Posted on 05/24/2005 9:45:19 PM PDT by FreeManWhoCan
Kensington, Minn. (WCCO) Researchers have found new evidence of a secret code concealed on the Kensington Runestone, one of the most controversial pieces of Minnesota history.
The rock was found near Alexandria, Minn. a century ago. It bears an inscription that places Norwegians here in 1362.
Were Vikings exploring our land more than 100 years before Columbus? Or is the Kensington Runestone an elaborate hoax?
New research suggests the rune stone is genuine, and a hidden code can prove it.
"Eight Goths and 22 Norwegians on an exploration journey ... 10 men red with blood and dead ... 14 days journey from this island ... year 1362."
The Kensington Runestone's carved words have haunted the Ohman family for more than 100 years.
Olof Ohman has been accused of authoring Minnesota's most famous fraud. The farmer claimed he found the stone buried under a tree in 1898.
Critics believe the language on the rune stone is too modern and that some of the runes are made up. They say Ohman carved it himself to fool the learned.
The Ohman family's faith in the stone has never wavered, however.
"I just never had any doubt," said grandson Darwin Ohman. "I mean, I was very emphatic about it. Absolutely it's real. There's no doubt."
"(Critics are) calling (Olof Ohman) a liar," Minnesota geologist Scott Wolter said. "If this is a hoax, he lied to his two sons, he lied to his family, lied to his neighbors and friends and lied to the world."
Wolter and Texas engineer Dick Nielsen believe hidden secrets are carved in the Kensington Runestone.
"It changes history in a big way," Wolter said.
In 2000, Wolter performed one of the very few geological studies on the Kensington Runestone. He said the breakdown of minerals in the inscription shows the carving is at least 200 years old, placing it before Olof Ohman's time.
Wolter's findings support the first geological study that also found the stone to be genuine, which was performed in 1910.
"In my mind, the geology settled it once and for all," Wolter said.
Linguistic experts believe some of the stone's runes are made up, but Nielsen said he found one of the disputed runes in a Swedish rune document dating back to the 14th century.
"If they were wrong about that, what else were they wrong about?" Wolter said.
Wolter documented every individual rune on the stone with a microscope.
"I started finding things that I didn't expect," Wolter said.
Wolter discovered a dot inside each of four R-shaped runes.
"These are intentional, and they mean something," Wolter said.
Wolter and Nielsen scoured rune catalogs and found the dotted R's.
"It's an extremely rare rune that only appeared during medieval times," Wolter said. "This absolutely fingerprints it to the 14th century. This is linguistic proof this is medieval. Period."
Wolter and Nielsen traced the dotted R to rune-covered graves inside ancient churches on the island of Gotland off the coast of Sweden.
"The next thing that happened is, we started finding on these grave slabs these very interesting crosses," Wolter said.
Templar crosses are the symbol of a religious order of knights formed during the Crusades and persecuted by the Catholic Church in the 1300s.
"This was the genesis of their secret societies, secret codes, secret symbols, secret signs -- all this stuff," Wolter said. "If they carved the rune stone, why did they come here? And why did they carve this thing?"
Wolter has uncovered new evidence that has taken his research in a very different direction. He now believes the words on the stone may not be the record of the death of 10 men, but instead a secret code concealing the true purpose of the stone.
Linguists single out two runes representing the letters L and U as evidence Olof Ohman carved the stone. They are crossed, and linguists say they should not be. A third rune has a punch at the end of one line.
"Maybe they're saying, 'Pay attention to me,'" Wolter said.
Each rune on the stone has a numerical value. Wolter and Nielsen took the three marked runes and plotted them on a medieval dating system called the Easter Table.
When we plotted these three things we got a year: 1362," Wolter said. "It was like, oh my God, is this an accident? Is this a coincidence? I don't think so.
"We think, if it’s the Templars, they confirmed the date which is on the stone -- 1362 -- by using a code in the inscription."
But why would Templars come to America, carve this stone and code the date?
"If it's the Templars, who were under religious persecution at the time, that would be a pretty good reason to come over here," Wolter said. "Maybe the rune stone is a land claim.
