File:  <Adam Arkfeld.htm>                                                                    Citations                Dedications        <American Archeology>          General Index           Subject Index                    <Home>

 

 

VIRGINIA PRE-COLUMBIAN ARCHEOLOGICAL SITE

 

Opequon Creek, Virginia

 

Adam Arkfeld

[ Contact ]

 

Please CLICK on Underlined Categories for details and Photos to enlarge. 

     Depress Ctrl/F for subject search.

 

Introduction

Area Description

Table 1.  On Site Artifacts

Table 2.  Anibis & Carving Tools

Table 3.  Planetary Chart & Bisons

Table 4.  Human & Animal Images

Table 5.  Unidentified Stone Carvings

 

Table 6.  Space Shuttle Similarities

Table 7.  Photos From Literature

Radiocarbon Report #1

Radiocarbon Report #2

Luminescence Analysis (Univ of Wash.)

List of Figures

Area Maps & Photos

Bibliography

 

 

Introduction

 

          Investigations of an archaeological site along the Opequon Creek in the Northern Shenandoah Valley of Virginia since 2012 points to the presence of ancient Scythian colonists.  Significant amounts of iron slag and refractories are present. (see Radiocarbon Report #1 & #2). Also recovered are cast iron artifacts (Fig. 9).  The metallurgy here was quite advanced.  As unlikely as it seems, slags found suggest aluminum production.  One at first is very skeptical, as it seems far too advanced for the time period.  However, then there was the discovery of a piece of aircraft aluminum that has been sculpted into a profile (Fig. 2 ).  (Enki perhaps).  It was recovered at a depth in association with stone artifacts.  Another large piece has been recovered since (Fig. 3).  See vimana craft with tail rudder on upper right (Fig. ???).

 

Area Description

 

Page 1

Page 2

Page 3

 

          An advanced blast furnace was operating in the area circa 150 AD. (Fig. 9)  Remnants of the milldam and deep race channels are readily observable (Fig. ?).  C14 results bracket the TL date (Pdf 1, Pdf 2).  Not only was evidence uncovered of advanced metallurgy but also fired brick was manufactured in great quantities during the same period (Fig. 21). TL results from the brick are in process of determination.  Evidence indicates that a step mound was faced with glazed brick pavers (Fig. 20).  There are virtually tons of 2000-year-old brick in situ. (Fig. 21).  The University of Washington dated the furnace wall sample 150 AD.  There is proof that smelting was occurring here on an industrial scale using an anthracite fired blast furnace.  Sections of the milldam are still existent. Significant earth works created to channel the millrace are still apparent.  Anthracite has been found in association with the furnace. C14 testing of the slag confirms fossil fuel use.  Two different samples tested by Beta Labs, both produced infinite dates.  Anthracite is the only coal suitable for smelting.  Geological maps show that east coast anthracite beds accessible by water are limited.  The most accessible mine from the Chesapeake is the Meadow Branch Mine in West Virginia, and 20 miles west of the furnace site.  The archeological site is the closest one can get to the mine where a mill could be constructed and there is a navigable water route to the Potomac River.  The fuel was crucial to their metallurgy, which would explain why this location was chosen. A two-pound pig bar is shown on the cover of Fig. 19.

 

          Fig. 23  & Fig. 24  show the original farmhouse built circa 1790.  When the settlers arrived they found this hillside already terraced. Like many other examples across the globe, existing building sites are reused.  The materials removed by the settlers when digging out the cellar and foundations were dumped as fill in a nearby gully. Likely, the brick and stone artifacts removed were considered "Native American junk".  Fig. 22 shows a section of the same step mound that has eroded and revealed the pavers.  Of course some are quick to label the brick as "colonial".  But there is a lack of mortar, and it is undoubtedly not a colonial dry stacked brick structure.  Additionally, there are no historic brick structures on this farm or any of the surrounding properties.  Fig. 21 shows a brick mosaic.  The colonial debris layer was well above the brick. The uncovered brick quickly began to disintegrate with exposure.  The ones not glazed have fallen to pieces.  The magazine cover (Fig. 20) has the site erroneously located in West Virginia as it is in Virginia, a mile south of the West Virginia border.

 

Table 1  On Site Artifacts

 

Fig. 1.  Aluminum fragment.

Fig. 3.  Animal shape?

Fig. 4.  Animal shape?

