America Unearthed???

    Okay so recently I have gotten hooked on a TV show called America Unearthed on the History Channel. The show is hosted by Forensic Geologist Scott Wolters. I cannot find much about him but his show seems to be on the over dramatic side of things, as is most "reality" based shows. He acts as a treasure hunter more than a scientist. He talks about geology a lot and I respect what he has to say until I am shown he is wrong. The show makes him look like he is an archaeologist, he never says this, however that is the feeling I get from watching the show.

    I am not here to bash Mr. Wolters just stating an opinion about him and his show until I can meet him or find more information about him. I feel that a lot of what Mr. Wolters talks about is scripted to make the show more interesting. When he is talking about geological formations he seems like a different person. You can tell he is passionate about the field in which he actually works in.

   The show takes a Mission Impossible feel about it. People send in "leads" to different historical hidden treasures in the United States, such as The Great Wall in Texas and the US Stone Henge. I found these entertaining but then the next episode I watched was about the Holy Grail and the Knights Templar. My entertainment went away and I became more interested. He has some very interesting ideas about the Templars and the Holy Grail but they are a little different than most. The Holy Grail he speaks of is not the biblical sense that we have grown to know but rather that of Jesus' bloodline.
    A couple of years ago I read that archaeologists had found Jesus' home and possible ashes. Without digging into this my facts may be off but it appeared that he and Mary Magdalane had children. Mr. Wolters theory is that the Templars or some of the Templars were of this bloodline and when the Templars were dissolved they fled to the New World. So he feels that when he is able to solidify the facts on this he will be able to show that the Holy Grail that the Templars were to have protected was not actually the Cup of Christ from the Last Supper but actually the bloodline of Jesus.
This revelation if proven would change some things that many of us have grown up learning. Of course the tagline of his show is "The history we have been taught is not what actually happened"

   I am going to continue watching the shows and do a little research on the subject matter that he is speaking of and get back to everyone on my thoughts. The next episode that I am going to watch is a little more up my alley. He is going to track down the Lost Ark of the Covenant and how it is here in the United States. In the meantime, has anyone else watched these? Do you know anything about Scott Wolters? What do you think of the shows?

Until next time, thanks for reading,
James

Starting Over in Life and in Blog

    Well it has been a little over two years since I wrote on this blog. I have other blogs in which it has been just barely under two years since I last wrote. Well I was pretty busy finishing school so I am now going to attempt to stay on top of my blogs...

     I am someone who is just starting out in Archaeology and I am currently what professional Archaeologists would call and Amatuer. I have a Bachelor's Degree in Anthropology and History from the University of Arizona. I have been on several surveys and I have conducted a few surveys on my own. I have also done some volunteer work on dig sites and dendrochronology extraction. My blog that I am writing is a discussion and my opinion about things that deal in Archaeology and History. What I write here sometimes will be speculation and theory, and I will mention that it is, I am always working towards fact.

    I am working on several different things, I am very History orientated, my ultimate goal in Archaeology is to use its science to prove or disprove History. I don't just work with historical artifacts, I am from Southern Arizona and deal in Archaeology of the Southwest, this is almost all considered pre-history. Among my historical passions are the Knights Templar, Early America, and the Lost Ark of the Covenant. In Prehistory I am fascinated with the different Indian cultures that have graced North America some of these cultures cross into the historical period and that is when my cultural Anthropology studies kick in.

   If you enjoy reading my blogs please feel free to comment, give your theories, nicely tell me why you think I am going in the wrong direction...just a little fore-warning...I may sometimes seem like I am all over the place. I mentioned before that I am working on several projects, so wherever I may be at that moment is what I will be writing about. If the site lets me I will try and categorize them eventualy to make them seem more coherent. Still trying to work out the bugs of blogging.

   Thanks for taking the time to come to my corner of the web,
James W. Palmer, Jr.

The Lost Ark #1 :Theories

I already talked about my obsession with the Ark of the Covenent, so I won't tell you how I got interested in the Mysterious artifact. I will instead talk about some of the theories that are out there about the Ark. There are several authors out there who belive they are close to finding the Ark and some who claim they have found it. Two of the bigger names in the book world are Graham Hancock and Tudor Parfitt.

