COPPER TRADE WITH THE OLD WORLD (Poverty Point, NE Louisiana)

Email: drsrmdejonge@hotmail.com ----- October 26, 2009 ----- Dr. R.M. de Jonge ©, drsrmdejonge@hotmail.com ----- In 2006 Mr. J. Bonds published a book entitled "Art of the Ancient Caddo" (Ref.1). It contains beautiful photographs of fine Caddoan art pieces, including pottery, stone, and flint. The Caddo Indians lived at the corners of Southern Oklahoma, Western Arkansas, and Northeast Texas, and their culture flourished between 700 and 1200 AD. However, their oldest art is found in Louisiana, east of this area, which indicates they originated there. Fig.1 shows a different type of pot from the surroundings of Poverty Point, in Northeast Louisiana. It does not resemble the typical art of the Caddo Indians at all. On the contrary, the pattern is typically megalithic, descended from a dispersed culture that finished in North America c.500 BC (Refs.2-5). Note how careful this artifact was made. Let us investigate whether the pot-patterns tell an important story about this earlier time period. ----- The pot has three groups of concentric circles, referring to the Mississippi Delta, at 30°N. The three groups also refer to the site of Poverty Point, three degrees higher, at 30+3= 33°N. Both geographic areas were important in the ancient, international copper trade (Refs.6-8). The copper was shipped to the archipellago of the Azores, in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean (Refs.10,11). The three groups of circles correspond to the three island groups of the Azores, the West, Central, and East Azores. From there most of the copper was transported to the Eastern Mediterranean. The three groups also correspond to the Nile Delta, at 30°N. It was the economic center of Egypt, the greatest civilization on Earth. ----- The circular group of lines, shown in fig.1, consists of nine concentric rings. These encode the nine islands of the Azores, as well as the West Azores, nine degrees above the Mississippi Delta, at 30+9= 39°N. They also refer to the density of copper, 9 g/cm3 (nine times heavier than water). Above the round groups are eight or nine parallel lines, encoding Keweenaw Peninsula, Upper Michigan, eight degrees above the West Azores, at 39+8= 47°N, and Isle Royale, Lake Superior, nine degrees higher, at 39+9= 48°N. These are the areas with the richest copper mines on Earth (Refs.6-9). The nine parallel circles, higher on the pot, confirm the density of copper, nine times heavier than water. ----- Most of the copper was shipped via the Mississippi River to the south. The rest was transported via the Saint Lawrence River to the east. As confirmed elsewhere (Ref.12), important latitudes indicate the relative quantities. The Mississippi Delta, at 30°N, shows that 3/5 (or 60%) of the copper was shipped along the Mississippi to the south. The mouth of the Saint Lawrence River (or Isle Royale) is located about twenty degrees higher, at 30+20= c.50°N. It shows that 2/5 (or 40%) of the copper was transported to the east. ----- It appears, that between the groups of circles are concentric rectangles, which resemble the upper parts of copper ingots. Fig.1 shows four concentric ingots. However, the innermost ingot is special. It consists of two vertical lines, which count for two (literally). The whole group contains eight vertical lines. So, this group encodes a total number of 24 million ingots (24,000,000, a number of eight figures). Lower on the photo (fig.1) a third line appears between the two vertical strokes. It confirms the total number of almost 25 million ingots. It was the total copper export to the Old World (Refs.12-14). ----- Copper ingots with masses varying from 10 to 30 kg have been found by archaeologists. So, in order to calculate the export, we have to establish the mass of the Standard Ingot according to this particular pot. The eight vertical lines in the group belong to five different objects. So, the mass of the Standard Ingot appears to be 80,000 carats (a number of five figures). For a long time past both noble metals, silver and gold, were weighed in units of carats, corresponding with 0.20 gram. The carat is the constant mass of a seed of the St. John’s bread or carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua). So, the mass of the Standard Ingot was 80x0.20= 16 kg (35 pounds) (Refs.12-14). ----- It means, that the overall export of copper across the Ocean appears to have been (24x16=) c.384,000 tons (850 million pounds). It has been estimated by others in the field, that a total a-mount of 250 to 500 thousand tons of copper had disappeared from the mining area (Refs.6,7). So, our conclusion is that its destination can now be understood. The transport of copper happened between the start of the Fifth Dynasty (after the discovery of America), and the end of the Nineteenth Dynasty. The nine concentric circles and the four concentric rectangles (ingots) confirm these 9+4= 13 centuries of copper trade between North America and the Old World (2500 to 1200 BC). ----- The four concentric ingots belong to five different objects. However, the three outer ingots have similar shapes. These confirm, that 3/5 (or 60%) of the copper was shipped to the Mississippi Delta, at 30°N. The innermost ingot consists of two verticle lines. These confirm, that 2/5 (or 40%) of the copper was transported to the mouth of the Saint Lawrence River, twenty degrees higher, at 30+20= 50°N (Refs.12-14). ----- The highest concentric circle of the pot represents Isle Royale, Lake Superior, at 48°N. The neck and the spout of the pot symbolize the abundance of copper in Upper Michigan. However, the neck also represents the north coast of Lake Superior, at 49°N, and the spout encodes the latitude of 50°N. It is symbolic for the Fifth Dynasty, when America was first reached via the Atlantic (Refs.2,15-17). The neck below it is symbolic for the Sixth Dynasty, the last one of the Old Kingdom. ----- The upper concentric circles now symbolize the dynasties of the First Intermediate Period, the Middle Kingdom, and the Second Intermediate Period until the Fifteenth, of Hyksos Dynasty. The four concentric ingots symbolize the period up to and including the Nineteenth Dynasty. The patterns show, that the international copper trade finished at the end of this dynasty, which is a remarkable message (Refs.6-9,12). ----- When counting was continued with the concentric circles at the left side (fig.1), the dot in the center would be 15+8= #23, corresponding with the Tropic of Cancer, at 23°N. It is the holy line of the Sun religion, which predicts the everlasting presence of the SunGod Ra. Below this God were two other gods, Horus and Osiris. The kings and pharaohs of Egypt were the sub-stitutes of these two, lower gods (Refs.2,8). It should be realized, that during the whole time period of the copper trade, America was part of the Egyptian Empire. During the Old Kingdom, symbolized by the spout and the neck of the pot, this hugh empire was called ‘Atlantis’. It disappeared in the waves during the Biblical Flood. -----

Fig.1 Ceramic pot from the surroundings of Poverty Point, NE Louisiana. The megalithic patterns on the pot appear to tell the story of the export of copper ingots to the Old World. (first millennium BC, Ref.1). ----- References 1. Bonds, J. and Efird, J., Art of the Ancient Caddo, Grove Hill Publishing (2006) 2. De Jonge, R.M., and Wakefield, J.S., How the Sungod Reached America, c.2500 BC, A Guide to Megalithic Sites, MCS Inc., 2002 (ISBN 0-917054-19-9). Available: MCS Inc., Box 3392, Kirkland, Wa 98083, also on CD. Website: www.howthesungod.com 3. De Jonge, R.M., and Wakefield, J.S., “The Discovery of the Atlantic Islands”, Ancient American, Vol.13, No.81, pgs.18-25 (2008) 4. De Jonge, R.M., and Wakefield, J.S., “A Nautical Center for Crossing the Ocean, America’s Stonehenge, New Hampshire, c.2200 BC”, Migration & Diffusion, Vol.4, No.15, pgs.60-100 (2003) 5. De Jonge, R.M., and Wakefield, J.S., “The Three Rivers Petroglyph, A Guidepost for River Travel in America, c.1500 BC”, Migration & Diffusion, Vol.3, No.12, pgs.74-100 (2002) 6. Rydholm, C.F., Michigan Copper, The Untold Story, Winter Cabin Books, Marquette, 2006 (ISBN 0-9744679-2-8) 7. Drier, R.W., and Du Temple, O.J., Prehistoric Copper Mining in the Lake Superior Region, A Collection of Reference Articles, published privately, 1961, and reprinted in 2005 8. Wakefield, J.S., and De Jonge, R.M., Rocks & Rows, Sailing Routes across the Atlantic and the Copper Trade, MCS Inc, 2010 (ISBN 0-917054-20-2). Available: MCS Inc, Box 3392, Kirkland, Wa USA 98033. 9. De Jonge, R.M., and Wakefield, J.S., “The Embden Dragon Petroglyph, A Copper Trading Route of the Bronze Age (Kennebec River, Embden, Maine, c.1500 BC)”, Midwestern Epi-graphic Journal, Vol.18/9, pgs. 56-82, 2004-5 (ISSN 1932-5703) 10. Casson, L., Ships and Seafaring in Ancient Times, British Museum Press, 1994 (ISBN 0-7141-1735-8) 11. Wachsmann, S., Seagoing Ships and Seamanship in the Bronze Age Levant, College Sta-tion, Texas, 1998 12. De Jonge, R.M., “The Battersea Shield (River Thames, London, c.190 BC)”, to be published 13. De Jonge, R.M., “Petroglyph of a Sailing Boat (Copper Harbor, Upper Michigan, c.1640 BC)”, to be published 14. De Jonge, R.M., The Phaistos Disc Decoded, New Testimony of a Lost Civilization, Midwestern Epigraphic Journal, Vol.20, 111-115 (2006), and Vol.21, 74-80 (2007), to be published 15. De Jonge, R.M., “The Discovery of Three Continents (Santo Stefano, North Sardinia, Italy, c. 2300 BC)”, Ancient American, Vol.12, No.76, pgs.28-29 (2007) 16. De Jonge, R.M., “Houghtons Petroglyph (Copper Country, Michigan, 2500-1200 BC)”, to be published 17. De Jonge, R.M., and Wakefield, J.S., “Greenland, Bridge between the Old and New World, c.2500 BC”, Ancient American, Vol.11, No.67, pgs.12-20 (2006)