User:Vunil/Tuscon Artifacts

The Tuscon artifacts were a controversial archaeological find made by Charles E. Manier and his family while out on a Sunday drive located seven miles north of Tuscon, Arizona in 1924, today the town of Calalus, that contained thirty-one lead objects consisting of crosses, swords, and religious/ceremonial paraphernalia, most which contained Hebrew or Latin engraved inscriptions, pictures of temples, leaders' portraits, angels, and even what appears to be a diplodocus dinosaur. The name "Calalus" was given to the "terra incognita" (unknown land) based on one of the inscriptions written in Latin and dates to 790 A.D to 900 A.D. according to the roman numerals on the artifacts themselves including the A.D., but the site contains no other artifacts, no pottery sherds, no broken glass, no human or animal remains, and no sign of hearths or housing.

The Artifacts
The lead objects were found in what is known as caliche, or a layer of soil in which the soil particles have been cemented together by lime. The first object removed from the caliche by Mr. Manier was a crudely cast metal cross that weighed 62 pounds and after cleaning revealed it was two separate crosses which were riveted together. After his find, Mr. Manier took the cross to Professor Frank H. Fowler of the local university in Tuscon who determined the language on the artifacts was Latin and translated it to say "Calalus, the unknown land", as mentioned above. Mr. Manier then took his find to the Arizona State Museum to be studied by an archaeologist, Karl Ruppert. Mr. Ruppert was impressed with the artifact and went with Mr. Manier to the site the next day where he found a seven pound caliche with some inscriptions including an 800 A.D. date. There were thirty-one total artifacts found.

The Controversy
The Tuscon artifacts were believed, by their discoveror and main supporters, to be of a Roman Jewish colony existing in what is now known as Arizona between 790 A.D. - 900 A.D. No other find in this area, or any other finds in the North American continent, have been formally established as placing any Roman colony in the area.

The Phantom Sculptor
Timotéo Odohui - He appeared in a local news article as a possible explanation to the artifacts. Timotéo was a young Mexican boy who supposedly lived near the site and was a sculptor. The article mentions his possible connection to the site and his ability to craft lead artifacts. However, this cannot be verified, and might be a reaction of the local journalists who were trying to piece any story together for a new lead in the case. Bent wrote that a craftsman in the area had recalled the boy, his love for sculpture of soft metals and his collection of books on foreign languages, and told the excavators this.

The Supporters
Charles Manier and Thomas Bent - Two main supporters.

In November of 1924, Mr. Manier brought his friend Thomas Bent to the site and he was quickly sold on the new discovery, and upon finding the land was not owned, he immediately setup residence on the land in order to homestead the property. Mr. Bents felt there was money to be made in further excavating the site, hence the homesteading on the property. Mr. Bent is credited with much of the known information pertaining to the site which he wrote a manuscript that was about 350 pages and titled "The Tucson Artifacts". There are a few problems with "The Tuscon Artifacts" by Thomas Bent however, first is the document is unpublished making it hard to view outside of the Arizona State Museum, second is it was written forty years after the major events took place, and finally in his final summary of the article it is presented as a point by point establishment of validity of the finds, thus losing any neutrality of his article. Both these men were supporters of the Tuscon artifacts as a genuine archaeological find.

Other supporters
Lara Coleman Ostrander - Tuscon immigrant and high school teacher of history who studied the historical background of the research.

Clifton J. Sarle - Geologist who worked with Lara Coleman Ostrander. Both Sarle and Ostrander presented the Tuscon Artifacts to both the press and academic profession.

Dean Bryon Cummings - Major administrator at the Tuscon University and Director of the Arizona State Museum and lead archaeologist at the university at the time of the find. Attended the American Association for the Advancement of Science with ten of the artifacts and toured the East coast with them at museums and universities.

Andrew E. Douglass - Astronomer who supported the artifacts are authentic. (He is more famously known with the discovery of dendrochronology).

The Skeptics
Professor Frank Fowler - Originally translated the Latin inscriptions on the first artifacts found. Did local research and found that the inscriptions were from well known classical authors such as Cicero, Virgil and Horacé. Researched local Latin texts available in Tuscon at the time and found the inscriptions on the lead artifacts to be identical to the texts available.

Emil Haury - Student of Dean Cummings and excavator who examined closely scratches on the surface and determined the artifacts to be "planted", based on a hole which he found that was too long to be there naturally.

Dean Bryon Cummings - Later became the university president and switched his views in an unclear manner, possibly due to recommendation presented by his student Emil Haury, or the increasing sentiment that the artifacts were nothing more than a hoax and as university president had to take a different stand on the matter.

George M. B. Hawley - Hardcore opponent of Bent's views about the artifacts. Even accused Ostrander and Sarle as perpetrators in the hoax.

Resurfacing of the Tuscon Artifacts
In 1975, a professor by the name of Cyclone Covey from Wake Forest University, reopened the controversy in his book titled "Calalus: A Roman Jewish Colony in America from the Time of Charlemagne Through Alfred the Great". Professor Covey was in direct contact with Thomas Bent by 1970, and planned to carry out excavations at the site in 1972, but was not allowed due to legal complications preventing Wake Forest University from leading a dig at the site.