Helaman 3:7 7 And there being but little timber upon the face of the land, nevertheless the people who went forth became exceedingly expert in the working of cement; therefore they did build houses of cement, in the which they did dwell.
Recent research shows that cement was in fact extensively used in Mesoamerica beginning largely at this time. One of the most notable uses of cement is in the temple complex at Teotihuacan, north of present-day Mexico City. According to David S. Hyman, the structural use of cement appears suddenly in the archaeological record. Its earliest sample "is a fully developed product." The cement floor slabs at this site "were remarkably high in structural quality." Although exposed to the elements for nearly two thousand years, they still "exceed many present-day building code requirements." After its discovery, cement was used at many sites in the Valley of Mexico and in the Maya regions of southern Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras. It was used in the construction of buildings at such sites as Cerro de Texcotzingo, Tula, Palenque, Tikal, Copan, Uxmal, and Chichen Itza.
Alan -
Cite your sources for others to review. I know you are probably using one of the multiple mormon sites for this info. However, if you bother to read Hyman’s original document, instead of the citations that are cherry picked from his 1970 paper, one will note that this ‘cement’ was nothing more that a mixture of limestone that was used for mortar and stucco. There is nothing that has been found of buildings constructed completely from ‘concrete’.
Second issue, this location at Teotihuacan the temple was constructed from stone, with this stucco finish. Again, misrepresenting the facts of the matter.
Finally, there is absolutely nothing at this site that is hebrew, egyptian or any resemblance of the form of worship depicted in the bom.
Another follow-up on this myth. The BoM claims that the people became experts in making houses out of cement due to the lack of timber. This is completely backward from what occurred in Teotihuacan. The deforestation of Teotihuacan was the result of the excessive use of plaster for their buildings. They did not use plaster/concrete due to lack of timber.
Furthermore, this 'concrete' plaster is created by burning limestone, which required an intense heat, constant fire, and huge amounts of wood. Alan, incase you didn't notice, Helaman specifically states that huge amounts of wood were NOT present.
If the Nephites were so powerful that the Teotihuacan were aware of them, and targeted them for destruction to get to Tikal, then they would have had an impact on the rest of Mesoamerica, and the hard fact is that the history of ancient Mesoamerica was not impacted whatsoever by the Nephites – otherwise we would find evidence of their existence.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-US&q=romans+invented+concrete&revid=1131822820&ei=fgTJSqX8Jsiutgf63PGxDw&sa=X&oi=revisions_inline&resnum=0&ct=broad-revision&cd=2
Helaman 3:7
And there being but little timber upon the face of the land, nevertheless the people who went forth became exceedingly expert in the working of cement; therefore they did build houses of cement, in the which they did dwell.
There may be some slabs of concrete in the LARGE buildings found, but no HOMES of it have been unearthed.
In an interview given by Dr. Richard D. Hansen, a world-renowned archeologist and expert on the Maya, who served as a consultant on the film - APOCALYPTO - discussed key matters of point regarding deforestation and Mayan 'cement'
Deforestation is of particular interest to Dr. Hansen, who explained to the filmmakers how it might have played a major role in the annihilation of the Mayan kingdoms. He discovered that in the process of creating the lime stucco cement used to build their temples, palaces, plazas and monuments, the Maya had to create fires to heat the limestone. "It took five tons of fresh, green wood to make one ton of quick lime," notes Hansen. "I found one pyramid in El Mirador that would have required nearly 1,600 acres of every single available tree just to cover one building with lime stucco.
Note two items. One is that it was not used structurally, but as a stucco. Second point is the amount of wood necessary to create this lime based stucco - five tons of fresh, green wood to make one ton of quick lime
Now enter Helaman- they came upon a land with little timber EXISTING and started to make cement anyway. If they had 1600 acres of timber available to begin with (for just ONE temple) - why burn it all up just to make a little lime stucco? There was by necessity (for the creation of Mayan 'cement') an abundance of trees available. Hence another bom 'hit' falls far short of the mark.