GRAVE CREEK MOUND (I)(Moundville, Marshall County, WV)

Dr. R.M. de Jonge ©, drsrmdejonge@hotmail.comJuly, 2012

SummaryGrave Creek Mound on the Ohio River, at 40°N, tells the story of the Egyptian discovery of America during the Old Kingdom. America was discovered via the Bering Sea in the Fourth Dynasty. All the Atlantic Crossings were discovered in the Fifth Dynasty. However, this huge burial mound also tells the story of the metal trade during the Empire of Atlantis (2500-1200 BC): 384,000 tons of copper from Upper Michigan, 38,400 tons of tin, 18 tons of silver, and 38 tons of gold from Bolivia, and 10 tons of gold from the mouth of the Amazon River were shipped to the Old World.

IntroductionGrave Creek Mound is one of the largest conical type burial mounds of the US. It is located in Moundville, West Virginia, a town of 10,000 inhabitants on the east bank of the Ohio River. The Mound has a height of 19 meters and a base diameter of 73 m. On top is a circular plat-form with a diameter of 15 m. Originally the Mound was encircled by a moat, having a width of 12 m and a maximum depth of 1.5 m.

The shortest distance to the Ohio River, having a local width of 220 m, is 670 m. The shortest distances to both Big Grave Creek in the south (width of 16 m), and Little Grave Creek in the north is 1100 m. The Mound is located at 40°N and 80.7°W.

In 1838 the Mound was excavated by amateurs. Right below the center of the mound a rec-tangular vault was discovered just below ground level, containing two skeletons. It was orien-ted north-south, and it had a length of 3.7 m, a width of 2.4 m, and a height of 2.1 m. One of the skeletons was surrounded by many beads and an ornament, both of sea shell.

In the center and about halfway the height of the Mound a second and similar vault was dis-covered, which contained a single, large skeleton. It measured 2.24 meters, and was oriented east-west. The skeleton was surrounded by far more beads of sea shell, a lot of complete sea shells, and many square pieces of mica, with two or three little holes in them. Five copper bracelets were found around its wrist bones, weighing together 480 g (17 ounces).

Near this skeleton an inscribed Stone was found, known as the Grave Mound Tablet. It has three lines of symbols on it, which were identified as Punic (Phoenician) script, used in south-ern Iberia in the first millenium BC. The flat, grayish, sandstone Tablet has an oval shape, with a length of 4.8 cm, a width of 3.6 cm, and a thickness of 0.8 cm. (Refs.1,2)

Egyptian Discovery of AmericaA burial mound is the earliest form of a king’s grave. So, it was originally made by foreign settlers from the Old World. Indian mounds probably did not exist before the birth of Christ, because in that time period Indians lived separately from them in tribal clans, as hunter-gar-

therers. Because of the very low population density, they could easily do so. They did not ha-ve the tradition of a people ruled by a king!

Grave Creek Mound is located at exactly 40°N. In the Old World latitudes were already known 4800 BC. This line runs from coast to coast, all across the continent of North America. It appears America was discovered in the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt. The southern Aleutian islands, at the south side of the Bering Sea, are located at the complementary latitude of 90-40= 50°N. In antiquity the use of complementary latitudes was very common.

The distance from coast to coast, at 40°N, equals 5 Egyptian Moiras, or 50°, when measured along the equator. It means, America was discovered by the 5th king Menkaure (Mycerinos, c.2580-2562 BC) of the Fourth Dynasty via this Route. The distance from the Mound to the East Coast, at 40°N, equals 5 moiras, or 5°, confirming it.

The holy Arctic Circle is located at 67°N. It is the northernmost line the Sun still shines at midwinter day (Sun religion). This huge Mound is a monument by itself. It shows king Men-kaure returned via the Bering Strait, 1° below the Arctic Circle, at 67-1= 66°N. So, he also discovered this Northern Crossing, 66-50= 16° higher! (Refs.3-11)

Fig.1 Grave Creek Mound has a height of 19 m and a base diameter of 73 m. It is located on the east bank of the Ohio River, at 40°N. (Moundville, Marshall County, WV)

Atlantic OceanGrave Creek Mound, at 40°N, is the symbol of North America, because this continent was discovered in the Fourth Dynasty. However, it is also the symbol of the North Atlantic Oce-an, because its size was already known during this Dynasty.

The Southern Crossing starts at the Cape Verde Islands, offshore West Africa, at 16°N (see a-bove). The Nile Delta of Egypt, at 30°N, provides its sailing direction of 30° SSW. The slope of the Mound is about 30°, confirming it. The 50th latitude line, just mentioned, illustrates the

point of arrival at Cape São Roque (the Holy Rock), Brazil, at 5°S. It shows this Crossing, with the wind and the current, was discovered in the Fifth Dynasty. Its length of c.2 Moiras, or 20°, encodes the 2nd king Sahure (c.2510-2498 BC) as the discoverer of the Southern Cros-sing.

