In 1875 a stone maul was discovered in an ancient mine pit near Lake Desor, Isle Royal, Lake Superior, on which were cut several lines that were at first regarded as letters.
An instructive paper by Mr. Wm. H. Holmes “On Some Spurious Mexican Antiquities and their Relation to Ancient Art,” is published in the Report of the Smithsonian Institution for 1886, Pt. 1, pp. 319-334.
SECTION 1.
THE GRAVE CREEK STONE.
An inscribed stone found in Grave creek mound, near the Ohio river, in 1838, has been the subject of much linguistic contention among persons who admitted its authenticity. Twenty-four characters on it have been considered by various experts to be alphabetic, and one is a supposed hieroglyphic sign. Mr. Schoolcraft says that twenty-two of the characters are alphabetic, but there has been a difference of opinion with regard to their origin. One scholar finds among them four characters which he claims are ancient Greek; another claims that four are Etruscan; five have been said to be Runic; six, ancient Gaelic; seven, old Erse; ten, Phenician; fourteen, old British; and sixteen, Celtiberic. M. Levy Bing reported at the Congress of Americanists at Nancy, in 1875, that he found in the inscription twenty-three Canaanite letters, and translated it: “What thou sayest, thou dost impose it, thou shinest in thy impetuous clan and rapid chamois.” (!) M. Maurice Schwab in 1857 rendered it: “The Chief of Emigration who reached these places (or this island) has fixed these statutes forever.” M. Oppert, however, gave additional variety by the translation, so that all tastes can be suited: “The grave of one who was assassinated here. May God to avenge him strike his murderer, cutting off the hand of his existence.”
Col. Chas. Whittlesey (a) gives six copies of the Grave creek stone, all purporting to be facsimiles, which have been published and used in the elaborate discussions held upon its significance. Of these, three are here reproduced with Col. Whittlesey’s remarks, as follows:
Fig. 1285.—Grave creek stone.
Copy No. 1 is reproduced as Fig. 1285, drawn by Capt. Eastman.
Capt. Seth Eastman was a graduate and teacher of drawing at West Point. He was an accomplished draftsman and painter detailed by the War Department to furnish the illustrations for “Schoolcraft’s Indian Tribes,” published by the Government. This copy was made in his official capacity, with the stone before him, and therefore takes the first rank as authority. There are between the lines twenty-two characters, but one is repeated three times and another twice leaving only twenty. The figure, if it has any significance, is undoubtedly pictorial.