The SMITHVILLE RUNE STONE

Hi Travelers,

I have been away from the Trip to FAR for too long. Too many irons in too many fires.

This big picture to the right shows the Smithville (AK) Rune Stone.

The two smaller pictures show the people on the Trip to FAR. From left to right on the left picture are Lee, Charlie, Larry and Freda. The right picture shows Denny, Freda, Lee, and Rick.

The big picture Above shows the rune stonewith my rune to alphabet translations.

The following quote comes from Larry Shroud’s article in the Batesville Daily Guard, February 14-20, 2004.

“The late Barry Fell, widely regarded as one of the best epigraphers of all time, investigated and translated the runic inscription from a drawing the Nicholsons [original discovers] sent to the Epigraphic Society of Arlington, MA.

“After an intensive two year investigation into the carvings on the stone, Fell concluded the stone is an American Indian copy of a gravestone. In a letter to the Nicholsons following his investigations he wrote:

‘The inscriptions found on the stone were in use up to 1000 AD. There fore this stone here (Fell means the original gravestone) was cut before, or not too long after this date. The letters and characters on the stone are of early Swedish type, and apparently were engraved in an S shaped arrangement, a common serpentiform gravestone style found in hundreds of examples in the Upland Provence of Southern Sweden.

‘The letters, when read in sequence in which they appear on this interpretation translates as: ‘This stone was cut for son Nicholas.’’

When Larry and I looked at the Smithville rune stone in 2008, we came to the opinion that we were looking at the original rune stone. My belief is that Barry Fell was misled by only the inscription on paper.

After that 2008 viewing I had translated the runes to the alphabet letters as shown in the second big picture above. The “E” rune identifies the rune set as the Futhark, the earliest known rune set. There are a few doubtful translations on the Smithville rune stone. Two runes, the “F” and the “L” seem to have marks on the left side. Those marks should be on the right side according to the Futhark's rune set.

The engraver may have been away from Norse areas for so long that he was using a really old Futhark set no longer in existence. Or the engraver, Ari, may not have worked runes for so long that he forgot which side of the stem the marks belonged. My guess is the latter.

Also the rune for “R” is inverted. Somewhere in my studies I picked up the belief that an inverted rune expressed sorrow, so I accepted the inverted rune, although I acknowledge that the “R” symbol in the Futhork rune set is shown inverted. Ari may have been ahead of the rest.

I wondered about “the sequence” Barry Fell used. I finally decided that the “H” looking symbol was really a pictorial drawing of a grave and headstone. That would account for Fell’s words “This stone.” But how did Fell get the rest of the sentence?

The rune stone was made in the era when a symbol recalled the memory of the whole word. So words are not spelled out for us. We are supposed to remember the whole words the letters represent.

So how are we to remember words we never have heard spoken? Well Sherwin in the foreword of chapter four of the Viking and the Red Man wrote that the “Algonquin Indian Language is Old Norse.”

Sherwin also arranged his eight volumes alphabetically by the best Algonquin word of a set of many similar Algonquin words. Then he wrote down the Old Norse words to match the Algonquin words. The Old Norse words have a better English definition than the brief statements of the original Algonquin translators.

If Sherwin was correct, we should be able to take the English letter representing the rune and look up all the Algonquin words matching that letter. Then we should be able to pick the words that might match concepts put on gravestones. Then we might use the Old Norse to English definitions to get a more definitive understanding.

We can translate words we have never spoken if Sherwin did his homework right!

“Ari” has to be the “A” symbol on the upper right. Then the reading has to move from right to left. So what does “T E” represent?

There are so many Old Norse words starting with “T” that the “E” must be the second letter of the intended Old Norse word. In the Viking and the Red Man (VRM) on page 198, the word with the best fit to the context is “Telja” which means “to tell,” but the words could mean “to consider” Barry apparently used the words “cut for” as being more precise for a gravestone made “to tell or to consider” Nicholas.

Then on the next line down is the “N” for Nicholas. Things seem to fit this far.

Suddenly Barry Fell’s interruption is complete. Ari could be either father or son, but we have runes left over.

Off to the left, rather like a side note, is the symbol for “F.” There are few “F” words in Old Norse. But “Paafa” is the word for father. Using the familiar form “fa” for father would avoid having to add more runes to define a “P” word. Below the “F” is an “A”. Now we know who the Father was. We know why Barry put “son” into his statement. There is yet one more “A” on the side of that pointer on the lower left. It appears to be a signature that says, “I, Ari, did the side note above.”

The rune in the center below the “N” is “R.” Barry did not appear to mention that rune. The rune is inverted. An inverted rune signifies sorrow. He should have known that. Barry should have known that there are only a few Old Norse words that start with “R” and the best one to fit the context is “roodha,” which means “crucifix.” (VRM V.1 p.170)

A CRUCIFIX?!

In ARKANSAS?!

ONE THOUSAND years ago?!

The crucifix implies that Nicholas was a Christian! Did Barry really not know the implications of the inverted rune for “R.?” Or did he not believe what he was seeing himself. Or did he think, “My critics are trying to burn me at the stake. Better not add more fuel for the fire. Proclaiming Norse runes in Arkansas is bad enough. Saying that they were a memorial for a Christian man 1000 years ago is much worse! Nobody in their right mind would even imply the possibility.”

