The Archaic Landscape
A Land of Giants, Both Man and Beast 
  

     While both the Nephites and Jaredites were centered in New York, after so many centuries in the promised land, they ultimately spread out all across the northeastern woodlands which is one of the most hospitable places in the world. The entire region was once filled with both prairies and forests where food was plentiful, and had numerous lakes and rivers—including the Mississippi River which drains an area of 1,250,000 square miles. The Mississippi Valley is similar in many ways to several river valleys in the Eastern Hemisphere such as the Tigris-Euphrates, the Nile, the Indus, and the Yellow River in China, all of which exist in temperate latitudes. But the northeastern woodlands has the added advantage of having a fairly consistent rainfall. Moreover, to the north and east are the five magnificent freshwater lakes that grace the northeastern woodlands today. From the westernmost tip of Lake Superior to the easternmost tip of Lake Ontario, they stretch a thousand miles across the heartland of both the United States and Canada, with the combined lakes constituting the greatest freshwater system on earth—holding an estimated six quadrillion gallons of water. 

    By examining fossil samples, and the radiocarbon dates pertinent to this region, it was determined that the northeast experienced a warm, moist climate following the Ice Age which considerably surpassed the present in average warmth. Such conditions accelerated the melting of the great glaciers which left behind unimaginable amounts of water, thus creating numerous large bodies of waters, ponds rivers and streams. For a time, the forests that existed in swampy regions looked more like jungles than forests, with the forests so dense one author claimed a squirrel could jump from tree to tree from the Atlantic coast clear to the Mississippi. In fact, much of the superiority of the region was due not only to the presence of the Great Lakes, but because of the vast number of smaller lakes and rivers left behind by the glaciers and the numerous tributaries which fed them—many of which were navigable by canoe almost to their heads which allowed travel from one drainage area to another with little difficulty. Of almost equal importance were the overland trails which followed along the shores and beach lines of the greater lakes as they changed size and dimension over time. Thus, the entire region was connected in one way or the other by natural means. The promised land was truly a land of plenty, and a perfect place to lead the Jaredites, probably having come up the St. Lawrence River directly into Lake Iroquois (the enlarged ancestor of Lake Ontario) whose south shores border New York, where they disembarked and began to till the ground. (Ether 6:9-13.) 

    After the Jaredites re-seeded the various glacial lakes and rivers with the fish the Lord instructed them to bring to the promised land, fish became an abundant resource for generations to come. To supplement the smaller domesticated animals they also brought along, the woodlands provided them with a rich supply of game animals which survived the glacial period, including the white-tailed deer, moose, black bear, beaver and turkey, all of which were highly sought after by both Nephite and Jaredite hunters. Remnants of a domesticated sheep were recently found on Kip Island in New York’s Seneca River, which dated to the Nephite era.¹ 

    To add to its appeal, in the spring the ground was covered with succulent herbs which brought vast herds of deer, elk and bison into the region—the bison being particularly useful not only as a meat source, but for its thick hide. The relatively warm, humid weather also made it favorable for gathering of wild berries and food plants which thrived in such conditions. Even some tree barks were edible. Evidence of agriculture also shows up, with a squash found in one archaic site, and a carbonized corn-cob in another, which should answer the long-debated question as to whether the archaic populations cultivated corn. Although that subject is still a matter of debate, William A. Ritchie claims that there is now reliable archaeological evidence that corn production was being used during the Hopewellian Era which existed for a time in Ohio and Illinois during  the Nephite era. 

    As for beauty, not only were flowers found everywhere, but a vast assortment of birds filled the land with song and color, with passenger pigeons, also used for food, so abundant they darkened the sky when they flew overhead. Thus, from earliest of times, the northeastern woodlands, with their abundance of natural resources, have always been inviting to human occupation, and made the promised land a perfect place to lead the Jaredites with every hope they would be an obedient people and thus enjoy all the bounties the Lord could offer them.  

    Because Lake Ontario is a dead end for anyone traveling inland, New York was one of the first regions occupied anciently. Some early travelers settled in Northern New York around Lake Champlain, others along the Hudson River, while still others made the Genesee River Valley in western New York their home, for most prehistoric residents were a riverine people. The Jaredites appear to have made the Niagara Frontier their home, settling chiefly those regions between the Niagara and 
Genesee rivers.  

    Fairchild’s study of New York’s Genesee River Valley revealed that until fairly recently, the Genesee Valley, which divided western and central New York, held a great series of glacial or ice-impounded lakes. Today the area is destitute of standing water bodies, a fact which has yet to be explained, although to the east is the unique display of the eleven parallel Finger Lakes. The numerous swamps in the land were once open water areas, such as the great Montezuma Marsh of central New York, and western New York’s Oak Orchard Swamp, all that is left of a great inland sea called Lake Tonawanda which once divided the flat plains to the south of Lake Ontario in prehistoric times. Numerous animals, both large and small, made these lakes, ponds, and swamps their home, as did a number of birds and serpents, some poisonous. 

