Let’s Make Things Clear – Part III

Continued from the previous post regarding several comments made by a reader of this blog and our responses. The first 7 comments and responses have been covered in the previous two posts. Continuing below with comment #8.

Comment #8: “Note that the Book of Mormon never states that the Nephites or Lamanites built there building from stone.

Response: Note that the Book of Mormon never states that the Nephites built there houses out of only timber, or that any houses were built out of timber in the Land Southward.

Several outer walls in Andean Peru. Almost every city, settlement and village had exterior wall, obviously built for defending those behind the walls

 

Note: “building walls of stone to encircle them about, round about their cities and the borders of their lands; yea, all round about the land” (Alma 48:8), was a familiar trait for the Nephites, either by direct contact (Lehi, Nephi, Sam and Zoram), or from stories told them by these men—for that was the manner of buildihg in the Midde East long before Lehi left Jerusalem. Thus, the Nephites used stone a great deal and were well familiar with it.

Comment #9: “The Nephites shipped timber to the land northward because of the lack of timber; how do you suggest this was done in South America. Specifics like which river would be helpful. (Helaman 3:10).

Response: In Ecuador, the Land Northward, moving from the south to the north, from the Gulf of Guayaquil (Narrow Neck of Land), there is the Guayas River, Jubones River, Zarumilla River and the Tumbes River, all of which are large enough to have allowed a sea going ship to sail far northward into the area. In fact, there are over 2,000 rivers and streams that have headwaters in the Andes mountain range, flowing either westward toward the Pacific Ocean or eastward toward the Amazon River and finally to the Atlantic.

In addition, there is an interesting river system existing within Ecuador that stems from an area called “The Land of Many Waters” an area Southwest of Quito covering hundreds of square miles where ships carrying timber would have access to landing along sufficient land areas to cover the entire Land Northward.

It would be hard to find a similar situation in North America, since almost all rivers there were shallow and could not have handled a ship of any size—particularly not large enough to carry suffient numbers of timbers into the Land Northward.

Comment #10: “Earthen mound wall around ALL their cities. Do you have evidence that the indigenous people of South America used earthen mounds around all their cities? (Alma 50:1)

Response: First of all, evidence of earthen pits and walls of dirt, along with wooden fencing would not have lasted 1700 years—any evidence today would be minimal, but some would still exist. 

Southwest approach to Yayno, showing the trenches protecting the lower margins of the settlement. The entire summit contains densely agglutinated architecture, but the tallest constructions can be seen to the right (south). From the south’s main entrance, a processional way leads the visitor through a series of monumental compounds, gateways and a large plaza up to the top of the site, crowned by a circular ‘tower’ enclosure

 

One such location in Andean Peru is the ancient hilltop fortress of Yayno, which is perched atop a high ridgetop descending from the Cordillera Blanca to the east in Pomabamba of the Ancash Region—100 miles southeast of Cajarmarca and 80 miles due east of Chimbote.

This site has what archaeologists call a man-made “trench system” around it, which of course is an earthen ditch. In fact, there are such trench systems around many Peruvian cities. There are also ancient Peruvian cities that were built with one or two sides along steep cliffs, like Sacsayhuaman, and in other locations, like Kuelap, where the entire city is elevated above the mountain top some 65-feet with only three very narrow entrances that lead up to the city and easily guarded.

Left: Ditch dug along a hillside; Right: Built along a steep cliff reinforced with a 40-foot wall

 

The most distinctive defensive works consist of a system of trenches, which protected vulnerable margins of the main sector, and elaborate stretches defended in particular the northern and western approaches. From afar, these features are both visually distinctive and formidable, forming arc-like rings around the mountaintop, which can be discerned a good distance away (George Lau, “Fortification as Warfare Culture: The hilltop center of Yayno,” Cambridge Archaeological Journal, vol.20, Iss.3, Octoer 2010, pp419-448).

Exploiting the natural formations of the hillside and digging the ditch where rock facings rise strait up and provide one side of the ditch

 

The trench system exploited the natural rock fractures and erosional channels of the hilltop. Many trenches were widened and deepened to a ‘V’, removing the dirt for a distance of 18-feet across. The inner bank, raised by excavated dirt, measured up to 5–6 m tall, while the outer may rise 2–3 m. The southwestern mar- gins also feature three successive trenches, at roughly
25 m intervals. The longest girdles the western flank of the mountain for approximately 300 m. Added protection was afforded by constructing walls atop sections of the inner bank, providing a type of parapet.

The trench system included two deep ditches which cut across ridgelines (northeast and northwest site margins). These ditches may have served to slow any upward advance, or push any attackers to the steeper lateral ends. Keeping attackers in or near the trenches may have also facilitated retaliating volleys, especially with projectiles from above. Defensive dry moats were not uncommon in the middle and upper valleys of the Andes’ Pacific flanks; they seal off a protected area by cutting off access via the ridgeline (D.A. Proulx, “An Analysis of the Early Cultural Sequence in the Nepeña Valley, Peru,” Research Report No.25, Department of Anthropology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 1985,pp165-168).

The trench system exploited the natural rock fractures and erosional channels of the hilltop. Many trenches have been widened and deepened to a ‘V’-profile, measuring up to 5 m across. The inner bank, raised by excavated dirt, may measure up to 8 feet tall, while the outer may rise 8 feet. The southwestern margins also feature three successive trenches, at roughly 80 feet intervals. The longest girdles the western flank of the mountain for approximately 985 feet. Added protection was afforded by constructing walls atop sections of the inner bank, providing a type of parapet.

The trench system included two deep ditches which cut across ridgelines (northeast and northwest site margins). These ditches were intended to slow any upward advance, or push any attackers to the steeper lateral ends. Keeping attackers in or near the trenches facilitated retaliating volleys, especially with projectiles from above. Defensive dry moats were not uncommon in the middle and upper valleys of the Andes’ Pacific flanks; they seal off a protected area by cutting off access via the ridgeline (D. J. Wilson, “Prehispanic Settlement Patterns in the Lower Santa Valley, Peru: A Regional Perspective on the Origins and Development of Complex North Coast Society,” Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC, 1988, pp165-167).

Cajamarca also fits Mormon descriptions of the digging of ditches around Bountiful. 1) Moroni did have a ditch dug around the city of Bountiful (Alma 53:3); 2) With the hills behind and the city built facing away from the valley with windowless walls, and 3) a ditch dug around the city in the front area facing the valley. It can be understood that this city “became an exceedingly stronghold ever after” (Alma 53:5).

It should be noted that neither the ditches shown in North America, which are minimal and debatable what is shown actually was used as a defensive dry moat  or the cities shown in Mesoamerica where there are no trenches or ditches dug around cities, we find only in Andean Peru the descriptions that Mormon describes. To be clear about locating a Land of Promise, we should make it clear that what the scriptural record describes matches what is found in the ground—North America and Mesoamerica simply do not match Mormon’s descriptions.