Turkey Mountain inscriptions
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The Turkey Mountain inscriptions refers to some markings etched on stone in Turkey Mountain, a large hill on the west side of the Arkansas River in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Some of these have been described as "Old World Records in Ancient America."[citation needed] These alleged runes and other markings are believed by some enthusiasts to have been left by Pre-Colombian European travelers.
It has been rumored that the site was a hobo's shelter in the 1920s.[citation needed] Gouges at the narrow hallway's entry seem to indicate that a gate had once hung here. Notches cut in the slab's top and the opposite cliff further suggest boards had once been in them for the roof.
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[edit] Speculations of Punic and Ogham scripts
On the wall of the cave is an cross-hatched line, carved above the letters "PIA". Rather than reading these as initials or a common Spanish name, the controversial Barry Fell, a professor of invertebrate zoology and amateur epigrapher, speculated[citation needed] that, due to the shape of the A, it is a Punic word written in the Northeastern Iberian script (which had fallen out of use by the 1st century AD) meaning "white". He also interpreted a nearby marking as a word in the Ogham alphabet, used on the British Isles between the 4th to 10th centuries AD, reading "GUIN", also meaning "white" in Celtic. In his book America B.C., he wrote:
"The Ogham script is 'G-W-N,' meaning 'Gwen' or 'Gwynn,' masculine form of 'Fair,' one of the commonest Celtic names and equivalent to the English 'White.' The inscription below the Ogham, reading from left to right, are the North Iberian letters, 'Pa-ya-a,' spelling a Punic word that also means 'white'."[citation needed]
Although other amateur archaeologists agree with Fell,[1] his theories are not considered credible by mainstream researchers.[2][3]
[edit] Other petroglyphs
There are two other inscriptions reading "LOS CAVE" and "Bad Dog" determined by scholars[who?] to be made with a different etching tool than the alleged Punic and Ogham scripts.[citation needed]
[edit] See also
- Heavener Runestone
- Poteau Runestone
- Shawnee Runestone
- Kensington Runestone
- Viking Altar Rock
- Vinland map
- Bryggen inscriptions
- Kingigtorssuaq Runestone
- Nomans Land (Massachusetts)
[edit] References
- ^ Amateur archaeologists who agree with Fell include Gloria Farley, an amateur rock art enthusiast and William F. McNeil, a historian of baseball: See Visitors to Ancient America: The Evidence for European and Asian Presence in America prior to Columbus - p. 223 by William F. McNeil (2005) ISBN 0786419172. and Farley's 1994 book on Oklahoma petroglyphs including Fell's analysis
- ^ Williams, Stephen (1991) Fantastic Archaeology, Phila.: University of Pennsylvania Press, ISBN 0-8122-8238-8, p.264-273.
- ^ Feder, Kenneth L. (1996) Frauds, Myths, and Mysteries: Science and Pseudoscience in Archaeology, Mountain View: Mayfield Publishing Co., ISBN 1-55934-523-3, pp. 101-107.
