Burrows Cave

Burrows Cave is the name given to an alleged cave site in a disputed location in Southern Illinois allegedly discovered by Russell E. Burrows. Burrows says it contained a number of artifacts. Through the many inconsistencies that evolve around Russell E. Burrows' story of discovery and its findings, the cave and its contents are considered a hoax by mainstream archaeologists and some fringe archaeologists.

Burrows says he discovered the cave while hiking along the hillside miles away from the Ohio River, where he later claims that he was searching for buckles from the Civil War-era and pioneer horseshoes with his metal detector. Burrows says that he came across a hole into which he fell that led him into the mysterious cave full of priceless ancient artifacts. During the time of the discovery, it was thought that the alleged cave must have been located in Richland County somewhere near the town Olney, Illinois where Burrows resided at the time. The cave was said to have contained numerous archaeological artifacts, including carvings, coins, and other items. Burrows claimed that he did not want to give away the location of the cave because he believed that the cave would be robbed of its ancient treasures. Many of the purported artifacts are said to have inscriptions in various ancient languages such as Numidian and lybique, etc., but the inscriptions are generally meaningless. Burrows claims that the cave is a tomb holding the artifacts and remains of 13 crypts. To date, nobody outside Burrows's immediate circle has claimed to have been inside the cave, and many of the claimed artifacts have been revealed as forgeries. The cave and its artifacts are widely considered to be a hoax or fraud,[1][2] [3][4] even among proponents of other pseudoarchaeological theories such as Barry Fell.[5] The idea has gained some traction within proponents of Mormon archaeology[6] and hyperdiffusionism theorists such as Frank Collin (writing as Frank Joseph).[7][8]

Burrows and the cave were one of the subjects of the second season "Grand Canyon Treasure" episode of America Unearthed[9][10] and the show Holy Grail in America, both produced by the History Channel.

Thomas Emerson, the Illinois state archaeologist and former head of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency warned that the claims being made by Burrows cave proponents were sensational, and not backed by solid evidence.[11]

With no evidence of the cave and its existence, many archaeologists quickly dismiss Burrows and the alleged cave

Numidian ship

Until about 1993, the predominant Burrows Cave scenario involved Numidian and Libyan (North African) colonists. Part of the evidence for this involved a stone tablet supposedly depicting a Numidian vessel. Frank Joseph, one of the key figures involved with the cave, reproduced this in his book The Lost Treasure of King Juba: The Evidence of Africans in America before Columbus alongside an image of an actual Numidian vessel that had been used by an associate of Burrows who had originally identified it as numedian. In doing so he cropped the image from the Burrows stone making the paddle end of a steering oar unidentifiable but leaving the steering oars that are shown on what he calls (and the artist depicts) as the prow of the boat. The anthropologist and geographer George F. Carter, a supporter of the concept of trans-cultural diffusion, commented on the image saying "The 'author' did not recognize the paired oars, and hung an 'impossible' oar over the bow. All others equally botched up. Fanciful stern pieces...Oar over bow - crude fakery by an ignoramus in the world of ships."[12]

The image used to identify the ship as Numidian actually is dated to around 700 BCE, but Joseph described it as dated 170 BCE, possibly because around this time Burrows Cave was being portrayed as the destination of Mauretanians, including "exiled Romans, Africans, Celts, Christians and Jews"[13] fleeing the Romans taking with them an alleged treasure belong to King Juba II.[14]

References

  1. ↑ Kleen, Michael (2010-01-01). Haunting the Prairie: A Tourists Guide to the Weird and Wild Places of Illinois - Michael Kleen - Google Books. ISBN 9780979040146. Retrieved 2014-01-20.
  2. ↑ Weird Illinois: Your Travel Guide to Illinois' Local Legends and Best Kept ... - Troy Taylor, Mark Sceurman - Google Books. B. 2005. ISBN 9780760759431. Retrieved 2014-01-20.
  3. ↑ Feder, Kenneth L (2010). Encyclopedia of Dubious Archaeology: From Atlantis to the Walam Olum - Kenneth L. Feder - Google Books. ISBN 9780313379185. Retrieved 2014-01-20.
  4. ↑ Wilson, Joseph AP (2012). "The Cave Who Never Was: Outsider Archaeology and Failed Collaboration in the USA". Public Archaeology. 11 (2): 75–93. doi:10.1179/1465518712Z.0000000007. |
  5. ↑ Fell, H. B. 1987. Detecting Fraudulent Inscriptions. Epigraphic Society Occasional Publications, 16: 24. |
  6. ↑ "True Suppressions 3: Burrows Cave, "Newark Holy Stones, "Sopher Plates"; Fakes as Orthodox Science Claims-Or - True Suppressions?". S8int.com. Retrieved 2014-01-21.
  7. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-12-13. Retrieved 2014-01-21.
  8. ↑ Joseph, Frank (2009). Unearthing ancient America. ISBN 9781601630315. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
  9. ↑ "America Unearthed: Grand Canyon Treasure Full Episode - America Unearthed". HISTORY.com. Retrieved 2014-01-21.
  10. ↑ "Review of America Unearthed S02E05: "Grand Canyon Treasure"". JasonColavito.com. 2013-12-29. Retrieved 2014-01-21.
  11. ↑ Rutland, Reece (Dec 21, 2013). "Marion County to appear in America Unearthed episode". Centralia Morning Sentinel.
  12. ↑ Wilson, Joseph AP (2012). "The Cave Who Never Was: Outsider Archaeology and Failed Collaboration in the USA". Public Archaeology. 11 (2): 75–93. doi:10.1179/1465518712Z.0000000007. |
  13. ↑ Meador, S. 2004. Untitled Review. "Rambles: A Cultural Arts Magazine", 3 January 2004
  14. ↑ Wilson, Joseph AP (2012). "The Cave Who Never Was: Outsider Archaeology and Failed Collaboration in the USA". Public Archaeology. 11 (2): 75–93. doi:10.1179/1465518712Z.0000000007. |

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