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ORIGIN OF THE AZTECS IN AMERICA A birch bark manuscript now being examined by the authorities of the smithsonian institution at washington is likely to change the entire theory as to the origin so far as america is concerned of the aztecs azteca held to be the original inhabitants of mexico professor warren waren K moorehead Moore bead archaeologist of the ohio state university and a man famous for being versed in aztec lore and knowledge makdis this article the first accurate statement and the only one regarding the manuscript which was discovered by a workman at fairfield iowa despite his learning regarding the hieroglyphics in which the aztecs azteca transmitted their history from generation to generation professor moorehead has been unable to satisfactorily decipher the inscription upon the birch bark for this reason he forwarded the manuscript to the smithsonian institution the results of the examination by the experts there will be far more important than might be thought at first consideration unquestionably it is the first genuine aztec manuscript ever un ua encased with a coating of pitch the object was found about three feet below the surface its dimensions are something over a foot in length by eight inches and five or six inches thick out of curiosity the workman struck it a blow with a pick causing it to split open revealing a space in the center in which lay a roll of birch bark covered on one side with strange hieroglyphics the workman was intelligent enough to know that the find was of some value and taking it to his home carefully spread out the manuscript and encased it between glass in a tram fram the matter was brought to the attention of miss emma dark clark of fairfield who had haa heard of the museum at columbus and she wrote there describing the find in all its details I 1 concluded that the find was certainly worth examining and persuaded miss dark clark to send the wooden recep tacal and manuscript for my inspection the bark is extremely thin and its natural color is well preserved this is due to the fact that it was sealed almost airtight the edges axe are torn and broken and there is every evidence that a part of it is missing I 1 had fur aj A V AI 0 0 jill as tk man reproduction 0 OF F THE VALUABLE AZTEC manuscript within the borders of the united states professor moorehead says over his hia own signature there is small doubt of its genuineness it has long been held that the aztecs azteca inhabited certain c ain portions of this country as early earl eft it if not before their advent into mexico this find and the ancient appearance of the hieroglyphics as compared with those even many centuries old seem to give strong color to the belief regarding the united states professor Mor states succinctly in following which is from his own pen the status of the find from an archaeological standpoint this is what he says the ohio state archaeological and historical society of columbus received early in february a most remarkable relic on september 2 1896 a laboring man of fairfield 1 low Iowa awhile while excavating for the waterworks water works brought i to light what was apparently a chunk of wood except that its surface was ther excavations made but there was wab no moire fragments or relies of any description and the workman positively asserted that the manuscript was found in a fragmentary condition and that he had sealed between glass all that he had found of it the is of oak and shows marks on the end of having been rudely hewn with stone axes with the manuscript were received letters from prominent citizens certifying to the character of the workman A letter from the editor of the bedget ledger the country paper published at fairfield states griffith is a laboring man of about average intelligence and information and would have neither the ability or the knowledge to mislead anybody as to the circumstances cum stances nor is there any practical joker in this vicinity who would have the knowledge to execute a plan like this and keep quiet about it nor has there been interest sufficient in matters ot of this kind in the community to furnish uch auch people basis for work A tree some fifty or sixty years old grew directly over the spot the hollow log or wood being found under its roots the gum or wax which not only fastened the pieces together but made the receptacle practically water and air tight had been evenly distributed by turning the block over a fire this was plain because the block was not only covered with soot but was also slightly charred the characters are written in red evidently the juice of some plant the work is neat after a careful examination lc decided that I 1 could not read the characters and furthermore that no one could read them that a great deal had been published on aztec add maya manuscripts but that no one could translate them and that one half of the archaeologists who claimed to read them gave different translations of the same manuscript the characters are manifestly aztec or maya and were made I 1 think by some of the highly cultured tribes of mexico or yucatan A party for some unknown reason set out north carrying this little box and on account of a decrease in strength either through sickness or war burle buried d the manuscript at the point where it was wa found it is not at all probable that the A whole thing is a hoax for if it were a fake we must account for the knowledge on the part of the workman who found it of aztec and maya glyphis glyphs which is not in the least probable there are very few men in this coun try who know anything about these hieroglyphics and it would be impossible for any one in fairfield to make them unless he had a work at hand containing plates of the maya delro A there are only a few such books in existence and they are very high priced the characters are pot not indian vor por instance take the grotesque human figure shown in the middle section around which is the sun symbol the sun symbol with the character in the left lefthand hand upper corner of this middle piece and all the characters in the upper piece are very like those upon the tablets of oen aral american ruins and to the four manuscripts or books preserved in the museums combinations of straight lines and dots are strong proof of the southern origin of the manuscript there have been several fraudulently sculptured stones found in the united states but they are all totally different from this and do not appear elthee either aboriginal in concept or execution 1 I have sent the box and the birch bark to the smithsonian Smiths onlan institution at washington for further examination with a request for an opinion as to r theo their meaning and age whatever may be said the find is one of great interest and value to the world and there I 1 is every that it points to an exploring party sent north from the aztec country WARREN K MOOREHEAD curator department of archaeology ohio state university the most generally accepted belief concerning the aztecs azteca has been that they came from some portion of asia it la IM supposed they made their advent into mexico about the year 1130 for botn that time or soon after their history seems to have been interwoven with that of the a race of people who seem to have left records of history before the azteca aztecs began to make evidence of theirs although the latter are declared axed by archaeologists to have antedated the in point of residence in mexico owing to the indefiniteness which has en shrouded the origin of this remarkable people there has been any of discussion and controversy among albang scientists learned in archaeology OF as to the origin of at the aztecs azteca yelle ma the belief lowly stated that t tills 1 Is race had its ita birth in asia was wah widely cherished there were many who dt iceren ed from the statement that it wi us immediately from asio asia that th the As becs came who settled mexico these held that no n where twe tha people came from in the first pi ice y had previously to entering alie borders of mexico found residence to other portions of the north american continent iome diec declared lared the aate cs found their wily way to america from japan it t ay is true that every year at least ono JiL japanese junk drifts from a point close to the shores 0 of f japan to the california Ino instances of this sort bare been known where the Jai ponese ft fishermen herMen who composed the crew of thil the junk when she started on her voyage have lived tell their strange experience therefore science has hasseld held thlu that in some dome such manner as this the original north american aztecs azteca reached these shores no one has attempted apted to explain how they managed to extend their wanderings ae cording to what several archaeological discoveries have indicated but there seems be scattered evidence brought to light ht at ma rare intervals of the residence ite portions of the country of of the aztec race in fairly air 13 good numbers all this has of course been very Nj gely theory because the acthen alty 69 0 the evidence referring to the t becs has hag been frequently denied at JEM however hoover there seems to be something tangible in im this iowa discovery that a mere workman should be able K to counterfeit the aztec characters and 11 that goes with them of course fela impossibility the peculiar pe forma p aton on of the characters referred to shows hobb as professor moorehead states NY that they weft not the product of the skilled hand of a scholar os of any tribe of jf the red indians indiana only the aztec i himself or some arttie onea ona of modern days well learned in the aztec hieroglyphics could have prepared the birch bark |
