Information from the NATIONAL MUSEUM OF OF NATURAL HISTORY Smithsonian Institution Washington D.C. Your ˙recent ˙inquiry ˙concerning ˙the Book ˙of ˙Mormon ˙has ˙been received in the Smithsonian's Department of Anthropology. The ˙book ˙of Mormon is a religious document and not a ˙scientific guide. ˙˙The Smithsonian Institution does not use it in archeological research. Because the Smithsonian Institution receives many inquiries regarding the book of Mormon, ˙we have prepared a "Statement Regarding the Book of Mormon," a copy of which is enclosed for your information. This statement includes answers to questions most commonly asked about the Book of Mormon. PREPARED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY STATEMENT REGARDING THE BOOK OF MORMON -------------------------------------- 1. ˙˙The Smithsonian Institution has never used the Book of Mormon in any way as a scientific guide. ˙The Smithsonian archaeologists see no direct ˙connection between archeology of the New World and the subject matter of the book. 2. The physical type of American Indian is basically Mongoloid, being most closely related to that of the peoples of eastern, ˙central, ˙and northeastern ˙˙Asia. ˙˙Archeological ˙evidence ˙indicates ˙that ˙˙the ancestors ˙of the present Indians came into the New World -- ˙probably over ˙a land bridge known to have existed in the Bering Strait ˙region during the last Ice Age -- ˙in a continuing series of small migrations beginning from about 25,000 to 30,000 years ago. 3. ˙˙Present ˙evidence indicates that the fist people to ˙reach ˙this continent from the East were the Norsemen who who briefly visited ˙the northeastern part of North America around A.D. ˙1000 ˙and then settled in ˙Greenland. ˙There is nothing to show that they reached Mexico ˙or Central America. 4. ˙˙One ˙of ˙the main lines of evidence ˙supporting ˙the ˙scientific finding ˙that contacts with Old World civilizations, ˙if ˙indeed ˙they occurred at all, ˙were of very little significance for the development of ˙American ˙Indian ˙civilizations, ˙˙is the fact that ˙none ˙of ˙the principal ˙Old World domesticated ˙food plants or animals (except ˙the dog) ˙˙occurred in the New ˙World ˙in pre-Columbian times. ˙˙American Indians had ˙no ˙wheat, ˙barley, ˙oats, ˙millet, rice, ˙cattle, ˙pigs, chickens, horses, ˙donkeys, ˙camels ˙before 1492. ˙(camels and horses were in the Americas, along with the bison, mammoth, mastodon, but all these animals became extinct around 10,000 B.C. ˙at the time the early big game hunters spread across the Americas.) 5. Iron, steel, glass, and silk were not used in the New World before 1492 ˙(except for occasional use of unsmelted meteoric iron). ˙Native copper ˙was worked in various locations in pre-Columbian ˙times, ˙˙but true ˙metallurgy was limited to southern Mexico and the Andean region, where its occurrance in late prehistoric times involved gold, ˙silver, copper, and their alloys, but not iron. 6. ˙There is a possibility that the spread of cultural traits ˙across the Pacific to Mesoamerica and the northwestern coast of South America began several hundred years before the Christian era. ˙However, ˙˙any such ˙inter-hemispheric ˙contacts appear to have been the ˙results ˙of accidental voyages originating in eastern and southern Asia. It is by no ˙means ˙certain that even such contacts occurred with ˙the ˙ancient Egyptians, ˙˙Hebrews, ˙or other peoples of Western Asia and ˙the ˙Near East. 7. ˙˙No ˙reputable ˙Egyptologist or other ˙specialist ˙on ˙Old ˙World archeology, ˙and no expert on New World prehistory, ˙has discovered or confirmed any relationship between archeological remains in Mexico and archeological remains in Egypt. 8. ˙˙Reports of findings of ancient Egyptian, ˙Hebrew, ˙and other Old World ˙writings ˙in ˙the ˙New World ˙in ˙pre-Columbian ˙contexts ˙have frequently ˙appeared in newspapers, ˙magazines and sensational ˙books. None ˙of ˙these ˙claims ˙has ˙stood up ˙to ˙examination ˙by ˙reputable scholars. ˙No inscriptions using Old World forms of writing have been shown to have occurred in any part of the Americas before 1492 ˙except for a few Norse rune stones which have been found in Greenland. 9. ˙˙There ˙are ˙copies of the Book of Mormon in the library ˙of ˙the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. NOTE: ˙˙This article is an exact reproduction of a letter compiled ˙by The Smithsonian Institution that was received by Computers for Christ, and has been graciously provided free of charge by them. For your own copy, write to: The Smithsonian Institute National Museum of Natural History Department of Anthropology Washington D.C. 20560 Computers For Christ, Panama City, Fl. 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