But there are four other runes off to the right. The “T” rune is probably “Taa” (VRM. V1. p.193). “Taa” is a little like the word “the.” In this context it probably means “by.” The inverted rune for “R” probably means the Christian service of Nicholas.

The “L” rune probably stands for “lyysa,” which means “to light up.” (VRM v1, p83) The “U” rune probably stands for “UKCHE, a.k.a. hoegst,” (VRM V1 p.211) which means God!

Wait a minute! The four runes on the right side may mean Nicholas’ service as a Christian was a glory to God! In 2000 we might expect a phrase like that, but I did not expect to find that message on a gravestone made 1000 years ago in Arkansas!

Barry Fell may have translated the phrase differently. If he had a similar translation, he would have been very cautious about a trap. He was working from a piece of paper, which had runes that seemed valid. But that paper was also an easy way for someone to set up a trap for him up to be greatly ridiculed. If Fell had advocated a Christian in Arkansas in the year 1000, well--is there any way the academic society have treated him worse.

What about me? Am I obsessed with Christians in America to the point of finding spirits where there are none? I do not think so. When Freda explained how stone mason work could look like Ogam, I accepted the lesson.

I hope that someone can explain where and how I made the incorrect choices of runes to letters and letters to words. When you do, all of us will be wiser.

You can even challenge the Reider T. Sherwin VTM comparisons, but before you can reject his efforts totally, I think you need to show that eight thousand comparisons are not correct. Be fore warned, Sherwin took at least eight years to compile eight thousand comparisons. To discredit his eight thousand comparisons may take longer.

Meanwhile, I think the Smithville rune stone appears to be an authentic gravestone of a Christian whose life, 1000 years ago in Arkansas, glorified God.

A GOOD Lesson

The top corner rock of the grave in the center picture was the one we were interested in studying. Two years ago we had placed straws in the grooves and thought we were looking at edge Ogam.

Edge Ogam is a writing system using Ogam letters (vertical) strokes with spaces) in association with an edge. Dr. Berry fell showed an example in the middle of his book, America, B. C.

We thought we could easily read the letters. See the left picture. Starting at the right the top sticks read M-B-L-M-L-M-B-M-L sounds. There are many “M” sounds. Larry had picked up stories of Peter Cornstalk IV’s death and thought maybe he was the mad buried in the grave. The Indian name I found for Cornstalk IV had many “M” sounds.

Freda told us that Cornstalk IV was buried somewhere else. She showed us a picture of the area. But we believed we still had a stone with edge Ogam on it. So we went to the grave along with Freda.

She gave us a good lesson in the stone mason’s trade. It turns out that a stone mason uses a narrow long punch, like a nail, to make holes in a stone along the line where he chooses to break the stone. So the grooves you can see in the right small picture are left over after the stone mason has tapped the stone to separate it from the stone he or she will polish.

So what we thought was Ogam is the residue of a stone mason at work. I went back to look at Barry Fell’s picture showing edge Ogam. I concluded that any person attempting to decipher edge Ogam had better have much supporting evidence, so much evidence that the letters can be predicted before looking at the edge Ogam.

Arkansas slogans boast that it is the Natural State. Freda is a valuable natural resource for Arkansas. I hope other Arkansas people; especially the academic and official personnel recognized her talents.

Thank you, Freda. It was a good lesson.

Americans turned back invaders here, 1541

The picture on the left is not a rock. But there are many rocks in the graveyard below. We drove back about four miles to search for evidence that the graveyard had some connection with De Soto.

Larry and Charles talked about two Spanish bodies and/or two Spanish crosses found in this area. But we, in the car, did not know of any connection.

Yet this cemetery is near the location where the Americans were finally able to turn back De Soto’s advance. How could they accomplish what over 2, 500 Americans could not do a Mavila, AL?

For one thing, the Ozark Americans may have been able to use fire. The region was had a prolonged drought. The time was either late July or August. The Americans in the Ozarks were accustomed to using fire to clear the underbrush. Fire or fear of fire would have discouraged De Soto’s men. Also, fire would have destroyed provisions.

The Ozark trees would have enabled the American archers to get closer and to escape run downs by horses. This hide and run ability would have discouraged De Soto’s men from forays by small groups. Thus De Soto’s forces may not have been able speed out to graze their horses.

However the event happened, the Americans turned back a vicious invader somewhere near this spot. I regret that we, as a people, often lose sight of the valiant people who resisted vicious invaders. Why does it seem more important to mention that “De Soto stepped here” than to erect a monument to the 2,500 Americans who fought to the last man in blazing Mavila?

When the cemetery was named 140 years ago there may have been some reason why the cemetery was named for De Soto. I am not about to suggest they change the name, but I would like to see a small plaque on that thong tree. I think the plaque should read:

“Near this spot in 1541, Americans turned back the most destructive invader on the North American Continent.”

Dickson--Capsian

I included the Dickson projectile point, which Larry found two years ago, as a whimsy rock to make up Five Arkansas Rocks, so I could use the title of a Trip to FAR.

But, as things often happen, there is more value to the “rock” than I knew about.