Fig. 14.   Area excavation site

Fig. 15.   Area excavation site

Fig. 16.   Area excavation site

Fig. 19.  Virginia Iron smelting 150 AD

 

 

 

Fig. 20.  Ancient brick at Virginia site

Fig. 22.  Section of eroded step mound with pavers

Fig. 23.  Original farmhouse built circa 1790

Fig. 24.  Original farmhouse built circa 1790

Fig. 46.  Site environs

Fig. 47.  Site environs

Fig. 73. -- Brick mosaic below a layer of debris.

 

Fig. 21.  Brick mosaic below layer of debris

Fig. 99.  Cast Iron Spill uncovered at site

Fig. 100.-- Glazed brick with magnet

View UW Report

Fig. 17.  Mattlock with petrified wood

Fig. 18.   Metal fragment

 

 

          This mattock was recovered within 10 feet of the cast iron profile.  Both of these artifacts were submerged and preserved in mud and sand. The water has a high mineral concentration.  Both have been sealed because exposure began deteriorating them rapidly.  The wood remaining in the socket of the mattock is petrified.  There is little doubt of the antiquity of an iron mask as the profile matches many others in the collection that are made of stone. The mattock is made of the same metal and shows identical patination/oxidation.  It can be surmised that both items are from the same time period.  Assuming that organic material is still present, the wood remaining in the socket makes that mattock an ideal iron artifact to test and date.

 

          Most recognize the limestone sculpture in Figure 7 as an Anubis bust.  On learning that it is from Virginia, an observer's vision becomes fuzzy and denial sets in.  The iron-embalming knives (Fig. 9) cause a similar reaction.  Found were clay and stone Horus hawks, Osiris, Thoth... almost the whole pantheon.  Many Baal figurines (and his signature as well (Table 6).  There is no lack of Scythian characters, tall pointed hats abound (Fig. ?).  The stone mounds here are interlaced with logs, consistent with Kurgan design.

 

Table 2  Anabis & Carving Tools

 

 

 

 

Fig. 6.  Limestone sculpture

Fig. 7.  Anubis bust example

Fig. 8.  Metal fragment

Fig. 9.  Ironing embalming knives

 

 

 

          The Sumerians were probably the only culture with knowledge to make an accurate planetary chart (Fig. 13).  This example was recovered adjacent to a stream in an aqueous environment.  The etched circles on the back of a bison) bull (Fig. 12) have been permeated with white calcite.

 

Table 3  Planetary Chart & Bison Bulls

 

 

Fig. 10.  Sumerian planetary chart?

Fig. 13.  Sumerian planet chart example

Fig. 12.  Etching of bison bull

Fig. 11.  Possibly a bison bull sculpture

 

 

=  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =

 

Table 4.  Human & Animal Images

 

Fig. 2.  Etching by Scythian slaves?

Fig. 5.  Etching by Scythian slaves?

Fig. 41. Human Face etching

Fig. 51. Couple Image (View #2)

Fig. 58. Human figures

Fig. 60. Human figures etching

Fig. 25. Rider?

 

Fig. 26. Rider?

(View #2)

Fig. 63. Human stone carving

Fig. 72. -- Human head sculpture

Fig. 70. -- Human figure pointing to cross

Fig. 71. -- Stone animal & human carvings

 [View detail].

Fig. 86. -- Animal carving?

Fig. 87. -- Animal carving?

 

 

Fig. 88. -- Anubis carving (2 views)

Fig. 77. -- Ramses rein Anubis

Fig. 78. -- Anubis on stele

Fig. 79. -- Rock selected for Anubis carving?

Fig. 80. -- Anubis carving

Fig. 82. -- Deer carving?

Fig. 83. -- Anubis carving

 

 

Fig. 84. -- Anubis carving

Fig. 85. -- Human face & Anubis motif

Fig. 90. -- Rider carving

Fig. 40.

Fig. 42.

Fig. 30. -- Human head sculpture?

 

 

=  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =

 

Table 5  Stone Carvings Awaiting Description

 

Fig. 27.

Fig. 28.

Fig. 29.

Fig. 30.

Fig. 31.

Fig. 32.

Fig. 33.

 

Fig. 34.

Fig. 35.

Fig. 36.

Fig. 37.

Fig. 38.

Fig. 40.

Fig. 42.

 

 

Fig. 43.

Fig. 54. Anthracite map

Fig. 57.

Fig. 59.

Fig. 61.

Fig. 62.

Fig. 64.

 

Fig. 65.

Fig. 66.

Fig. 44.

Fig. 53

Unidentified carving ?

