Another interesting and relevant post from Kate Phizackerley over at the Valley of the Kings blog.
Kate added a follow-up comment about the video at the above link:
If you are finding the video hard, Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scota) is a bit dry but gives the bare bones. If you’d like to know more than that then the Kingdom of the Ark by Lorraine Evans is an accessible book. I don’t agree with all of her conclusions but she looks at things like the Ferriby Boats when discussing the feasibility of sea travel from Egypt to Ireland which is interesting reading of itself. I picked up my copy on Amazon for a penny plus P&P.
Hi Michael (do you prefer Mike or Michael?),
I’m curious if you have any formed opinion on the idea of early cross atlantic contact etc. Have you ever looked at any of the various stone inscriptions of supposed various near eastern languages, found in the Americas?
I’m also particularly curious about the known copper mining in the Lake Superior area that appears to have gone on from around 3000 BC to around 1200 BC. It is estimated that somewhere in the neighborhood of 1.5 million pounds of was removed during this time.
There were also later periods of mining, but nothing substantial again until around 1000 AD
Do you think it possible, or reasonable that there could have been cross atlantic trade?
Mike is fine. I’m not opposed to the possibility of an early Atlantic crossing. I’d just like evidence for it. I see no relationship between the mining you describe and a crossing (I’m not sure one was intended, though). Seems like it in view of your earlier comment about Phoenicians. What is distinctly Phoenician about the Lake Superior mining?
I should clarify my previous question. I realize that most of the ‘alternative’ views tend to wildly exagerate things. Even the numbers, such as 1.5 million pounds (I’ve seen some estimate as high as in teh billions, but it seems to be numbers games not based on solid facts).
I also, question, however, if the defenders of the standard view perhaps don’t get thrown off real possabilities, and good questions by the wild exagerations of the alternative mythmakers.
For example, I think it is probably unlikely that a colony of Phoenicians set up camp for 3000 years in Lake Superior… but does that mean there is no reason to question whether they may have traded with native americans who mined copper? Things like that.