The Dickson points are found along the Ohio River from West Virginia through Missouri and Arkansas. They span, in time, the Adena and Hopewell cultures of the same area, which build the mounds. Similar mounds, for example, King Midas’ Tomb, have been found in the Mediterranean.

Some entries in the arrowhead books associate them with Adena and/or culture. A very reasonable assumption is that Dickson points are artifacts from those two cultures over a thousand years from 2500 to 1500 years ago.

So, you do not have to go to a museum, or even Arkansas, to see a Dickson point that may have come from the Adena or Hopewell culture. You can buy Dickson arrowheads on Ebay for as low as $5.00.

The Adena and Hopewell cultures both had alphabets that were also found in the Mediterranean area. So, considering the mounds and alphabets, a logical question is: Were points of the same configuration as the Dickson points found in the Mediterranean area? I think the answer is “yes—for both sides of the Mediterranean,” Look via Google for “Capsian arrowheads.” European collections apparently do not group arrowheads by shape, but I think you may agree that the stemmed projectile points may be similar to Dickson points.

Thus the Dickson—Capsian point may be another piece of evidence of ocean commerce during the time period between the collapse if the Bronze Age and the beginnings of the Iron Age. During that time writing was recovering from whatever catastrophe caused the four century “black out.” The Mediterranean fleets were sailing again. Mounds were being built in Turkey and in America. Iron was being shaped into the weapons of war. Copper and bronze were being used for more precious objects. Hunting and cutting was probably still accomplished using stone tools. The Dickson—Capsian tools may have come from the same source.

But what about the distance? From Arkansas to West Virginia is 40 days travel upriver. From Memphis via the Mississippi to the Mediterranean is 60 days travel by slow ship. The travel time should be considered “about the same.” The travel effort favors the ship at sea.

In America the Dickson points are grouped into the “similar shaped” pot. The Capsian points of the similar shape might fit into the same pot. The Dickson-Capsian projectile points may be yet another piece of evidence for Iron Age oceanic commerce before the Krakatau Catastrophe.

So, the little Arkansas rock, the Dickson point, may have revealed more information than I intended.

MORNING of Trip to FAR

The travelers for the 2010 Trip to FAR met in the parking lot of Cave City mayor’s office. Moisture was on the ground and in the air. We began the “getting to know you” ritual.

In the picture you see Denny and Rick of the Exploring Izard County web site (hillbillyizard@yahoo.com ), Steve, a friend of Larry’s, Freda, a writer for the Stone County Citizen, Charlie, a Cherokee who has a cannon he made himself, Lee, from Jole publishers.

What you do not see (much of ) is Larry, associate editor of Batesville Daily Guard, who stepped behind Rick, and me, author, who is behind the camera.

Larry, Charlie, Freda, Denny, Rick, and Steve traveled with us as companions. They contributed valuable information from their experience and contacts. Hail Bryant, who did not travel with us, shared his tales of history. All of them made this Trip to FAR a success beyond expectations.

Arkansas PR calls Arkansas the “natural” state. I hope the people of Arkansas recognize the natural talents of their neighbors and, especially, how precious these natural resources are.

Details of the trip will be published in the following weeks with a focus on each rock in the order of my ranking, by value, from least to most precious.

We done good!!

De Soto's Initial

This time next week, I hope to have been there and seen this rock again.

This is the engraving made by a man who traveled with De Soto. All maps of De Soto’s route do not show that his expedition came as far north as Batesville AR.

But few American historians really care ancient American history. The following quote comes from chapter 5, The Three Hundred Years War, in Earl Shorris’ book entitled The Death of the Great Spirit, 1971.

“The suppression of the true history of America is one of the more exquisite works of human society: the suppressed information is easily available to every citizen, yet few are even aware of its existence.” (p. 77)

American history books do not contain items such as:

The Egyptian expeditions, which may have carved Chartrock over 3200 years ago (ya).

The Iberian settlers, who may have created the Dickinson “arrowheads” 2500 to 1800 ya.

The Norse traders, who may have left tombstones 1400 to 700 ya.

The Irish Christians, who may have left marks on graves 600 to 400 ya.

And De Soto, who punched his name along his path of destruction 469 years ago.

True history was written, for millenniums, on the rocks near Batesville AR. I hope my great grand kids are some of the “few [who] are even aware of its existence.”

Meanwhile, Hal sent this link so you too can learn more true history about Stone County, Arkansas.

I want to read ancient true history.

I am going on a Trip to FAR.

Graves

The grave in the foreground belongs to the Indian princess, the next grave is her husband Levi Moore's and the older grave beyond is the one with the Ogam writing at one corner (and possibly elsewhere).

This stone is on the corner of a grave near the burial place of the Indian princess, Disa Moore. This grave appears much older than hers or her husband's (Levi Moore).

It is rumored that Disa Moore is a descendant of Peter Cornstalk [IV] (one of the younger Peter Cornstalks). A Peter Cornstalk and his brother both married their wives at nearby Wolf House, the oldest public building still standing in Arkansas.

A band of Shawnees lived across White River from Wolf House. The brother reportedly changed his last name to Avey and apparently was never harmed, but Peter Cornstalk is said to have been shot by whites who came to his house when he was there along.