Fig. 89. -- Unidentified carvings

Fig. 91. -- Unidentified rock with carvings?

 

Fig. 92. -- Unidentified rock with carvings?

Fig. 81. -- Unknown scripts on rock

 

 

=  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =

 

Table 6 -- Space Shuttle (similarities)

 

Fig. 68

Fig. 67.

Fig. 69

Fig. 48

Fig. 49.

Fig. 50.

 

=  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =

 

Table 7 -- Literature Similarities to Carvings Found 

 

 

 

Fig. 74. -- Ancient Middle Eastern Anubis

Fig. 75. -- Anubis carving

Fig. 76. -- Anubis statue

Fig. 93. -- Historical Mid-east figure

Fig. 7.  Anubis bust

Fig. 13.   Sumerian planetary chart

Fig. 9.  Ironing embalming knives

 

 

Fig. 93. -- Historical Mid-east figure

Fig. 94. -- Enki photo

Fig. 94b. -- Crow photo

Fig. 95. -- Ancient rider

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

 

Wilson, Charles A. and A. A. Field.  2017. The Arkfeld site Iron Smelting Virginia 150 AD.: Discoveries Along the Opequon Creek.  Ancient American.  2017.  Archeology of The Americas Before Columbus.  Vol. 21 (114).

 

Anthony, David W. (July 26, 2010). The Horse, the Wheel, and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World. Princeton University Press. ISBN 1-4008-3110-5. Retrieved January 18, 2015.

 

Baumer, Christoph (December 12, 2012). The History of Central Asia: The Age of the Steppe Warriors. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 1-78076-060-4. Retrieved January 18, 2015.

 

Beckwith, Christopher I. (March 16, 2009). Empires of the Silk Road: A History of Central Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the Present. Princeton University Press. ISBN 1-4008-2994-1. Retrieved December 30, 2014.

 

Bertman, S.  (2014).  Handbook to Life in Ancient Mesopotamia.  Oxford Univ. Press.

 

Boardman, John; Edwards, I. E. S. (1991). The Cambridge Ancient History. Volume 3. Part 2. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-22717-8. Retrieved March 2, 2015.

 

Bonfante, Larissa (2011). "The Scythians: Between Mobility, Tomb Architecture, and Early Urban Structures". The Barbarians of Ancient Europe: Realities and Interactions. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-19404-4.

 

Davis-Kimball, Jeannine (1995). "The Scythians in southeastern Europe". Nomads of the Eurasian Steppes in the early Iron Age (PDF). Zinat press. ISBN 1-885979-00-2.

 

Day, John V. (2001). Indo-European origins: the anthropological evidence. Institute for the Study of Man. ISBN 0-941694-75-5. Retrieved March 2, 2015.

 

Drews, Robert (2004). Early Riders: The Beginnings of Mounted Warfare in Asia and Europe. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-203-07107-6.

 

Durant, W.  1954.  (1954).  Our Oriental Heritage.  Simon & Schuster Publ.  1052 pp.

 

Ivantchik, Askold (2018). "SCYTHIANS". Encyclopaedia Iranica.

 

Kramer, S. N.  (1971).  The Sumerians.  Univ. of Chicago Press.  372 pp.

 

Kramer, S. N.  (1988).  History Begins at Sumer.  Univ. of Pennsylvania Press.  416 pp.

 

Kriwaczek, P.  (2014).  Babylon.  Thomas Dunne Books. 

 

Leick, G.  (2010).  The A to Z of Mesopotamia.  Scarecrow Press.

 

Podany, A. H.  (2013).  The Ancient Near East.  Oxford Univ. Press.  168 pp.

 

Sinor, Denis (1990). The Cambridge History of Early Inner Asia. Cambridge. ISBN 978-0-521-24304-9.

 

Sulimirski, T (1985). "Chapter 4: The Scyths". In Gershevitch, Ilya. The Cambridge History of Iran. 2. Azargoshnasp.net. pp. 149–99

 

Szemerényi, Oswald (1980). Four old Iranian ethnic names: Scythian – Skudra – Sogdian – Saka (PDF). Veröffentlichungen der iranischen Kommission Band 9. Wien: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften; azargoshnap.net.

 

Waldman, Carl; Mason, Catherine (2006). Encyclopedia of European Peoples. Infobase Publishing. ISBN 1-4381-2918-1. Retrieved January 16, 2015.

 

West, Barbara A. (January 1, 2009). Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania. Infobase Publishing. ISBN 1-4381-1913-5. Retrieved January 18, 2015.