Danger of Theorizing Part VII – Working with Precious Metals and Stonework

Another of these points has to do with working with precious metals and stone of the Nephites. The author of these sixteen points required to be met in order to determine a Land of Promise site, states:

“(10) Highly-skilled Craftsmen - working with Precious Metals, Stonework (Hel.6:11)”

Now this one is almost laughable. The stonework of craftsman in the Andean area of South America, especially in Peru, is unmatched anywhere in the world. Engineers today cannot understand how the walls of huge stones could have been crafted, carved, and moved into such superior fittings and without mortar that not even a piece of paper or knife blade can be inserted between them.

The stepped pyramids and structures of Mesoamerica are, without exception, amazing accomplishments. However, that stonework does not even compare with what is found in Peru. As one engineering journal has stated: “The laying of the stones are impossible for ancient man to accomplish unless they were more advanced in engineering than we were some 50 years ago! Unless they already had Brown's Gas, they could not have created this facade. It would also have required laser and computer backup to do preliminary requirements for future stones. Overunity might have been known back then, but the keyword plyability, was needed in order to "lock" these stones due to the potentiality of earthquakes. These ancients did not put the base stones down but they did put little stones on top of the highly engineered bases. When the Spanish built their churches on top of the base stones, the earthquakes destroyed them but the old stones still stood easily. Meaning, the ancients were highly advanced.”

The stonework in the Andes demonstrates the tremendous construction skills of the early Andean people. Stones of up to 125 tons make up many of the buildings found in the area, Tiwanaku itself is as much a marvel of engineering as it is of early spirituality. Though it predates the Incas by more than a millennium, the ruins suggest an advanced irrigation system, using raised fields, and the ability to transport large amounts of stone over long distances. Tiwanaku has many stone gates of huge proportions and some stones weighing over 100 tons, which align with the arc of the sun on the solstices or equinoxes. Some experts claim that early Andeans had decoded the migration of constellations and and incorporated these patterns into the structures as well. The hills around Tiwanaku have huge ruined cities, and south of the city of Llave there is the most beautiful stonework that can be imagined, but it can only be seen from the air, like the canals around Lake Poopo and the Nasca lines.

As for the metalwork, the working of precious metals in Peru is legend. Their skills outstripped any other by centuries, and were comparable with those of the highest order of Europe of a later date. The designs of these ancient workings are remarkable and unmatched anywhere else in the Western Hemisphere.

Simply put, metalworking in Mesoamerica dates no earlier than the first century B.C., and actual archaeological findings show it not present before 900 A.D. A fact John L. Sorenson bemoans in his book “An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon,” claiming that “we can only hope that some future findings will show metalwork was done anciently in Mesoamerica.”

Again, the disingenuous approach by the author of this website is evident in such claims that simply do not match the record. Mesoamerica in most of these 16 points simply does not satisfy the points, whereas the Andean area of Peru does in all cases that can be traced to the Book of Mormon record and not to someone’s imagination or localized findings in a particular model.