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Arizona cartouche petroglyphs.

New Evidence Ancient Chinese Explorers Landed in America Excites Experts

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By Tara MacIsaacEpoch Times 

John A. Ruskamp Jr., Ed.D., reports that he has identified an outstanding, history-changing treasure hidden in plain sight. High above a walking path in Albuquerque’s Petroglyph National Monument, Ruskamp spotted petroglyphs that struck him as unusual. After consulting with experts on Native American rock writing and ancient Chinese scripts to corroborate his analysis, he has concluded that the readable message preserved by these petroglyphs was likely inscribed by a group of Chinese explorers thousands of years ago.

On the fringe of archaeology have long been claims that the Chinese reached North America long before Europeans. With some renowned experts taking interest in Ruskamp’s discovery, those claims may be working their way from the fringe to the core.

It doesn’t mean our history textbooks will change tomorrow. Anything short of discovering an undisturbed early Asiatic relic or village in the Americas may fail to convince those archaeologists who have dogmatically rejected evidence of an ancient Chinese presence in the New World, said Ruskamp.

But, the disparate and widespread symbols he has found show many indications of authenticity. They have the potential to inspire a more serious investigation into early trans-Pacific interaction. To date, Ruskamp has identified over 82 petroglyphs matching unique ancient Chinese scripts not only at multiple sites in Albuquerque, New Mexico, but also nearby in Arizona, as well as in Utah, Nevada, California, Oklahoma, and Ontario. Collectively, he believes that most of these artifacts were created by an early Chinese exploratory expedition, although some appear to be reproductions made by Native people for their own purposes.

One of Ruskamp’s staunchest supporters has been David N. Keightley, Ph.D., a MacArthur Foundation Genius Award recipient who is considered by many to be the leading analyst in America of early Chinese oracle-bone writings. Keightley has helped Ruskamp decipher the scripts he has identified. One ancient message, preserved by three Arizona cartouche petroglyphs, translates as: “Set apart (for) 10 years together; declaring (to) return, (the) journey completed, (to the) house of the Sun; (the) journey completed together.” At the end of this text is an unidentified character that may be the author’s signature.

Cartouche 1, which reads “Set apart (for) 10 years together.”

Cartouche 1, which reads “Set apart (for) 10 years together.”(Courtesy of John Ruskamp)

Cartouche 2, which reads, “Declaring (to) return, (the) journey completed, (to the) house of the Sun.”

Cartouche 2, which reads, “Declaring (to) return, (the) journey completed, (to the) house of the Sun.” (Courtesy of John Ruskamp) 

Cartouche 3, which reads, “(The) journey completed together.”

Cartouche 3, which reads, “(The) journey completed together.” (Courtesy of John Ruskamp)

The Arizona glyph site on what has always been, and still is, very private ranch property located miles from any public access or road.

The Arizona glyph site on what has always been, and still is, very private ranch property located miles from any public access or road. (Courtesy of John Ruskamp)

The oracle-bone style of writing employed for creating a number of these ancient petroglyph scripts disappeared by royal decree from mankind’s memory around 1046 B.C., following the fall of the Shang Dynasty. It remained an unknown and totally forgotten form of writing until it was rediscovered in A.D. 1899 at Anyang, China. Ruskamp thus concluded that the mixed styles of Chinese scripts found in these Arizona petroglyphs indicates that they were made during a transitional period of writing in China, not long after 1046 B.C.

Ruskamp gives the following translation for the Albuquerque petroglyphs:  “Gēng (a date; the seventh Chinese Heavenly Stem); Jié (to kneel down in reverence); Da (great—referring to a superior); Quăn (dog—the sacrificial animal); Xiàn (offering worship to  deceased ancestors); and Dà Jiă (the name of the third king of the Shang dynasty).”

Albuquerque petroglyphs

Albuquerque petroglyphs (Courtesy of John Ruskamp)

The Albuquerque petroglyphs use both Seal era and Bronze era Chinese scripts, suggesting they were also written during a transitional period in Chinese calligraphy, likely between 1046 B.C. and 475 B.C. The use of the title “Da” before the name “Jiă,” suggests a date close to the end of the Shang Dynasty in 1046 B.C., as this appellation emerged during that time period and was replaced shortly thereafter. 

A comparison of scripts over time.

A comparison of scripts over time. (Courtesy of John Ruskamp)

Michael F. Medrano, Ph.D., chief of the Division of Resource Management for Petroglyph National Monument, studied the petroglyphs at that location upon Ruskamp’s request. He said that, based on his more than 25 years of experience with local Native cultures, “These images do not readily appear to be associated with local tribal entities,” and “based on repatination appear to have antiquity to them.”