    Some of the larger prehistoric animals in the eastern United States included vast numbers of Mastodon and at least four species of elephants. Other animals included the rhinoceros, camel, an extinct species of bison, horse, reindeer, musk-ox, three types of giant ground-sloths, giant armadillo, tapir, peccary, saber tooth tiger, and many smaller animals. As the ice sheets disappeared, many moved northward. Fairchild claims that those thus far discovered in New York include the Mastodon, two or three species of elephant, the peccari {wild pig}, dire wolf, giant beaver, as large as the black bear; reindeer, the extinct American horse, bear, caribou, moose, moose-elk, seal, deer, woodland bison (buffalo), and giant beaver. It is believed the panther, arctic fox, wolverine and badger were part of New York’s wildlife. 

    Evidence indicates that at least three species of the elephant family made the region home around the Genesee River in western New York their feeding ground. Hartnagel and Bishop list 119 finds in New York alone, which they believe roamed the land in great herds. Fairchild maintains that if one could venture into the primeval Genesee forests only a few thousand years ago, he would have come face to face with the huge Mastodon, and also the hairy Mammoth, which is considered a true elephant.⁴ But of greatest importance, the fact that spear points have been found in some proves they existed contemporaneously with man, which would certainly square with the Book of Mormon’s account of the Jaredites who are said to have used elephants as beasts of burden. (See Ether 9:19.) 

    All the animals mentioned in the Book of Mormon can thus be reconciled with the New York setting, as can its claim that a large and mighty people such as the Jaredites also made the northeastern woodlands their home. Unfortunately, the skulls and bones of these giants quickly disappeared as curiosity seekers made off with them, but the various reports asserted that the skeletons found once belonged to men of enormous stature, some of them measuring nine feet, with very few of them being less than seven. They stated that some of the thigh bones were found to be at least a foot longer than those of our day, some of the skulls examined completely covering the head of an average sized person.

    A large deposit of huge skeletons were found near New York’s northern border where workman came across a cave containing heaps of human bones of gigantic proportions—about one-hundred-fifty in number, which were eventually taken out and displayed for the entire town of Northeast. A cave nearby was said to have contained at least as many more.³ (For more on the giants of the region, watch for the upcoming book, The Lost History of the New World, by this author, coming out soon.)

     While little remains of that ancient time in history, the discovery of a burial site in Adam’s Country, Ohio, makes it clear that the ancients of the region were capable of great artistry. An article about that burial, and the mausoleum housing it, was subsequently written up in the Deseret News, March 3, 1880. It took great lengths to describe the cave the mummies were found in as well as the wonderful furnishings around them, including marvelous panels running along the base of the mausoleum containing bas-relief tablets full of written characters—supposedly the memoirs of those buried within. The article claimed, ‘the carvings on the bas-reliefs is of the most delicate description and fully equal to the Grecian school of sculpture.’ 

    In the center of the mausoleum a couch was found with a life-sized man sitting upon it measuring nine feet in length. The entire figure was finely proportioned and held an oak leaf in its hands that was so perfectly executed that each vein was discernable. "The figure was partially nude with a mantle or scarf crossing the breast and folding over the loins in graceful folds." The face was robust and its head covered with a winged cap or helmet. At the corners of the couch were two vases with beautifully carved flowers and leaves. Suspended from the roof was an elegantly designed copper lamp and at each corner of the cave were carved columns. Twenty more humble tombs rested along the sides of the mausoleum with raised scrolls with written characters similar to those on the mausoleum at the end of each tomb, each of which measured twelve feet in length by five feet in width by five feet in height. Twenty five faces were painted on the walls in a room opposite the entrance—no doubt the faces of those resting within. They were terribly faded but fully discernable. 

    After a time of amazement, a casket was opened containing a mummy nine feet one inches in length. The author of the article wrote:

    One of the party cut the wrapping from the face, but did it so clumsily that the head crumbled into dust. Portions of the hair remained sticking to the cloth and {the} correspondent brought some of it away with him. It is black, curly, and of fine textures. Besides the body of the giant, the tomb contained a spear-head, a hatchet, two lances, three mattocks, or hoes, a spade, a cup, two plates, and a small urn, all of copper. I appropriated one of the lances, and the edge of the cold chisel turns up like lead when stuck against it. The cup is of softer metal, and beautiful engraved with trailing vines and wreathes. ⁵

    A book of one hundred thin copper sheets was found at the head of the tomb wrapped in varnished cloth. It was covered with inscribed characters similar to those found on the carvings in the mausoleum. Mention was also made of the stalactites and stalagmites which had formed in the cave, one of which measuring up to five feet six and one half inches. With growth estimated at one inch every fifty years, according to a geologist of the time, it was estimated that the mausoleum was created around 3,325 years ago, which would have been during the Jaredite era. The owner of the cave forwarded the description of the discoveries, along with the engraved book, to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

Copyright © 1998 by Phyllis Carol Olive