"I'm sure a lot of people are going to roll their eyes and say, 'Oh, it's "The DaVinci Code,"' and if they do, they do. This is the evidence, this is who was there, this is what the grave slabs tell us. It is what it is."
Wolter and Nielsen said they expected their work to be criticized. The developments in their research are too recent to have been reviewed by other rune stone experts.
The pair are preparing a book, "The Kensington Rune Stone: Compelling New Evidence," for future publication.
Interesting. I love stuff like this. Gets the imagination going.
"It changes history in a big way," Wolter said."
Not such a big way. I think it's reasonably
clear the history of this continent did not
start in 1492 when Columbus sailed the ocean
blue.
But the university history folks--the establishment--
are reluctant to acknowledge that.
For example, there are various Indian tribes that
are clearly caucasians rather than Asians or
otherwise. The Euchees may be one such tribe.
And some believe the Pimas of the southwest
and Mexico are in fact Etruscans. I don't know a lot,
but apparently there were people running around the Americas
way before that lost Italian thought he'd discovered
India. (But I don't buy the LDS point of view, either.)
"Eight Goths and 22 Norwegians on an exploration journey "
Friends of yours?.....:)
And then there are the runes found in Oklahoma..
They're recycling THAT old fraud again? Please, don't anybody be so gullible as to purchase the upcoming book, or buy the argument. It belongs with "bigfoot" and "Nessie" hoaxes.
ufda ping
There's some in Harrisburg PA and Winchester VA, too.
There are things that look supiciously like "cup marks" in the granite boulders near my house.
I have a greenstone 3/4 groove stone hammer/ax that resembles those found in ancient Europe.
[free Kennewick man!].....;))
Sorry...ping didn't work.
"Eight Goths and 22 Norwegians on an exploration journey "
Friends of yours?.....:)
The Knights Templar were formed to be a military arm of the Catholic Church with the purpose to organize for the Crusades. They were in effect monastic knights who became fabulously wealthy thanks to the many benefices they received from wealthy nobility.
Philip IV, also known as Philip the Fair, had them all arrested on the night of October 13, 1307. Their trials lasted 7 years at the end of which time all their property had been confiscated and most of the knights and leaders put to death.
By 1362, the Templars were long gone so any connection to this Minnesota monolith is pretty much ruled out.
To say that the Templars were persecuted by the Catholic Church is also somewhat misleading. In 1305 a French cardinal was elected pope as Clement V and was forced to move to Avignon by hostile Romans.
As Clement was under the protection of Philip IV, he was largely forced to go along with Philip's plundering of the Templars.
ping
Fascinating video and story.
ping
I like Thor Heyerdahl's Ra and Kontiki, and I buy what the Book of Mormon says.
The "L" and "U" are for Lena and Uley or now pronounced Oley. The stone is most obviously the codex for all Oley and Lena jokes in the world. Uff da!
Maybe I missed the size and weight of the stone? But, was a genuine stone brought over by an enterprising immigrant and planted?
for later...
ping
There is a College Prof. at Moorhead State U. who thinks it's bogus, and the Star and Tribune has generally printed negative opinions. However, as the evidence has mounted, the tide has swung towards authenticity. I have come to be of that opinion.
Wolter started his investigations as a non-believing skeptic. He is a forensic geologist who tests concrete failure and the like. He concluded that the stone had been inscribed when it was dressed, and that it had been in the ground for greater than 200 years, which would predate Ohman, the farmer who found it.
This was done scientifically by measuring the oxidization of one of the several types of Mica that are found in Graywakke(sp?). If the Stone is bogus, then this fact must be explained, no?
There have been other skeptics who have pointed to Runic flaws. All now have been proven to have been in use in 1362. If it is a fake, then Ohman would have had to be an expert in medieval Runes. He had a 6th grade education. Was he just lucky?
If a theory is true, then all the little facts will affirm the theory. If one arises that cannot be explained by the theory, then the theory is wrong and needs to be reformulated. An example is, if OJ is guilty, then he must have owned size 12 Bruno Maglie shoes.
It looks like the ancillary facts are lining up in support of "genuineness."
If you wish to call it a fraud, then explain how the above facts work in your scenario, in an equally credible or more credible fashion.
If you can, I will gladly come over to your side.
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