He hid in the chimney, as there was no fire in the fireplace. The attackers thought he was not there but before leaving, one of them fired up the chimney. Cornstalk hung on until they rode away, then climbed down, went out into his cornfield and died. Cornstalk in the cornfield, very ironic. But that's the story.

I think this reportedly happened in Searcy County which is not such an improbably stretch for him to be buried in Farris Cemetery near Onia (pronounced Oney by all the nativ

All are in Farris Cemetery near Onia in Stone County, Arkansas.
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The CHECKLIST

Travel
..March 24, to Memphis, arrive at 1415
....Shuttle to Batesville
....Batesville motel: Holiday Inn Express
..March 28,
....Ride with Lee to Little Rock by 930
….Flight home. Confirm
PEOPLE
..Myself
..Larry
..Lee and Joy
..Susan No response, assume no show.
..Charlie
..Larry’s other friends—Another car full
..Arkansas invitees, No Response, assume no show.
Schedules
… Rune Stone appointment?
....Atl-Atl demo?
....Program at School?
....Evening program at Cherokee Village?
....Leni Lenape were Christians at Cowboy Church?
....Vehicles: Two, (Larry, Lee, Myron, Charlie,) …(Larry;s invitees)
Things
..Contour Maps. USGS downloads free.
..Bronze Age America, Missed this. Going back to Liv. Pending.
..Ogam and other ancient scripts. OK.
..Dickinson Projectile Point. Need info. Pending.
TO Do
..Load Notebook computer, Pending
..Copy Cornstalk IV heritage? Pending
..Find Chaos of Cosmic Catastrophe? Pending.
..Small straws & tape, Pending
..Camera, Mine now inop. Pending.

The SUMMARY
...Larry, It appears that the people you invite could occupy a second car. I hope for some rotation so we will be able to visit with everybody.
...My biggest concern is the scheduling to see the rune stone. Have you made that ,,,arrangement yet?
,,,Are we going to have any of the extracurricular meeting/

One Week to packing.

Let's lave a good Trip to FAR.

Melungeon physical traits

During his speech, Kennedy brings people to the front of the room to illustrate various Melungeon physical traits. Semitic noses. Central Asian cranial ridges. Shovel teeth. Asian eyefolds. All, he claims, genetic markers to support his theory that Melungeons are of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean origins.
He holds up his hands and reveals a faint scar on each hand. "You ever hear the story about the six-fingered Melungeons? Well, I'm living proof it's true." He had his extra digits, which are common among those of Spanish and Jewish heritage, removed as a young boy.
"Genes don't lie," he says.
Read more at

http://www.blueridgecountry.com/archive/melungeons-revisited.html

In addition to the phenotypic evidence, Kennedy and others have compiled a long list of linguistic similarities between Appalachian and Turkish dialects to prove their assertion of Mediterranean presence in Appalachia.

"I hope other researchers continue the work I've started," he says. "Geneticists and linguists and historians, anthropologists, archeologists: It'll take all of these disciplines to fill in the gaps in the Melungeon story."

Kennedy finishes his speech with some provocative statements. "Why are we doing this? Why are we all here? We're not seeking justice for lost lands -- it's too late for restitution. We surrendered our claims to our land when we assimilated with the larger white culture. It's almost impossible to separate the perpetrators from the victims now.

http://www.melungeons.com/lumbeeproject/croatan.html

Mysterious Melungeons

Larry Stroud
Published Jan. 10, 2007

In 1654, unless someone got the date mixed up, which is always a possibility, English explorers discovered in the Appalachian wilderness a people different from any they knew.

These people were definitely not American Indians, although they had apparently mixed with the native Indians.

They were brown-complexioned, supposed to be of Moorish descent and had European features, often had reddish hair and very distinctive green or blue-green eyes.

They lived in log cabins that had peculiar arched windows.

In April of 1673, James Needham, an Englishman, described the mysterious people as having (quote) a bell which is six foot over which they ring morning and evening and at that time a great number of people congregate together and talk in a language not English nor any Indian dialect.(unquote)

The mysterious people came to be called Melungeons.

These people claimed that they were descended from a group of Portugese who had been shipwrecked or abandoned on the Atlantic coast. Both could be true.

According to English historian David Beer Quinn, in 1586 Sir Francis Drake put ashore several hundred Turkish and Moorish sailors, liberated from the Spanish, on the coast of North Carolina. No trace was found of these people later by ships who stopped there.

Many of those were Sephardic Jews from Spain, Portugal and northern Africa who had converted to Catholicism and may have later converted to the Protestant faith.

And, a fleet of Portuguese ships is known to have wrecked off that same coast in the 1600s, raising the possibility that survivors may have reached shore and made their way inland.

When they first became known, most Melungeons lived in eastern Tennessee, eastern Kentucky, southwestern Virginia and southern West Virginia.

I became aware of the Melungeons a couple of decades or so ago from an Associated Press article but never felt a need to research this (quote) lost race,(unquote) as some writers fancifully called them, until Dave Perkey and I recently found an unusual carving on a tombstone in a cemetery in a nearby county.

Actually, I had seen the tombstone once before but it was Perkey whose sharp eyes noticed an unusual thing about the carving; it shows a six-fingered hand (actually five fingers and a thumb) clasping a hand with the normal number of digits.

