National Anthropological Archives

MS 2014-03 Robert C. Mainfort, Jr. and Mary L. Kwas papers on the Bat Creek stone

Summary

Collection ID:
NAA.MS2014-03
Creators:
Mainfort, Robert C., 1948-
Kwas, Mary L.
Dates:
1987-2005
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
33 Items
0.33 linear feet (1 box
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
This collection contains Robert C. Mainfort, Jr. and Mary L. Kwas' research files for their article "The Bat Creek Stone Revisited: A Fraud Exposed." The files include a copy of their article, correspondence, notes from archival and bibliographic research, and reference sources.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
The Bat Creek stone is a small inscribed rock that was reportedly excavated from an undisturbed burial mound at Bat Creek in Loudon County, Tennessee, by John W. Emmert, a Smithsonian field assistant for the Bureau of American Ethnology Mound Survey. Cyrus Thomas, director of the Mound Survey, claimed the marks resembled Cherokee syllabary in his publication, "Report on the Mound Explorations of the Bureau of Ethnology" (1894). In 1970, Cyrus Gordon, a Semitic languages scholar, identified the marks as Paleo-Hebrew. The tablet has since been cited (most notably by J. Huston McCulloch) as evidence of Precolumbian contacts between the Old World and New World. Robert C. Mainfort, Jr. and Mary L. Kwas refuted this claim in their 2004 article in American Antiquity 69(4), "The Bat Creek Stone Revisited: A Fraud Exposed." According to Mainfort and Kwas, evidence suggests that the inscription is a forgery, likely perpetrated by John W. Emmert.

Administration

Custodial History
These files were donated to the National Anthropological Archives by Mary L. Kwas and Robert C. Mainfort in 2014.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access.
Citation
Manuscript 2014-03, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
Conditions Governing Use
Contact the repository for terms of use.

Other Archival Materials

Other Archival Materials
The Bat Creek stone (Accession A134902-0) and a cast (Accession A134902A-0) are held by the Department of Anthropology Collections, National Museum of Natural History. The records of the Mound Survey, MS 2400, are at the National Anthropological Archives.

More Information

Local Numbers

Local Numbers
NAA MS 2014-03


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Hoaxes Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Indians of North America -- Transatlantic influences Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Tennessee -- Antiquities Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Correspondence Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Research Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Indians of North America Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Emmert, John W., 1842-1917 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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