King Sahure had to return with his sailing ships to the Old World. Newfoundland is the eas-ternmost island of North America. Its SE Cape is located at 47°N. The initial sailing direction from Cape Race to the Azores is 20° ESE. It confirms this return route was discovered by the 2nd king Sahure. He sailed, with the wind and the current, over 2 Moiras, or 20°, to the two islands of the West Azores, in the middle of the Ocean. The Azores were already discovered c.3600 BC. So, the 2nd king Sahure discovered the two southern crossings of the Ocean.

GreenlandThe Northern Crossing of the Ocean runs via three land points: the Shetland Islands, Cape Farvel, Greenland, and Cape Chidley, Canada. These are located at the complementary latitu-de of the Nile Delta, at 90-30= 60°N. The Nile Delta itself is located at 30°N. So, the 3rd king Nefererkare (c.2498-2478 BC) of the Fifth Dynasty discovered the Northern Crossing. It was the third discovered Crossing of the Ocean. Greenland was already discovered c.3200 BC.

BermudaThe meridian, or north-south line, of the Mound hits the north coast of Cuba at the latitude of the holy Tropic of Cancer, at 23°N. At midsummer day the Sun is there at right angles above. The slow northerly movement of the Sun turns into a southerly movement. So, people believe in the Egyptian SunGod Ra! Far in the east it crosses the River Nile at the same latitude. It was the center of the Southern Egyptian Empire, but also the center of the Sun religion!

The latitude of the Mound, at 40°N, indicates there were not three, but four Crossings of the Atlantic. The last discovered Crossing starts at Abaco Island, Northern Bahama’s, 4° above the Tropic of Cancer, at 23+4= 27°N. The Return Route runs via the island of Bermuda, 5° a-bove it, at 27+5= 32°N. It shows the Route was discovered in the Fifth Dynasty. The 2nd king Sahure (c.2510-2498 BC) reigned for 12 years, so the sailing distance to Bermuda, 2° above the Nile Delta, at 30+2= 32°N, equals 12 moiras, or 12°.

The Ohio River runs from Grave Creek Mound to the confluence with the Mississippi River over 40-37= 3° of latitude. It refers to the three island groups of the Azores (East, Central and West Azores), exactly at these latitudes. These island groups consist of nine islands, indica-ting the latitude of Bermuda, 9° above the Tropic of Cancer, at 23+9= 32°N. So, the island was discovered by the 9th and last king Unas (c.2403-2370 BC) of the Fifth Dynasty. The sai-ling distance from Bermuda to the three island groups of the Azores equals 3 Moiras, or 30°. (Refs.12-22)

METAL TRADEAfter the discovery of America Egypt founded a stronghold at the south point of the Gulf of Campeche, Mexico, at 18°N. It was done because of religious reasons. They considered this area as “the center of the Realm of the Dead, at the other side of the Waters, in the Land whe-re the Sun sets”. They called this area the Land of Punt. - As soon as they heard of the copper mines in Upper Michigan and the tin mines in Bolivia, they founded there strongholds, too.

From the start of the 5th Dynasty to the start of the 20th Dynasty (c.2500-1200 BC) America was a colony of Egypt, together forming the Empire of Atlantis. Both the Old Copper Culture

and the Andes Culture were under Egyptian rule. For the metal trade it meant that law, order and safety was garantied by the King of Egypt, back and forth on the Ocean, but also in Ame-rica itself (political stability).

Both the Empire of Atlantis and the metal trade lasted 25-12= 13 centuries, or 20-5= 15 dy-nasties. The meridian of Grave Creek Mound leaves the north coast of Akimiski Island, James Bay, 53-40= 13° to the north, confirming the 13 centuries. It runs through Lake Okeechobee, Florida, 40-27= 13° to the south, confirming it, too. It leaves the south cape of Florida, 40-25= 15° to the south, confirming the 15 dynasties.

The meridian leaves the south shore of Lake Erie, 2° to the north, encoding Isle Royale, Lake Superior, 2° below the 50th latitude line, at 50-2= 48°N. It was the center of copper mining in North America. This center was located 48-30= 18° above the Mississippi Delta, referring to the present town of Oruro, Bolivia, at 18°S. It was the center of tin mining in South America.

For a long time past the noble metals 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 si-liqua). Isle Royale is located 48-40= 8° above Grave Creek Mound, just below the 50th latitude line. So, the Standard Ingot will have a mass of 80,000 carats (a number of five figures), or 80x0.20= 16 kg.

CopperThe 50th latitude line runs along the northern bank of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, which is 50-30= 20° above the Mississippi Delta. It shows that a fraction of (20/50) or 40% of the cop-per was transported from Upper Michigan to the Gulf of Saint Laurence in the east. The re-maining fraction of (30/50) or 60% of the copper was shipped along the Mississippi River to the south.