We agreed immediately that no stonecarver would make such a mistake by accident; that the six-fingered hand meant SOMETHING, perhaps a friendship between people predisposed to hexadactylism (having six fingers or six toes) and people with the normal number of fingers.

So I began researching six-fingered people.

Some Melungeons and their descendants, I learned, have six fingers or six toes and may be related to Turks from a specific area of Turkey who traditionally have the same genetic oddity. A family of people in Turkey actually has a surname that when translated into English comes out as Six Fingered Ones.

The mysterious Melungeons and their descendants also often have other physical characteristics that set them apart, including either an Anatolian bump or a ridge called a Central Asian Cranial Ridge on the back of the skull.

Apparently, no one knows what happened to that six foot over bell of 1673, but another characteristic of Melungeon culture is still around. Melungeons are known to have built little houses of stone over graves, and in the cemetery Perkey and I visited, skillfully built little houses made of stone covered three graves of children.

Other unusual physical characteristics are listed on various Web sites containing information on Melungeons; the same sites from which my information came. Just type the word Melungeons into any search engine to find the sites.

But more interesting to me is the list of illnesses to which Melungeons are predisposed; with most or all of these diseases stemming from the Mediterranean area. More on that in an upcoming column.

After the Civil War, when carpetbaggers overran the South, many people from Tennessee, Kentucky and other Melungeon strongholds moved west. When they found the Ozarks, they may have settled down in what was then almost a wilderness but which was similar in terrain to the homes they had just left.

It is not inconceivable that some of us in this area are of Melungeon descent.

Stay tuned.
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Larry Stroud is the associate editor of the Batesville Daily Guard. He can be reached at larrydstroud@yahoo.com or at the Guard office at 793-2383

DNA Results Reported

This photo, too, is from Farris Cemetery near Onia in Stone County, Arkansas. Perhaps when St. Patrick ran the snakes out of Ireland, they did not ALL go to Ohio where the famous Serpent Mound and Serpent Relief Sculpture are located.

My research indicates the serpent/egg/water religion can be traced back to the Tower of Babel where Nimrod's mother was its author.

Does your research agree? –Larry
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Larry Stroud
January 17, 2007

Dr. Brent Kennedy, author of The Melungeons, the Resurrection of a Proud People, learned about the Melungeons after he was diagnosed with sarcoidosis in 1994. He wondered what a Southern man was doing developing a disease that has its roots in the Mediterranean area.

Since then, he has determined he is a Melungeon descendant.

See last week's column for more information about the Melungeons, or do your own research on the Internet. A good place to start is www.melungeons.com. A free downloadable book, American Indian Melungeons, is even available at the site.

Melungeons is the name given to a mysterious people first documented in 1654, when English explorers discovered them in the Appalachian wilderness. The people were not American Indians, although some had intermarried with Indians. They were brown-skinned, possibly of Moorish descent, had European features, and often had reddish hair and very distinctive green or blue-green eyes.

They lived in log cabins that had peculiar arched windows, spoke a language that was neither English nor any Indian dialect, and claimed to be, as they pronounced it, Phorty-gee.

Evidence is strong that in 1586 Sir Francis Drake deposited several hundred Turkish and Moorish sailors, liberated from the Spanish, on the coast of North Carolina at Roanoke Island. No trace was found of these people.

Some Melungeons following the early days of their discovery stated they were from a lost colony. That could very well be so, if little Virginia Dare and her people (from the colony of Sir Walter Raleigh) found some of these Turks and Moors who had married American Indian women. Evidence also suggests that some members of the lost Raleigh colony may already have had some Mediterranean ancestry.

It is known, too, that in those early days of American history, a Portuguese fleet wrecked off the coast of North Carolina, and survivors could have made their way inland.

Other possibilities listed in Mysteries of Ancient America (Readers Digest Association, 1986, 320 pages) include: they are descendants of Welsh explorer Prince Madoc, from a band that deserted the forces of Hernando de Soto (he did have Portuguese and people from the Greek Isles in his party), or from the lost tribes of Israel. I will add that they could also be related to Coptic Egyptians and other miners of native copper in Michigan hundreds of years ago, and/or the Norse, who visited the Northeast much more often and stayed much longer than mainstream scholars would have anyone believe.

The whole New England area was called Northumbra, meaning Northmans Land, when the (quote) first (unquote colonists arrived.

DNA tests on known Melungeon descendants, so far, have not completely solved the puzzle but show links with several peoples including some of those previously mentioned, as well as Sephardic Jews.

Sephardic Jews are members of the branch of European Jews who settled mainly in Spain, Portugal and northern Africa, although many of those had migrated to England, Ireland and Scotland and embraced the Christian faith before the English (or whatever passed for English) began colonizing what is known today as the United States.

DNA results reported in 2002 from known Melungeon descendants showed them to have 83 percent European genetic material, representing Europeans from north to south; 7 percent matching populations in Turkey, Syria and northern India; 5 percent American Indian; and 5 percent African.

In other words, the surviving genes from Middle Eastern and East Indian ancestors are in equal proportion to those of Native Americans and Africans. The original, seventeenth-century percentages of all three groups (African, Native American, and Middle Eastern/East Indian) were undoubtedly much higher in the past than what we are seeing today because those genetic traces have been diluted with continued intermarriage with surrounding populations.