Hancock is a journalist/novelist that wrote the book "The sign and the Seal" The book talks of how he tracked the Ark evidence that he found to Ethiopia, Africa to the Church of Zion. The people at the church say they are decendents of the Priests who were in charge of the Ark of the Covenent. Hancock even spoke with the Priest who is "in charge" of guarding the Ark. He believes that the son of the Queen of Sheba brought the Ark back with him after he visited his father King Solomon. Some people don't believe that the Queen existed. Hancock and a team of German Archaeologist have been spending time in Ethiopia and in 2009 he believes that they found the Palace of the Queen of Sheba and in this palace he found an area that may have been where the Ark was placed. That was the last I had heard of the Palace and before I started this blog and couldn't find anything on his site. He has changed his site to include a lot of his colleagues work and I will search later and update this later. Hancock is not totally liked in the Archaeology world because they think of him as a treasure hunter. After reading his works I don't think he is a treasure hunter but I can see why they don't respect him. Tudor Parfitt is one who belittles Hancock in his book.

    Tudor Parfitt in his book "THE LOST ARK OF THE COVENENT: Solving the 2,500 Year Old Mystery of the Fabled Biblical Ark" wrote about how he found the Ark in Zimbabwe, Africa. He is an Archaeologist and a professor at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London. His journey started with the African tribe called the Lemba. He was spending time with them doing some ethnography on their way of life. He realized through years with them they had traveled through the years from Jerusalem to Africa. Through intermarriage with natives in Africa they went from being light skinned to being dark skinned. Parfitt was intrigued and theough a series of DNA testing he was able to determine that they were one of the Lost Tribes of Israel. They told him of a drum they called a ngoma lungundu. It held the same properties as the Ark. I will let you read the book to make your own assumptions. He found the drum in a museum in Zimbabwe. It was carbon dated and didn't come close to how old the Ark should be. His explanation was that the Ark had been blown up through time and was rebuilt and mixed with the old parts. The drum in use with saltpeter was used as a cannon. So that was what he used as his reason why.

   There are several other theories such as that the Ark made it to the new world, or that it remains in Israel. Some think that the Knights Templar took it or even that when the Babylonians took it when the sacked the city and melted it down. Whatever may be the case I will spend time diving into those theories, I may even share some of my theories. I just wanted this piece to show two of the theories that I enjoyed reading about.

Thanks for sharing you time with me.
James

Introduction

     I am using this space on the internet to share archaeological events that are happening around the world. Things that I have found to be of interest. Then I will give my opinion and I welcome you to chime in with your responses. I will also have a special interest page on a few of my favorite things. I am fascinated with World History and Native American Cultures especially that of the Cherokees.

     I am of Cherokee descent, my great grandfather was 3 when the Dawes Act was activated and received a Dawes number. I have traced my Cherokee heritage back to the late 1700's officially and back as far as Chief Moytoy in the early 1700's unofficially. I have found that I am related to Sequoya the Cherokee who invented the Cherokee alphabet, he is my 5th great grand uncle. I am proud of my past and it is one of the things that make me want to pursue a career in Archaeology.

     One of my favorite areas of study in History is the 18th Century. The main area I enjoy researching is the late colonial period in the US from its early years covering the time just before the American Revolution until just after the War of 1812. This is the time period when the United States really defines itself as a country. I would love to one day visit some of the Revolutionary war sites Archaelogically.

   Finally I come to how I found out about Archaeology in the first place. I was seven years old when Raiders of the Lost Ark came out in theatres. I watched the movie and became obsessed with the Ark of the Covenent. I went through every source we had at the house in the attempt to learn more about it. I copied every word I could find from the Bible and the Encyclopedia but unfortunately I ran out of sources and thus ended my crusade to learn more about it until years later. Indiana Jones is more of an Antiquarian but I would learn what Archaeologists really did and I still liked the idea of learning about the Worlds past.

    When in High School I did a little bit of research on the Ark but it wasn't until 2008-09 when Author/Archaeologist Tudar Parfitt came out with a book claiming to have found the Ark that my interest had been peaked again. I was back in college for my second time and was pursuing a pre-Law degree when the book came out. I changed to a double major of History and Anthropology I was already working on them for a BA  but decided to make it my focus. My thoughts have always been towards Archaeology I just didn't know what to do to achieve it. I still research it in my free time even though it is few and far between.

     I am studying Southwest Archaeology but I work on research for the Cherokees, the Revolution, and the Ark whenever I can, I want to learn as much as I can. In this blog I will have special sections that will chase the Ark and give some information that I find interesting on the three subjects that I love. I hope you enjoy my posts and feel free to make comments.
Thanks for stopping by,
James W. Palmer, Jr.