Continued from the previous article regarding the differences between theorists’ beliefs and Mormon’s facts. Items #1 through #3 have already been covered and are in the previous posts, below we continue with #14:
14. A land where earthquakes occur (3 Nephi 8:12). This was not a small earthquake where the epicenter was in an isolated area, for there was an “exceedingly great quaking of the whole earth (3 Nephi 8:12). South and Central America have such earthquake areas in what is called “the rim of fire.” However, there are no earthquakes, nor volcanoes, in the Heartland or Great Lakes areas.
15. A highly developed civilization with extremely large ships (Alma 63:5), worked in numerous crafts (2 Nephi 5:15), large cities (Zarahemla, Nephi), palaces (Mosiah 11:8,9), temples (Jarom 1:8), kings (Omni 1:11), and a large and formidable military (Alma 43:16).
Mesoamerica has buildings and large cities but there is no record of standing armies. In North America, there is no hard evidence or record of any of these things in North America other than their work with copper, which would have been with metal found in nature without need for smelting and shaped into the desired form using hot and cold hammering without chemical alteration or alloying (S. R. Martin, “Wonderful Power: The Story of Ancient Copper Working in the Lake Superior Basin,” Great Lakes Books Series, Wayne State University Press, Detroit, 1999, p136). In metals found in nature—in their pure form—are gold, silver, copper and the platinum group, which occur in large amounts.
Peru obviously has large cities, temples and palaces, ships as shown by the ruins at Puma Punku, and Tiwanaku is one of the largest ancient cities in south America, dated to about 100 to 300 BC, and holding as much as 70,000 residents. In addition, the building skills are beyond modern understanding, and their metallurgy, which in pre-Columbian America is the extraction, purification and alloying of metals and metal crafting, and have been using native metals from ancient times (Izumi Shimada and John F. Merkel, “Copper-Alloy Metallurgy in Ancient Peru,” Scientific American, July 1991). This included from mining to smelting to metalworking.
According to Mark Cartwright, Publishing Director at AHE, “The Moche Culture expressed themselves in art with such a high degree of aesthetics that their naturalistic and vibrant murals, ceramics, and metalwork are amongst the most highly regarded in the Americas.” The Moche, who raised spectacular adobe platforms and pyramids, and created exquisite ceramics and jewelry,” (Mark Cartwright, Ancient History Encyclopedia, London UK, 20 August 2014)
16. Usage of metal weapons. From the very beginning the Nephites had metal weapons. The first seems to have been metal swords fashioned after the sword of Laban. “And I, Nephi, did take the sword of Laban, and after the manner of it did make many swords, lest by any means the people who were now called Lamanites should come upon us and destroy us” (2 Nephi 5:14)
This sword was made after that of Laban, which was described by Nephi earlier. “And I beheld his sword, and I drew it forth from the sheath thereof; and the hilt thereof was of pure gold, and the workmanship thereof was exceedingly fine, and I saw that the blade thereof was of the most precious steel” (1 Nephi 4:9, emphasis added)
Later, the Nephites built an array of metal weapons. “and in fine workmanship of wood, in buildings, and in machinery, and also in iron and copper, and brass and steel, making all manner of tools of every kind to till the ground, and weapons of war -- yea, the sharp pointed arrow, and the quiver, and the dart, and the javelin, and all preparations for war” (Jarom 1:8, emphasis added)
Mesoamerica weaponry was wood clubs with spikes of rock or obsidian. In addition, the war clubs of the ancient people in the Heartland and Great Lakes were also wooden. Neither Mesoamerica nor the Heartland and Great Lakes Indigenous Indians had metal, and their weapons were of wood and rock.
As an example, during the Mississippian and early historic periods Southeastern warriors in North America used the warclub as their primary weapon, and they were experts in using it. The wide variety of warclub types that existed is part of the evidence of their importance in warfare, including warclub types included utilitarian types that were constructed for use as actual weapons, and ceremonial types, which were clearly non-functional and were used for culturally symbolic purposes. Utilitarian warclubs can be categorized into several general types based on construction. The first type is a stick that is one to two feet in length with an inset projection at the striking end made from a flint blade, animal tooth, or bone or antler fragment. The second type is a globe-headed warclub one to two feet in length with a thin handle and a ball shaped head that sometimes has an inset projection on the striking surface. The third type is the atassa, the most prevalent form of warclub, was a wooden broadsword one to three feet in length and shaped like a European broadsword, or falchion, without a hilt. Obviously, north America had wooden swords among the ancient Americans
In May 2006, a mummy was found in an undisturbed Moche tomb, dating to about 400 A.D. This female was buried with two large metal war clubs and was covered with many thin sheets made of a copper-gold alloy, wrapped up in the cotton burial cloth, suggesting that even women of the Moche were warriors—a fact that is very consistent with this period of the Nephites (Mormon 6:7). “In fact, the Moche were well known for their metalwork” (Mark Cartwright, Ancient History Encyclopedia, London UK, 20 August 2014)
17. Fortresses. One of Captain Moroni’s main efforts was to build forts throughout the land. As Mormon put it: “Yea, he had been strengthening the armies of the Nephites, and erecting small forts, or places of resort.” (Alma 52:6, emphasis added). And also: “Moroni had fortified, or had built forts of security, for every city in all the land round about” (Alma 49:13, emphasis added).
No lasting forts have ever been found in North America. Theorists claim that the forts were made of wood and therefor did not last through the ages. This is unfounded since Nephi tells us he built a temple like that of Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem, which Nephi would have seen as a young man before Lehi left and took his household into the wilderness on their long journey to the Land of Promise. Nor would it be suggested that coming from a people and circumstance that stone had been used for building for centuries that the Nephites would have been satisfied to use wood when their knowledge of building was with cut and dressed stone.
It might also be noted that while Mesoamerica built of stone, they did not build forts, or walled cities, but open communities not easily defended.
On the other hand, the early Peruvians built nearly all their cities as forts with walls around them. One of those walls was the one Samuel the Lamanite stood upon when he called the Nephites in Zarahemla to repent (Helaman 16:2).
As stated earlier, it is one thing to have an opinion or belief, but it is entirely different to have the facts unchanged or not explained away with rhetoric from the scriptural record, which was written by people who were there at the time.
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