The Newport Tower

The Newport Tower
Medieval stone tower ... in Rhode Island. Does it look like any other Colonial structure you've seen? Recent carbon dating of the mortar indicates 1400s construction date (see post below).

The Westford Knight Sword

The Westford Knight Sword
Medieval Battle Sword ... in Westford, Massachusetts. Can anyone deny the pommel, hilt and blade punch-marked into the bedrock?

The Spirit Pond Rune Stone

The Spirit Pond Rune Stone
Medieval Inscription ... in Maine, near Popham Beach. Long passed off as a hoax, but how many people know the Runic language? And how is it that some of the Runic characters match rare runes on inscriptions found in Minnesota and Rhode Island? Carbon-dating of floorboards at nearby long house date to 1405.

The Narragansett Rune Stone

The Narragansett Rune Stone
Medieval Inscription ... in Rhode Island's Narragansett Bay. This Runic inscription is only visible for twenty minutes a day at low tide--is this also the work of a modern-day, Runic-speaking hoaxster?

The Westford Boat Stone

The Westford Boat Stone
Medieval Ship Carving ... in Westford, MA. Found near the Westford Knight site. Weathering patterns of carving are consistent with that of 600-year-old artifact. And why would a Colonial trail-marker depict a knorr, a 14th-century ship?

The Kensington Rune Stone

The Kensington Rune Stone
Medieval Inscription... in Minnesota. Forensic geology confirms the carvings predate European settlement of Minnesota--so did Runic-speaking Native Americans carve it?

The Hooked X Rune

The Hooked X Rune
Medieval Runic Character ... on inscriptions found in Maine, Minnesota and Rhode Island. But this rare rune was only recently found in Europe. This conclusively disproves any hoax theory while also linking these three artifacts together.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Booksignings May 15-17

I'll be signing copies of Cabal of the Westford Knight Friday, May 15, 7:00-9:00 at Barnes in Noble in Burlington, MA; Saturday, May 16, 1:00-3:00 at Borders in Shrewsbury, MA; and Sunday, May 17, 1:00-3:00 at Cornerstone Books, Salem, MA.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great site! I too am an attorney in Mass. and around two years or so ago started to become absolutely fascinated by the subject of pre-Columbian exploration of America after reading books related to the Knight. I visited it (despite having lived 12 minutes or so away I had never even known it existed) and to my untrained eye the sword carving seems far too rounded and weathered to have been carved by kids around 100 years ago (the school of thought of some). I do not agree with the conclusion by the Harvard archaeologist who studied the Knight fairly recently and concluded that except for the sword the other features are natural. I can see the coat of arms feature and also a bit of the rest. I have a few photos I took which fairly clearly demonstrate this. Clearly, those other features have weathered far more than the sword. But that makes sense given that water runoff would affect those features more than the sword, which is at the highest point of the bedrock.
You might wish to also include the Upton Beehive on your site.
Have you read "Manitou" by Byron Dix? He and a few others discovered the so called "Calendar One" site in Vermont. They would not reveal its location for fear that the inscriptions in the rocks would become vandalized or stolen. But, it is said to be almost littered with ancient Ogham writing in the rocks. I believe that Professor Barry Fell also visited the site with Dix and others before he passed away in the 90's.
I grew up very close to you- in South Chelmsford.
There is also a site in that area you may be very interested in.
Just as in law, the realm of archaeology and history belongs to those who dare to question the "establishment"....
Feel free to e-mail me if you wish: wsslaw@gis.net
Thanks for this website and I look forward to corresponding.

David Brody said...

Thanks for your comment.

Regarding the sword carving, I'm prety comfortable saying it was not done by local kids (the Fisher boys) after the Civil War as some historians claim. We've found a reference to the carving in an earlier local history publication that was published the year the oldest Fisher brother would have been still a baby. And I've received correspondence from the family that the family lore is that the boys carved a "peace pipe" near the face (still visible today), but that was all they did.

Regarding the coat of arms, etc, that is a closer call. Some old pictures show it better. And why would the Fisher boys carve a peace pipe unless they saw a face on the rock to smoke it?
I'd love to see your photos if you don't mind sharing.

The Upton Chamber is a neat site. But I think it predates medieval times. (Closer to us is the Acton Chamber, off of Rt 27 near the Westford border.) All of these, including Calendar One, can be viewed on the NEARA website, www.NEARA.org.

If you know of a site in Chelmsford, I'd love to see it!

Feel free to email me directly at dsbrody@comcast.net

Regards,
Dave