But enough of them are there to still be traceable among the Melungeon descendants of today. The Mediterranean and Middle Eastern heritages are definitely there.

Further piquing my interest in Melungeons is that many other so-called tri-racial isolate populations exist in the eastern U.S. I am not making up any of these names: the Lumbee of North Carolina, Person County Indians also known as Cubans and Portuguese, of North Carolina, Goinstown Indians in North Carolina, Goins in eastern Tennessee, Monacan Indians also known as Issues, in Virginia; Magoffin County People of Kentucky; Carmel Indians of Ohio; Brown People of Kentucky; Guineas of West Virginia; Chestnut Ridge People of West Virginia; We-Sorts of Maryland; Nanticoke-Moors of Delaware; Turks and Brass Ankles of South Carolina; Redbones of South Carolina (not the same as Gulf States Redbones); Dead Lake People of Florida; Dominickers of Florida; and Ramapough Mountain Indians (Jackson Whites) of New York and New Jersey.

Illnesses or diseases to which Melungeon descendants have a tendency to contract include sarcoidosis, Bechets Syndrome, Josephs Disease, Mediterranean Familial Fever, thallasemia and related disorders.

To read more about these illnesses, visit the melungeon.com Web pages.

Some Web sites contain surnames of families whose members are likely to be descended from Melungeons.
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Six Fingered clasp

The picture to the right is another grave marker for the people with six fingers.

So I can get Leary’s articles into this blog, I will be adding them in the following blog pages. Also, the following page after that, will add a description of the physical characteristics of the Melungeons and a link so you can read more.

Plus if you Google “Lumbee Surname Project” you will read that the Surnames of the “vanished” Roanoke colony are still being passed from generation to generation in Kentucky and Tennessee.
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Hi, Lee and Myron

Charles Berry is working on smoothing our entry to the Chart Rock area, as well as working on the copper or bronze breastplate angle. The man who found the breastplate is dead and his now-elderly wife had possession of all his Indian artifacts. I think she went into an assisted living place and someone else is now in charge but the way I hear it the collection remains intact but boxed up.

I am working on that from two angles. A lady who works in a barber/beauty shop in Ash Flat knows the people involved and is willing to speak to them for us. I will see her Thursday if she is in the shop that day.

How many people may I invite to FAR? Charles Berry is a must, and so also is Steve Cargill who caused me to be able to be the one to find the DeSoto inscription.

A couple more people are going to be not too happy with me if they are not invited. I do not know whether either would be free to go along, at least all three days, but I like to keep my friends and like-minded friends (of ancient American history) happy.

Myron, the headstone I e-mailed the photo of (with the blue chalk on it) and which is pictured on the FAR blog is about six minutes from where we parked to walk in to Chart Rock. So we can go get a good look at it and probably spend no more than 40 minutes unless we just want to spend more time there.

That gravestone has a fish on it; a fish that looks sort of like a whale and which I took to mean a Christian is buried there. That inscription features something unique that you will not notice until you stand by it — something I have never seen done on a gravestone. It is a visual effect.

Also, not too far from Chart Rock is what appears to be a meteorite of several hundred pounds mostly buried in the earth. I took a sample of it to a talk on meteorites a few years ago and the geologist giving the talk said it could be a meteorite that has been there a long time and ground minerals leached into the material on its outer portion (including the sample I had). It is an interesting thing. I will inquire of the guy who took me there last time and see if he is still in charge of that property.

Looking forward to seeing everyone. —Larry
____________________________________-

Our FAR headquarters will be at the Holiday Inn Express in Batesville. Lee, Joy, and I expect to arrive sometime in late afternoon on March 24, 2010. On Sunday Morning Lee will give me a ride to the Little Rock airport, March 28th, where I will catch an empty seat going to SFO.

I found out that the USGS maps can be downloaded FREE. I down loaded only Batesville. So far I have not looked at the map very close. I have Xeroxed most of the ancient script for America B. C. The check list helped me pick up the slack. The rest of the items appear to be on track.

I think we are on track for a good Trip to FAR.

The picture shows a smelter for silver that is about a century and a half old. You ask; what is a silver smelter doing in a zinc mine? Well, it is Larry’s story. I want to be there when he tells it again.

Meanwhile, the smelter reminds me to still up the fire and make a check list. Let’s see now:

Tavel
..March 23, Birdie and I to Denver
....OK with Hallorans?
..March 24, to Memphis at ?, ?, or ?
....Shuttle to Jonesville
....Larry to pick up or can Lee?
....Batesville motels? Make arrangements
..March 28,
....Ride to Jonesville?
....Overnight? Select motel?
Shuttle to Memphis
,,,,Flight home
PEOPLE
..Larry -- check
..Lee and Joy—check
..Susan and friend?? Better find out.
..Charlie?
..Larry’s other friends?
..Arkansas invitees ??
Schedules
....Atl-Atl demo?
....Program at School?
....Evening program?
....Leni Lenape were Christians at Cowboy Church?
....Vehicles, how many and who?
Things
..Contour Maps, Gotta get.
..Bronze Age America, copy to Larry
..Ogam and other ancient scripts. OK.
..Dickinson Projectile Point. OK
TO Do
..Fix Suitcase
..Load Notebook computer
..Copy Cornstalk IV heritage
..Find Chaos of Cosmic Catastrophe

Looks like I got my “fire” stirred up again. I have many things to do. Larry, Lee, and Susan; help every chance you get.

