of supposedly ancient items that are sold to the antiquities market and may even end up in the collections of museums. It is related to art forgery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michigan relics</span> American archeology hoax

The Michigan Relics are a series of alleged ancient artifacts that were "discovered" during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. They were presented by some to be evidence that people of an ancient Near Eastern culture had lived in North America and the U.S. state of Michigan, which, is known as pre-Columbian contact. Many scholars have determined that the artifacts are archaeological forgeries. The Michigan Relics are considered to be one of the most elaborate and extensive pseudoarchaeological hoaxes ever perpetrated in American history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gezer calendar</span> Small limestone tablet with an early Canaanite inscription

The Gezer calendar is a small limestone tablet with an early Canaanite inscription discovered in 1908 by Irish archaeologist R. A. Stewart Macalister in the ancient city of Gezer, 20 miles west of Jerusalem. It is commonly dated to the 10th century BCE, although the excavation was not stratified.

The Japanese Paleolithic hoax consisted of a number of lower and middle paleolithic finds in Japan discovered by amateur archaeologist Shinichi Fujimura, which were later all discovered to have been faked. The incident became one of the biggest scandals in archaeological circles in Japan after the story was published by the Mainichi Shimbun on November 5, 2000.

The Bat Creek inscription is an inscribed stone tablet found by John W. Emmert on February 14, 1889. Emmert claimed to have found the tablet in Tipton Mound 3 during an excavation of Hopewell mounds in Loudon County, Tennessee. This excavation was part of a larger series of excavations that aimed to clarify the controversy regarding who is responsible for building the various mounds found in the Eastern United States.

The year 2007 in archaeology

The archaeology of China is researched intensively in the universities of the region and also attracts considerable international interest on account of the region's civilizations. Scholar-officials during the Song dynasty (960–1279) who took up antiquarian pursuits were the first to systematically analyze objects and monuments from China's antiquity. The application of modern scientific archaeology to Chinese sites began in 1921, when Johan Gunnar Andersson first excavated the Yangshao Village sites in Henan.

The year 2010 in archaeology

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Castalian Springs Mound Site</span> Archaeological site in Tennessee, US

The Castalian Springs Mound State Historic Site (40SU14) is a Mississippian culture archaeological site located near the small unincorporated community of Castalian Springs in Sumner County, Tennessee. The site was first excavated in the 1890s and again as recently as the 2005 to 2011 archaeological field school led by Dr. Kevin E. Smith. A number of important finds have been associated with the site, most particularly several examples of Mississippian stone statuary and the Castalian Springs shell gorget held by the National Museum of the American Indian. The site is owned by the State of Tennessee and is a State Historic Site managed by the Bledsoe's Lick Association for the Tennessee Historical Commission. The site is not currently open to the public.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hyperdiffusionism</span> Pseudoarchaeological hypothesis

Hyperdiffusionism is a pseudoarchaeological hypothesis that postulates that certain historical technologies or ideas were developed by a single people or civilization and then spread to other cultures. Thus, all great civilizations that engage in what appear to be similar cultural practices, such as the construction of pyramids, derived them from a single common progenitor. According to proponents of hyperdiffusion, examples of hyperdiffusion can be found in religious practices, cultural technologies, megalithic monuments, and lost ancient civilizations.

This page lists major events of 2019 in archaeology.

This page lists major events of 2021 in archaeology.

This page lists significant events of 2022 in archaeology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rizal Archaeological Site (Kalinga)</span> Archaeological site in Kalinga, Philippines

The Rizal Archaeological Site is an archaeological area situated in Rizal, Kalinga, Philippines.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Wilson, Joseph AP (2012). "The Cave Who Never Was: Outsider Archaeology and Failed Collaboration in the USA". Public Archaeology . 11 (2): 75–93. doi:10.1179/1465518712Z.0000000007. S2CID   162312493.
  2. ↑ Kleen, Michael (2010-01-01). Haunting the Prairie: A Tourists Guide to the Weird and Wild Places of Illinois. Black Oak Media. p. 131. ISBN   9780979040146 . Retrieved 2014-01-20– via Google Books.
  3. ↑ Troy Taylor; Mark Moran; Mark Sceurman (2005). Weird Illinois: Your Travel Guide to Illinois' Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets. Sterling Publishing Company. p. 38. ISBN   9780760759431 . Retrieved 2014-01-20– via Google Books.
  4. ↑ Feder, Kenneth L (2010). Encyclopedia of Dubious Archaeology: From Atlantis to the Walam Olum. ABC-CLIO. p. 49. ISBN   9780313379185 . Retrieved 2014-01-20– via Google Books.
  5. ↑ Fell, H. B. (1987). Detecting Fraudulent Inscriptions. Epigraphic Society Occasional Publications, 16: 24.
  6. ↑ "America Unearthed: Grand Canyon Treasure Full Episode - America Unearthed". HISTORY.com. Retrieved 2014-01-21.
  7. ↑ "Review of America Unearthed S02E05: "Grand Canyon Treasure"". JasonColavito.com. 2013-12-29. Retrieved 2014-01-21.
  8. ↑ Rutland, Reece (Dec 21, 2013). "Marion County to appear in America Unearthed episode". Centralia Morning Sentinel.

38°44′N88°5′W / 38.733°N 88.083°W / 38.733; -88.083

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.