Continuing from the previous post regarding Wade E. Miller and Matthew
Roper’s article about what animals could the Jaredite Cureloms and Cumoms have
been. In the previous post, we listed all the different animals Miller and
Roper presented and why none of them would have been applicable to Ether’s
description of the two “unknown” animals they brought with them in their barges
to the Land of Promise.
Miller and Roper then write: “So, what other
Mesoamerican animals are left from which to choose for a curelom or cumom? One
good candidate in our opinion is a member of the camel family. The present New
World members of this family are the llamas.”
The problem is with this idea, though it is undoubtedly
correct in the llama being one of these animals, is that it did not exist in
Mesoamerica until long after the Jaredite kingdom was gone and well into the
Nephite period.
While Miller and Roper spend some time trying to show the
llama existed in North America (remains have been found within the La Brea Tar
Pits of Southern California, along with extinct animals of various types), and
tried to show how some might have lived beyond the so-called extinction date.
In fact, Miller and Roper use numerous dates in an attempt to place the llama
within the Jaredite time frame:
“This animal certainly
must have survived the late Pleistocene extinction event. Several
archaeological sites, including some in Mesoamerica, have yielded
co-occurrences of llamas and man. Dates recorded in North America showing
late survival of extinct species include 3800 years ago (Arroyo-Cabrales and
Alverez); 8240; 8527 years ago (Mead and Meltzer); 7432 years ago (Frison,
Walker, et all); and 7400 to 8200 years ago (Hester).”
There is one article claiming a possible date of 3000 years
ago (Mead and Meltzer “North American late Quaternary extinctions and the
radiocarbon record”), but that single date is far off of the others, and except
for that date, all the others fall before the Flood, therefore, before the
Jaredite period.
The point is, the llama came to the Western Hemisphere with
the Jaredites, as all animals indigenous to the area in pre-Columbian times,
since the Flood would have wiped out any and all animals endemic to North
America prior to that time.
So here we have two Mesoamericanists claiming that the llama
was one of those animals mentioned in Ether as being especially useful to man like
the elephant. However, from this point on, the two miss the entire point of the
llama and alpaca, lumping them into the same animal, when they are two entirely
different species of camelid. They do, however, acknowledge that Joseph Smith
would not have known about these animals.
“It is extremely
doubtful whether Joseph Smith would have known about these animals in the early
1800’s. In fact the knowledge of them was not known to the general public in
North America until the late 1800’s. Now, would a llama, either an existing or
recently extinct species, have been an “especially useful” animal to the
Jaredites (Ether 9:19)? It seems quite likely that they would have been.
Although llamas are no longer native to North America, extinct species were.
And like other large mammals thought to be extinct by the close of the
Pleistocene Epoch, some probably lived on much longer.”
The problem lies in now, on ce acknowledging that the llama
could have been one of the Jaredite animals, Miller and Roper, being Mesoamericnaists,
have to keep the animals alive in North America (and Mesoamerica) to maintain
their model as the Land of Promise. The problem with that is, the llama and
alpaca are considered by all scientists as having existed in South America long
before it was anywhere else, including a belief that it migrated northward
before the extinction period. But the main issue is that it was brought by the
Jaredites, and as such, we should look to where it existed the longest (after
the Flood) and that area is Andean South America—a fact to which all
archaeologists, anthropologists, and zoologists agree except for Mesoamerican
theorists.
The llama
was first domesticated in the Andes of Peru several thousand years ago
Miller and Roper go on to state: “Not
only is there good evidence for the co-existence of American llamas and man,
but also that these animals could be domesticated. It was stated by
anthropologist Ricardo Latcham that New World camelids (the llamas) were
domesticated in pre-Columbian times. Archaeologist Jane Wheeler claimed that
the domestication of the llama goes back several thousand years. This would take in the time of the Jaredites
in America.”
So here we have two
Mesoamerican theorists acknowledging that the llama was domesticated several
thousand years ago.
Miller and Roper: “As far as being an especially useful animal,
consider the uses for which the llama has been put by man. As stated by Walker
et al., “It is easy to realize the importance of the llama to the Indian,
as he utilizes it almost 100%, from its smallest hairs to its most
insignificant droppings. Jerked llama meat nourishes the Indian; its woven
fleece keeps him warm; its hide is made into the crude sandals with which he is
shod; its tallow is used in making candles; braided, the long hairs serve him
as rope; and the excrement, dried, constitutes a fuel…”
The
scriptural record states: “And they also had horses, and asses, and there were
elephants and cureloms and cumoms; all of which were useful unto man, and more
especially the elephonats and cureloms and cumoms” (Ether 9:19). The above
certainly shows how useful the llama was to the early indigenous people who
domesticated it.
In
addition, Miller land Roper state: “Additionally the
llama makes a very good beast of burden, and its pelt is used for blankets and
outerwear. It has also been shown that they are good at guarding flocks. All
these items make the llama an extremely useful animal for man. It seems to us
that this animal could well be either the curelom or cumom mentioned in the
Book of Ether.”
Interestingly enough,
at this point Miller and Roper seem to forget the origin of the llama and the
alpaca, for they stem from different stock, for they write: “If the llama in
fact represents a curelom or cumom, what could the other one be? Again, it has
to be one which lived in the right place at the right time; that is, when and
where the Jaredites were living. And it also must be an animal especially
useful to man. Although now extinct, two viable candidates are ones related to
the elephant.”
The alpaca with its highly prized fibers for
clothes and almost all types of weaving, from rugs to hats to shawls to jackets
It seems almost
comical that ignoring the other companion animal to the llama, that fits the
bill quite well, they go to looking at some extinct animals when the pair,
llama and alpaca fit the concept of the curelom and cumom so well, i.e., after
all, llama and mastodon, don’t fit naturally, anymore than “llama and
gomphothere” has no natural ring. Besides, llama and alpaca are both camelids
though they serve two entirely different purposes.
The llama, as
described above, is a beast of burden, but the alpaca produces an exceptional
fiber, which is the same class as cashmere, but also shares many of the properties
found in sheep’s wood. It is the strongest natural fiber known to man, yet has
exceptional softness, and has an insulating value from three to five times
higher than sheep’s wool, making it the most valuable textile fibers in the
world today. The Alpacas graze on grasses and whatever else they can find, do
not pull up the grass roots like sheep, so pastures renew if the animals
rotate. The alpaca's digestive system is very efficient so most any grass,
including low protein grasses, will do, and an acre of good pasture can support
about 15 to 20 alpaca. They are very hardy animals with few medical needs, easy
to handle, even for children.
(See the next post, “Wow! A Mesoamericanist Agrees with Llama and Alpaca
– Part III,” as Miller and Roper now look for the other animal beneficial to man and answer the question regarding what animals the cureloms
and cumoms were as described in Ether)
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Olá! Gostaria de saber a fonte do mapa de distribuição das lhamas e alpacas. São do livro Lehi never saw mesoamerica? Obrigada!
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