NEARA's Fall Conference, ABC Plus Ten, a Success!
by Suzanne Carlson
New England Antiquities Research Association
NEARA's Fall Conference, ABC Plus Ten, a Success!
by Suzanne Carlson
November 14, 2002
ABC Plus Ten, the NEARA fall meeting held November 1-3 at the Four points Sheraton Hotel in Waltham, Massachusetts, was by all counts a tremendous success. One hundred eighty attendees with eighteen speakers packed the meeting room, display area and dining rooms.
Ten years have elapsed since specialists in diffusion studies gathered in Providence, Rhode Island to examine evidence of pre-Columbian transatlantic contact with America.
The 1992 Meeting was dubbed America Before Columbus or ABC, and the proceedings published in 1998 as Across Before Columbus? The NEARA board decided that it was time to review developments over the last ten years, an organizing committee was formed, speakers from the original conference were contacted and ABC Plus Ten was launched.
In typical fashion, attendees were enthusiastic, happy to meet and welcome old and new friends, and eager to hear the speakers plunge into uncharted waters.
The anticipation was certainly well founded. We overheard comments such as: “terrific job,” “best ever” “exhausted from information overload,” “I think I’m convinced that the rune stones are authentic” and from new friends; “What a wonderful bunch of people.”
Dr. Elisha Linder, marine archaeologist and professor at the University of Haifa, who made the trip from Israel to attend was amazed; “ almost 200 people sitting and listening for over ten hours at such a conference - when they don’t have to - and having a wonderful time besides. I’ve never seen such a thing at professional conferences.”
After the bustle of registration and a preview of poster displays and book sale tables, participants assembled and were welcomed by NEARA President Don Gilmore. Roslyn Strong paid tribute to speakers and special NEARA friends who have died since the first ABC conference, followed by Zena Halpern and Elisha Linder sharing memories of Cyrus Gordon’s lifetime contribution to the study of early diffusion to the Americas.
The meeting began Friday afternoon with Steve Jett setting the scene for exploring new cultural, biological and linguistic evidence for transoceanic diffusion with a brief history of developments in the last ten years. Linda McElroy, filling in for George Carter Sr., who was unable to attend, presented his speculations on sea routes to the Americas from Asia and the Indian subcontinent. He posits that following currents and trade winds on a course around the southern tip of Africa and then northwesterly across the Atlantic into South America would be a convenient and logical route. Carl Johannesen considered the depiction of elephants in Mayan figurines and building ornamentation leading to the conclusion that perhaps not elephants themselves, but the cultural symbolism was derived from Old World prototypes. Mike Xu followed Shang dynasty linguistic currents from China to Olmec Mexico, finding the more than coincidental similarities in form, making compelling evidence for early Chinese contact.
The evening program shifted to the North Atlantic rim and Newport tower. Bill Penhallow, complete with magic wand and astrolabe demonstrated that the tower is a sophisticated astronomical observatory. Jim Egan presented his theory converting the tower into a “camera obscura” projecting the path of the sun on the interior wall creating a moving calendar. His research leads him to suspect that the Templars may have had a hand in the tower’s construction. Sue Carlson gave a whirlwind tour of the candidates cited as builders of the tower focusing on the lavabos of Cistercian monasteries as the closest match. She wondered if the Templars and Cistercians were involved in a joint venture
George Carter Jr. compared the manufacturing techniques and ritual use of black powder rockets in Southeast Asia with Mesoamerican counterparts, tying the cosmological beliefs of both Continents together. Neil Steede presented an update on the puzzling site of Comalcalco in Mexico. Although some fired bricks appear to have Roman or at least Mediterranean influence, Steede has found other possibilities.
Enthusiasm was still running high Saturday morning when Alice Kehoe began a tri-partite discussion of the Kensington Rune Stone by presenting a history of the late 14th century political squalls around the North Atlantic with the Norse, English and Hanseatic league all vying for control of the seas. Scott Wolter demonstrated that analysis by high power electronic scanning of both the grooves of the inscription and root residue established a date far older than the accepted 1898 date. Richard Nielsen elaborated on his evidence that the anomalous aspects of the runes are consistent with 14th century usage found in Scandinavian documents.
Nancy Yaw Davis opened the afternoon session by exploring Pacific pathways to America and the cultural flotsam and jetsam that accompanied such voyages. She mused on the possibility of many and various people sending ideas to the New World from far-flung places. John Sorenson took a methodical approach to diffusion, outlining both definitive and “needs further investigation” examples of flora and fauna, cult practices and elements of the sacred common to Asia and Mesoamerica. Elisha Linder dispelled the notion of Biblical Jews as landlubbers with a retrospective of his work as a marine archaeologist in Israel and around the Mediterranean. His careful excavation and replication of early Mediterranean vessels (particularly the fifth century B.C. Ma'agan Mikhael ship found on the Israeli coast) demonstrated the Jew could well have been seafarers. The afternoon concluded with the Screening of a “work in progress”, Ted Timreck’s latest on his favorite subject, the North Atlantic rim. The stunning photography and clear narrative is bound to make this film a model for diffusion discussions.
Re-energized after a convivial reception and banquet giving old friends a chance to chat and new ones to find common ground, Dennis Stanford, the banquet speaker was welcomed to the podium. He presented his revolutionary theories on the very early Trans-Atlantic peopling of North America by tracing Clovis technology to roots in sub-glacial Solutrean Europe. Evidence indicates that entry into America by people adapted to maritime resources could have made the ocean trip relatively easily following the ice, sustained by rich marine life.
Sunday’s wrap-up began with Sue Carlson’s postponed talk comparing the runes and language of the Spirit Pond stone and the Kensington stone, finding a common ancestor in 14th century usage, but demonstrating that Spirit Pond could not have derived first hand from the Kensington stone. Dick Nielsen followed with additional comments on a possible 1402 date on the Spirit Pond Stone, which is consistent with the linguistic evidence.
Before launching into the roundtable discussion, Jim Mavor make a short presentation on the voyages of Verazzano and lessons to be learned from the records of contact period explorers. Betty Meggers followed with an assessment of the changing atmosphere surrounding oceanic cultural exchange. She reported that the situation has improved, but there is still work to do!
Gathered around the long table were speakers Nancy Davis, Alice Kehoe, Moderator Steve Jett, Dennis Stanford, and John Sorenson and joined by Jim Mavor, Betty Meggers and Curt Hoffmann. Although new breakthroughs are being made at a rapid rate, the discussants cautioned that the subject was still controversial and ongoing rigorous scholarship was still needed. NEARA’s enthusiasm and support was welcomed by all. ABC Plus Ten was deemed an important contribution to our understanding of early diffusion and NEARA’s sponsorship was greatly appreciated.
For further details on the presentations and speakers, please see:
Across Before Columbus? Plus Ten
Copyright © 2002 by Suzanne O. Carlson
New England Antiquities Research Association