The meridian of Grave Creek Mound leaves the north coast of Bell Peninsula, Southampton Island, 64-40= 24° to the north, encoding the overall export, 24 million copper ingots, or (24x16=) 384 thousand tons of copper. Isle Royale is located 48-40= 8° above the Mound, confirming the 8 figures of this number (24 million). It has been estimated by others in the field, that a total amount of 250 to 500 thousand tons of copper had disappeared from the mi-ning area. So, our conclusion is that its destination can now be understood.

Grave Creek Mound is located 40-16= 24° above the North Coast of Honduras (and the Cape Verde Islands), confirming it. The Mound contains two important vaults. So, Isle Royale, at 48°N, confirms the export, 48/2= 24 million copper ingots. The island of Bermuda is located 32-24= 8° above the Strait of Florida, at 24°N, confirming this amount (a number of 8 figu-res). Most of the copper passed this Strait. All the copper was shipped to the nine islands of the Azores. These refer to the density of copper, 9 g/cm3 (nine times heavier than water). (Refs.11,23-26)

TinIn the Old World bronze was made by alloying the copper with 10% tin. (The words ‘tin’ and ‘ten’ are even related.) Grave Creek Mound is located 40-30= 10° above the Mississippi Del-ta and the south coast of the US, at 30°N, confirming it. The north cape of Panama is located at 10°N, confirming it, too. Tin was a very scarce metal. Although generally unknown, a lot of it was exported from South America.

In the Bronze Age the overall export of tin from the mentioned site was 10% of the copper, or 2.4 million tin ingots (a number of 7 figures), or c.38,400 tons of tin. The meridian leaves the south coast of Panama, at 7°N. It corresponds to the 7 figures of this number (2.4 million). The tin was transported (as ingots) from Bolivia along the coast to the north, and from the Pa-cific to the Atlantic.

The meridian of the site runs through the south cape of Florida and the Isthmus of Panama. The north coast of Honduras is located 16-9= 7° above the Isthmus of Panama, confirming it. Bermuda is located 32-25= 7° above the south cape of Florida, confirming it, too. It also cor-responds with the density of tin, 7 g/cm3 (seven times heavier than water).

SilverSilver was found together with tin. Grave Creek Mound is located 10° above the Mississippi Delta and the south coast of the US, at 30°N, encoding the density of silver, 10 g/cm3 (ten ti-mes heavier than water). The north cape of Panama is located at 10°N, confirming it.

The isthmus of Panama, at 9°N, as well as the nine islands of the Azores encode the overall export of 90 million carats (a number of eight figures), or 90x0.20= 18 tons of silver. Most of the silver in the Old World was imported from Bolivia, in South America.

The south point of the Gulf of Campeche, Mexico, is located 18-9= 9° above the Isthmus of Panama, confirming it. The south cape of Florida is located 25-16= 9° above the north coast of Honduras, confirming it, too.

GoldThe meridian of Grave Creek Mound hits the southern Ottawa Islands in the Hudson Bay, 59-40= 19° above the site, referring to the more important mining area for tin, silver and gold just east of Lake of Poopó, near the present town of Potosi, Bolivia, at 19°S. It also encodes the overall export of gold from Bolivia, 190 million carats (a number of 9 figures), or 190x0.20= 38 tons of gold. It also corresponds with the density of gold, 19 g/cm3 (nineteen times heavier than water). The Isthmus of Panama, at 9°N, confirms the 9 figures of this number, as well as the nine islands of the Azores.

The meridian of the Mound touches the south bank of Lake Erie, 2° above the site, and leaves the south coast of Ecuador, at 2°S, both corresponding to the mouth of the Amazon River, where the remaining part of the gold was traded, at 2°S. The complementary latitude of the Mound, at 90-40= 50°N, encodes the total quantity from this site, 50 million carats (a number of 8 figures), or 50x0.20= 10 tons of gold.

Most of the gold was found near the tin mines of Bolivia. So, the total export of gold was re-lated to the tin export: 190+50= 240 million carats, or 240x0.20= 48 tons of gold. (The tin ex-port was 2.4 million ingots; see above.) The Phaistos Disc of Crete (1458 BC) is an important source for this whole story. (Refs.27-35)

Fig.2 The nine islands of the Azores in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean. All ships with metal cargo passed these islands between 2500 and 1200 BC.

Grave Creek MoundBraceletsThe skeleton halfway the height of the Mound had five copper bracelets around its wrist, weighing together 17 ounces, which is 480 g, or 480/0.20= 2,400 carats. Four of the bracelets confirm the total export of copper from Upper Michigan: 10,000 x 2,400= 24 million copper ingots. Three of the bracelets confirm the export of tin from Bolivia: 1,000 x 2,400= 2.4 mil-lion tin ingots.

