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Some Reservations about the Newport Tower C-14 Dates</h1><p> </p><h2>J. Huston McCulloch</h2><p> August, 2001 </p><p> This paper was published in the <i> Midwestern Epigraphic Journal</i>, Vol. 15, 2001, pp. 79-92.</p><p> </p></center> In a widely cited 1997 paper, Johannes Hertz raises a number of arguments against a pre-Colonial origin for the famous <a href="http://www.redwood1747.org/tower/millmenu.htm">Newport, Rhode Island Stone Tower</a>. Hertz insists that it was modeled after the 17th century Chesterton Mill in Warwickshire, England, and points out that a 1948-9 survey by Hugh Hencken and William S. Godfrey found indisputably colonial artifacts at the bottom of a trench that surrounds the foundations. He...

While Christopher Columbus is generally credited with having discovered America in 1492, a 1521 Spanish report provides inklings of evidence that there were, in fact, Irish people settled in America prior to Columbus’ journey. […] In 1520, Peter Martyr d’Anghiera, a historian and professor, was appointed by Carlos V to be chronicler for the new Council of the Indies. Though Martyr died in 1526, his report, founded on several weeks of interviews, was published posthumously in a book named De Orbe Novo (About the New World). […] While interviewing Spanish colonists, Martyr took note of their vicious treatment of Chicora...

AS A BUILDING, Rosslyn Chapel, on the outskirts of Edinburgh, is intriguing. The exterior features Gothic gargoyles and flying buttresses, while inside there are ornate pillars, carvings and an extraordinary ceiling. As a place of mystery, it is a magnet for those with exotic - some might say outlandish - theories. Built in the mid-15th century by some of the best stonemasons in Europe, the chiselled scenes and symbols would have been easily understood by their medieval audience but seem baffling to us today. The most striking example of their craft is the Apprentice Pillar, which is beautifully carved and...

One particular bit of speculative history that has fascinated me for decades is the story that a Scot sailing for Norway discovered America about a hundred years before Columbus made his famous trip in 1492. This Scot, Henry Sinclair by name, is said to have spent some time in Nova Scotia and then sailed south along the New England coast before returning to Scotland. In particular, he’s supposed to have visited Westford, Massachusetts, lost one of his knights there, and left behind a memorial “punched” into a ledge. There’s a lot of disagreement about this. If you want all the...

June Goodhue says she’s known about the rock since she and her late husband moved to North Kingstown’s Pojac Point in 1952. Sitting in shallow water, the 8-foot-long boulder sported unusual markings that were typically visible only at extreme low tide. Goodhue said she heard people say the markings might be ancient runic characters left by Viking or Nordic explorers. Even so, Goodhue, who is now 89, says she didn’t give much thought to the significance of what people call the Narragansett Rune Stone or Quidnessett Rock. That is, until a week or so before Christmas 2011 when her neighbor...

1. kafli Óleifur hét herkonungur er kallaður var Óleifur hvíti. Hann var son Ingjalds konungs Helgasonar, Ólafssonar, Guðröðarsonar, Hálfdanarsonar hvítbeins Upplendingakonungs.