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July 14, 2005
Dunbar Man Believes WV Artifacts are from One of World's Oldest Civilizations
by David M. Kinchen
Editor, Huntington News Network
Dunbar, WV (HNN) – Everybody Mike Ellis has talked to about his discoveries in the Kanawha River Valley of what he believes are among the oldest civilization artifacts in the world has either refused to return his calls or thinks he's out of his mind.
The 52–year–old Dunbar man says he has dug up dozens of artifacts that he believes are 35,000 years old – from the Paleolithic era – and has learned to read the symbols on metal artifacts. He's set up a web site to explain his discoveries and told HNN that "this information has been kept pretty secret for more than two years, but with the latest discovery I have decided to go public. I want the world to see not only the incredible artifacts that match artifacts that are 35,000 + yrs old which would make this discovery the oldest in all the Americas but one of the oldest in the world. I have learned to read some of the symbols on the artifacts and how they relate to other ancient cultures such as Egypt and I am convinced these artifacts show the origins of the ancient Pyramid building cultures."
Asked if the artifacts are part of the mound building culture that once existed along the Kanawha River, Ellis said he believes they are. One of the most famous mounds in the state is the Criel Mound on MacCorkle Avenue in South Charleston, but more than 50 other mounds are believed to have existed in the Kanawha Valley, he said.
The mounds are remnants of a culture that also built mounds along the Mississippi River near St. Louis, on the Illinois side of the river, among other locations. Mound building Indians are believed by many archaeologists to be related to the Aztecs, Toltecs and Mayans of Mexico and Central America. The name of the state of Michigan, for instance, is closely related to the Mexican state of Michoacan.
One event that prompted Ellis to go public is the return to the U.S. of the King Tut artifacts, back after 26 years and traveling to various museums in the nation. According to the National Geographic web site www.nationalgeographic.com "After almost three decades the ancient Egyptian tomb treasures of King Tutankhamun will be making a return visit to U.S. shores. A new exhibition, "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs," will travel the U.S. for 27 months starting in June 2005. Stops will include the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Florida's Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art, and the Field Museum of Chicago.
"I can show proof that the King Tut Mask is an ancient historical record that matches exactly the historical record in the book of Genesis and much more," Ellis told HNN.
"I learned to read the mask and many other Egyptian symbols from learning to read the ancient symbols on artifacts found here in West Virginia."
He suggests doubters have an open mind and take a look at www.wvancientartifacts.com. The site has links to other ancient sites. Ellis can be reached at 304–768–7192. Readers interested in learned about the Adena mound building people of pre–European West Virginia can find more information at www.wvculture.org/history/mounds.html
The site says the Adena people were the first Native Americans "to build ceremonial mounds. In other parts of the world, ceremonial burials had occurred much earlier. The Egyptian pyramids date to 2700 BCE." In addition to the Criel Mound, among the most famous West Virginia mounds are the Grave Creek Mound in Moundsville, Marshall County, "the largest conical type burial mound in the U.S.," according to the West Virginia Cultural Center web site. "By testing the soil, archaeologists estimate the mound was built between 250 and 150 BCE by the Adena culture, which occupied the area from about 1000 BCE to 200 CE." The abbreviations BCE and CE stand for "Before the Common Era" and "Common Era," and are more or less religiously neutral terms that scientists use instead of B.C. and A.D.
The West Virginia Cultural Center web site says "the Criel Mound in South Charleston is the largest of approximately fifty conical type mounds of the Adena culture in an area west of Charleston extending to Institute. The mound was first excavated by Prof. P.W. Norris of the Smithsonian Institution in 1883 and 1884, according to the WV web site.
"Tunneling from the top down, the archaeologists discovered the following:
At the depth of 3 feet, in the center of the shaft, some human bones were discovered, doubtless parts of a skeleton said to have been dug up before or at the time of the construction of the judges' stand.
At the depth of 4 feet, in a bed of hard earth composed of mixed clay and ashes, were two skeletons, both lying extended on their backs, heads south, and feet near the center of the shaft. Near the heads lay two celts, two stone hoes, one lance head, and two disks.
As they dug to a depth of 31 feet, numerous other skeletons were found, including a burial vault containing the remains of eleven Native Americans thought to have been killed in battle. There was also evidence that some may have been buried alive. As was the custom, various jewelry and weapons were placed in the buried vaults. Today, all the artifacts and skeleton remains are maintained at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C."