One bracelet has a mass of 2,400/5= 480 carats. It encodes the latitude of Isle Royale, Lake Superior, at 48°N. It was the center of copper mining in North America. It refers to the export of gold from the mouth of the Amazon River: c.48 million carats. The five bracelets confirm it: 50 million carats.

All five bracelets confirm the total export of gold during the Empire of Atlantis: 100,000 x 2,400= 240 million carats. This is a number of 9 figures. It encodes the export of silver from Bolivia: 90 million carats. Two bracelets have together a mass of 2x480= 960 carats. It confirms the export of silver: c.96 million carats.

Four bracelets have together a mass of 4x480= 1,920 carats. It encodes the important mining area east of Lake of Poopó, near the present town of Potosi, Bolivia, at 19°S. It also refers to the export of gold from Bolivia, c.192 million carats. It confirms the remaining part of the gold export: 240-50= 190 million carats.

Volume of the MoundThe foreign settlers from the Old World used the Egyptian moira as a unit of length: 1 moira = 1 degree= 111 km. The shortest distances of the Mound to both Big Grave Creek in the south, and Little Grave Creek in the north are 1100 m, or 1.0 centimoira, confirming it. It means that 1 micromoira= 10-6 moira= 0.111 meter. So, the volume of the Grave Creek Mound can be expressed in the ancient unit of cubic micromoiras!

A simple calculation shows the volume of the Mound equals 33.0 thousand cubic meters, when using the data from the literature (see above). It turns out this volume equals 24.1 milli-on cubic micromoiras. - Note, that this number confirms the overall export of 24 million cop-per ingots and 2.4 million tin ingots across the Ocean to the Old World. It also confirms the total export of 240 million carats of gold. Finally, this is a number of 9 figures, which con-firms the export of silver during the Empire of Atlantis (c.2500-1200 BC): 90 million carats!

DiscussionThe diameter / height ratio of the Mound equals 73/19= 3.8, rounded off 4, probably referring to the Fourth Dynasty, when America was discovered. The mound diameter / platform dia-meter ratio equals 73/15= 4.9, rounded off 5, possibly referring to the Fifth Dynasty, when all crossings of the Atlantic were discovered.

Both vaults in the Mound are rectanglar, with four equal angles (of 90°), possibly referring to the Fourth Dynasty, again. The lower one was oriented north-south, the upper one east-west. Note, that these orientations match the meridians and latitude lines, which were often used in our analysis.

Note, that the beads and sea shells in the vaults clearly refer to the Ocean. These items are quite remarkable for an inland site at a distance of about 400 km from the Ocean. The Atlantic was important for reaching America at the start of the Fifth Dynasty, but also afterwards, du-ring the metal trade from c.2500 to 1200 BC.

Note, that the square pieces of mica (with four equal sides and angles) refer to the Fourth Dy-nasty, when America was discovered. The five copper bracelets may refer to the Fifth Dynas-ty, when all the Atlantic crossings were discovered, which were so important during the metal trade.

The lower vault contains two skeletons, possibly referring to the 2nd king Sahure, who disco-vered the two southern crossings of the Ocean. The upper vault contains a third skeleton, pos-sibly referring to the 3rd king Nefererkare, who discovered the third, northern crossing. (Refs.36-38)

References1. Mills, W.C., “The Grave Creek Mound at Moundsville, W.V.”, Ancient American, Vol.16, No.95, 2012.2. Gallagher, I.J., “Grave Creek Tablet is Genuine”, Ancient American, Vol.12, No.78, 2008.3. De Jonge, R.M., and Wakefield, J.S., How the SunGod Reached America c.2500 BC, A Guide to Megalithic Sites, 2002 (ISBN 0-917054-19-9). Available: MCS Inc., Box 3392, Kirkland, Wa 98083, also on CD. Website: www.howthesungod.com4. 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 98083. Website: www.rocksandrows.com5. De Jonge, R.M., Website: www.slideshare.net/rmdejonge6. Pellech, Chr., Website: www.migration-diffusion.info7. De Jonge, R.M., “The Discovery of Three Continents (Santo Stefano, North Sardinia, Italy, c.2300 BC)”, An-cient American, Vol.12, No.76, pgs.28-29 (2007), Ref.5.8. De Jonge, R.M., “Houghton’s Petroglyph (Copper Country, Michigan, 2500-1200 BC)” (2009), Ref.5, to be pu-blished.9. De Jonge, R.M., “The Mystic Symbol, mark of the Michigan Mound Builders” (2009), Ref.5, to be publish-ed.10. De Jonge, R.M., “A Sword for America (Kirkburn, East Yorkshire, England, c.250 BC)” (2009), Ref.5, to be published.11. De Jonge, R.M., “The Battersea Shield (River Thames, London, c.190 BC)” (2009), Ref.5, to be published.

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