Archaeological and Cryptological Analyses of the Manti Inscriptions BY W I L L I A M J A M E S A D A M S , J R . , A N D RAY T. M A T H E N Y
tablets and metal plates bearing inscriptions have been found in Utah. Additionally, Indian petroglyphs have been found throughout the state. These petroglyphs are generally accepted as authentic products of Indian cultures and have no relation to inscriptions reported on rocks near Fillmore, Millard County, and near Cedar City, Iron County. Unfortunately, these latter so-called inscriptions have never been carefully studied, although the authors hope to eventually make a thorough investigation of them. The inscriptions that are the concern of this paper have appeared over the past decade in the area of Manti, Sanpete County. Each of these sets of inscriptions was subjected to scrutiny to determine authenticity. It is the purpose of this paper to describe the archaeological evidence and to provide cryptological analyses and other evaluations of these Manti inscriptions. When inscriptions are found the question always arises of whether they are real or fraudulent. When such materials are evaluated as frauds, our psychologically and legally oriented society wonders why a person would perpetrate an archaeological fraud and what the legal implications are for the forger. A good example of psychological motivation comes from 1860 when several inscribed stones were found near Newark, LickingCounty, Ohio. One inscription, called the Newark Key Stone, contained biblical Hebrew inscriptions in the modern Hebrew alphabet. The stone was found by a man who lived a rather lonely life. When he died a Hebrew Bible was found among his possessions, with the passages inscribed on the Key Stone being marked in this Bible. At that time U V E R THE YEARS STONE
Mr. Adams, a former instructor in Semitic languages at Brigham Young University, now lives in West Virginia. Dr. Matheny is associate professor of anthropology and archaeology at BYU. He presented a paper on the Manti inscriptions at the Twenty-third Annual Meeting of the Utah State Historical Society, September 1975. at Snow College, Ephraim.