Lee, I have to fly to Memphis. If you could pick me up there on your way to Batesville, the inbound travel schedule would be simpler. I understand that you are headed west after FAR. I could fly out of Little Rock or Branson, if that would fit your travel plans. Please coordinate with me.

Ghost Town

Last Monday, Larry wrote to Lee.

“Hi, The arrowhead came from somewhere near the ghost town of Rush, Arkansas, an old zinc mining town. “

On the way, we had stopped to admire the early morning sun and the flowers of spring. The nice spot over looked a ravine showing a river with pretty blue water glistening in the distance far below. As we stepped further onto the bank for a better look, Larry’s toe kicked up the arrowhead.

Larry gave it to me as a souvenir. When I looked at the photos in an arrowhead book, I decided arrowhead was similar to a Dickinson Arrowhead, worth about $250. For two years I have had a guilty conscience because I had not returned the favor to Larry.

But, now, Dickinson Arrowheads sell for about $4 to $6 dollars in Ebay. That price sooths my conscience. I will buy Larry lunch. My Dickinson Arrowhead is still valued at $250 for sentimental reasons.

Actually I do not believe the Arkansas rock is an arrowhead. I believe it is a projectile point. A projectile point fits onto a spear or, most likely, was used with an Atl-Atl. We may see several of them if we return to Charlie’s for an Atl-Atl session. The point might also be used as a knife by attaching a short handle

My projectile point has a small chip broken away near the tip, so I can envision that it lodged into a bone in an animal that got away a long time ago. Dickinson Arrowheads are found in Missouri, where they may have been made, Northeast Arkansas, and in Illinois.

You may be able to see one or more Dickinson Arrowheads on Ebay. Archaeologists and Anthropologists, who research via Google, will have a puzzle to explain how the prehistoric stone from Missouri could be connected to the Dickinson Arrowhead movie theaters in eastern Oklahoma.

That puzzle may be a good topic for after dinner conversation on the Trip to FAR.

PLACE NAMES

WHY would a man carve RUNES on a GRAVE STONE in ARKANSAS?

CONSIDER the PLACE NAMES ALONG THE RIVERS
from the Mississippi, vis the Arkansas, up the White

MODERN NAME..........OLD NORSE................OLD NORSE MEANING
MISSISSIPPI..............MESTR SIPPI...............MIGHTY WATERS
ARKANSAS................AA KAN (al) SA (lt)..,.....RIVER CHANNEL SALT
WAPANOCCI..............FA BA MOKI................WHITE (no salt) FISH
CASSCOE..................KASSE KØYE................BOX BERTH
MAGNESS.................MAGNUS.....................NORWAY KING, c 1070
BATESVILLE..............BAKKE VILL..................HILL VILLAGE
POWHATTEN..............POW HATTEN..............PRIESTS TOWN
POCAHOANTAS...........POKKE HANN (tas)........ROUNDED bank HARBOR (breast)
ASH FLAT.................ASK FLATE,,,,,,,,,,,,,.,,,..WOOD FLAT
WISEMAN..................VIS MAN....................WISE PEOPLE

from the ARKANSAS/WHITE FORK up the ARKANSAS

PINE BLUFf...............PEN BLØFFE.................NICE BLUFF

From the ARKANSAS/POTEAU FORk up the POTEAU

POTEAU...................PORTAL........................PORTAL (narrow valey)
HEAVENER.................HEVE NOR......................HIGH POINT (Runes)
BATES.....................BAKKE...........................HILL

From the ARKANSAS/CANADIAN FORK up the CANADIAN into TEXAS

CANADIAN.................KANAl DAl (ian.................WIDE RIVER VALLEY
OKLAHOMA................OGSA HJEMME..................FOLKS' HOME
SPIRO.......................SPIRitUOsa......................SPIRITS
WASHITA MT...............AA CHU TA......................WAY MOUNTAINS THERE
WANNETTE.............. .. WANN SETTE...................ATER PLACE
ALI BATES...................ALLE BAKKE....................EVERYONE’S HILL
BORGER......................BORe GIRe......................BORE GEAR
STINETTE....................STINkd sETTE...................STINK PLACE

Maybe. so the NORSE travelers who passed by would read the MEMORIAL

OLD GRAVE MARKER

OLD GRAVE MARKER

This picture is a grave marker near at the inscription camp ground. I understand this to be the camp ground where we can park to walk to the Chartrock and the inscription. Last trip we took a different route for a reason I do not remember. Probably, we took a different route because of the lack of time to get permissions.

A couple of things are interesting about this grave marker. First, there are two dates on it. The oldest date is with the inscription that says “Died, Aug ?? AD 1779 ." This inscription implies that the first person in (or near) the marker may have been alive during the revolutionary war. The grave marker may have been put in place by the relatives of the person associated with the 1878 date.

Whatever time the grave marker got there, the implications are that grave yards in the area had been in use for a long, long time.

