Monthly Gathering—April 2004
Digging up Controversy
It began in the early 1890s with an unusual discovery in Michigan’s Montcalm County: a small clay cup decorated with strange symbols. Over the next 30 years, thousands of clay, slate, copper and stone artifacts were unearthed in locations scattered around metropolitan Detroit and the rest of the state. Many objects bore inscriptions reminiscent of ancient Greek or images that seemed to be related to the Christian Bible. Front-page, newspaper articles fueled the debate: were these “Michigan Relics,” as many believed, evidence of an ancient migration from the Near East by early Christians fleeing religious persecution, or were they just part of an elaborate hoax? And, if fakes, why did so many find them believable? Over the years the ranks on both sides of the question have included respected scientists and clergymen, and belief in the authenticity of the relics by some continues to this day.
Why do these objects continue to be a source interest and controversy after more than 100 years? Who really made them and why? To find out, join us on Saturday April 17, when Dr. Laura Young of the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History will relate the intriguing story of the Michigan Relics and discuss what they tell us about pseudoscientific claims of archaeological remains.
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