Second. Although the engraving in the center of the grave marker is very weather worn, the engraving at “A” appears to be similar to the clasped hand engravings on the grave markers near the Princess’ box grave. There are two chisel marks nearby. These chisel marks may have been made later to call attention to the finger area.

My imagination is very strong, but I used, at least, a few faint marks to allow me to sketch what may be the tips of five fingers (the thumb is above the arm). You may see something else in the faint marks. If so, our discussion will result in a better understanding of the grave marker inscription.

Hmmm, still no response from Susan? I may have to call again.

X ) Y

X ) Y (Near Chartrock in Arkansas)
T M R (Sounds if Tifinag symbols, c3700 years ago)

The letters X ) Y. which are found near the Chartrock in Arkansas are still a puzzle. In the library, my search of more than 200 Minoan-Mycenae Linear B symbols did not find any match.

I checked out Dr. Barry Fell’s, Bronze Age America, 1982. In that book in the table of Tifinag symbols I found the “)” symbol, which appears to mean the sound “M”.
The “)” symbol was used often on the Peterborough, ON rock. The Peterborough markings include a date of about 3700 years ago. Dr. Fell translates “)” on the Peterborough stone to mean the sound “M.”

So, if “)” is a Tifinag symbol, then “X” may be Tifinag also. Tifinag “X” sounds like “T.”

The “Y” symbol is the problem. Dr. Fell does not illustrate the symbol in the table showing Tifinag letters. However on page 242 are two inverted “Y”s, which have the sound “R.”

Ten of the seventeen Tifinag symbols have two or more orientations. Perhaps the “Y” symbol sounded like “R”. Then the three letters, X ) Y, might sound like “TMR” whatever that means. Dr. Fell wrote in the Language of our Bronze Age Ancestors table in Chapter 18 that “TM” referred to “TAMR,” which meant “tame,” but the “word as inscribed is uncertain.”

A search for “TAMR” via Google shows that Tamr Henna is an Egyptian movie, a boat on the Nile and, most important a place on the west shore of the Red Sea. This area is known in ancient history as the port of the Egyptians ocean going ships. We know the word “henna” to mean rusty red.

The mosque in the picture is called El Gouna Tamr Henna. The mosque was probably built long after the place was named Tamr Henna.

Cairo, Egypt is a short distance northwest. Crews from Tamr-Henna might have been on the ocean going ships going north into the Mediterranean. There is substantial evidence that ships from Egypt were involved in the copper trade about 3700 years ago. According to Dr. Fell, the Tifinag language was used in northern Africa well before the Roman invasion. So sailors out of Egypt would have learned Tifinag. Or they may have taught the symology.

Names are persistent in people’s minds and home town names are often duplicated by explorers in a new land. Perhaps explorers did come from Tamr-Henna in Egypt. The area near Batesville would be a very good spot to over winter, while the crews waited for the sailing season to the Copper fields in Lake Superior. Perhaps they wrote the name of TMR in Arkansas. Two years ago, I convinced myself that the chart on the Dhartrock was a Sun Synbol, which was the old Egyptian religion.

Do you have a better explanation for X ) Y ?

PICTURE for DONNA

PICTURE for DONNA

As a result of the last blog entry Donna and I have emailed each other several times.

She and Bill, her husband would really like to go along on the Trip to FAR, But Bill has had an operation on one knee and will be getting a similar operation on the other knee very soon. I emailed to Donna that Larry and I would like to keep the “mob” down to 10 people and two cars.

Donna emailed,

Re: Re: Re: A trip to FAR
Fri, January 8, 2010 1:30:39 PM

For now, I agree we can do a virtual hike. But please include a few close ups of details.
Donna

So this picture and those to follow are for Donna, but she will share them with you.

This picture shows a fallen grave stone in an old, old grave yard. The small square peg at the top may mark another grave made long ago. The white vase at the right is on a recent tomb stone.

The fallen grave stone we see in front of us has a brick on it so we can estimate the relative size. I sketched a white dotted line across the grave stone so you can see that the bottom end had been buried a respectable distance in the ground. The earth may have washed away, but a more natural reason may have been freezing and thawing.

Water that seeped under the grave stone may have frozen and expanded to lift the stone a little year after year. A good theory, except that the temperature does not usually get that cold in Arkansas. But wait. The stone itself could conduct the cold down. Also, if the stone had been there a long, long time there would have been periods of freezing that might have driven the frost layer that deep. The visible evidence implies the grave marker had been there a long, long time.

Why all the speculation? We hope to see in March that Ari’s name on the stone is written with RUNES!

Susan ?

I wrote the following email to Susan

Have you and Jim made any firm committments about going on the March Trip to Five Arkansas Rocks? Note in the FAR blog , Trip Plans, that Lee would like an earlier date. At this time I am suggesting March 25-27, with the following agenda:

Mar. 24 Arrival & visiting
Mar. 25 Chart rock, blown area, & Atl Atl demo.
Mar. 26 Projectile point, Zinc Mine & Graves, Ogam and Melagne
Mar. 27 Rune stone, and De Soto's inscription.

Please let us know as soon as you can. We may be approaching a mob size, but there are a few more to invite if we have room.