It is difficult to physically date petroglyphs with absolute certainty, notes Ruskamp. Yet the syntax and mix of Chinese scripts found at these two locations correspond to what experts would expect explorers from China to use some 2,500 years ago.

For example, the Arizona ranch petroglyphs are divided into three sections each enclosed in a square known as a cartouche. Two of the cartouches are numbered; one with the Chinese script for “one” placed beneath it and in a similar manner the second cartouche has the ancient Chinese script meaning “second” inscribed beneath it. Together these numeric figures indicate the order in which these images should be read. Importantly, the cartouches are thus shown to be read in the traditional Chinese manner, from right to left.

The first two cartouches are rotated 90 degrees to the left of vertical and the third is rotated 90 degrees to the right. “The deliberate rotation of these writings, both to the left and right of vertical by an equal number of degrees, endorses their authenticity, for the rotation of individual scripts by Chinese calligraphers is well-documented,” wrote Ruskamp.

Some of the symbols found in the petroglyphs are common to both Chinese script and ancient Native American writing. For instance, “The Chinese petroglyph figure of Jiu conveys the idea of “togetherness,” in much the same manner as the Nakwach symbol is now, and has been in the past, understood by the Hopi,” wrote Ruskamp.

Left: Hopi Nakwách symbol. Right: Chinese petroglyph figure of Jiu.

Left: Hopi Nakwách symbol. Right: Chinese petroglyph figure of Jiu. (Sears; Courtesy of John Ruskamp)

Another similarity is the use of a rectilinear spiral to convey the concept of a “round-trip journey.”

A rectilinear spiral similarly used by the Chinese and the Hopi to convey the concept of a “round-trip journey.”

A rectilinear spiral similarly used by the Chinese and the Hopi to convey the concept of a “round-trip journey.”(Wieger; Courtesy of John Ruskamp)

Though these similarities could be conceived as supporting a Native American origin for Ruskamp’s petroglyphs, Ruskamp stated: “The extensive Chinese vocabulary evidenced at each location advocates against the authorship of the figures evaluated in this study being credited to Native Americans. None of the more complex Chinese figures identified in this report are known to have any Native tribal affiliation.”

The conclusion of his paper titled  “Ancient Chinese Rock Writings Confirm Early Trans-Pacific Interaction,” reads: “In contrast to any previous historical uncertainty, the comparative evidence presented in this report, which is supported by both analytical evaluation and expert opinion, documenting the presence of readable sequences of old Chinese scripts located upon the rocks of North America, establishes that prior to the extinction of oracle-bone script from human memory, approximately 2,500 years ago, trans-Pacific exchanges of epigraphic intellectual property took place between Chinese and North American populations.”

He published the paper on his website, Asiaticechoes.org, in April and it is currently under peer review. Last October, he began presenting his findings in speaking engagements, including most recently to the Association of American Geographers in Chicago. He will next present at a meeting of the Little Colorado River Chapter of the Arizona Archaeology Society in Springerville, Arizona, on May 18. The editors of the journal Pre-Columbiana have confirmed they will soon publish Ruskamp’s article. The journal is edited by Professor Emeritus Stephen C. Jett, Ph.D., University of California–Davis, with the assistance of an editorial board of distinguished professional scholars, and is dedicated to exploring Pre-Columbian transoceanic contact.

A retired educator, statistician, and analytical chemist, Ruskamp pursued his study of petroglyphs as a hobby—little expecting to find what may lead to a great shift in how we view both American and Chinese history.

Featured image: Arizona cartouche petroglyphs. (Courtesy of John Ruskamp)

The article ‘New Evidence Ancient Chinese Explorers Landed in America Excites Experts’ was originally published on The Epoch Times and has been republished with permission.

 

Comments

It is known that Kwan Ying, Goddess of Mercy was an actual princess-queen. She held the West Coast region of Central America as a Chinese-Japanese ruler of an extended colony of Asia here ... in the times of Jesus. Such Chinese and Japanese migrations and colonies along the West Coast would be nothing new. Even Japanese colonists continue in the Peru area ... and up into modern times.

Having any number of inland colonies up and down the West Coast, using ancient Chinese writing would be considered natural. Colonies expand and explore the interior of islands and continents. And in ancient times, such frontier locations could have easily moved from the West Coast of Central America) into AZ and NM, having their rock inscriptions.

It is also readily known that many of the modern branches of Amerindians were actual refugees from the Spanish conquest of Central America in 1492 and later. Miwoks (San Francisco), Mohawks (northeast), Mohicans, Michigan, Mihouicans were all Mayans. Cherokee, Chirichuahua, Iriquois, Crow, Cree were from the city-state of Quiragua Mexico. Apache and so many others are modern migrations from Central America. All these came from the South and moved north along ancient trails as old as 400s and earlier. They didn't need to walk up the Pacific shoreline first, and then go inland.

In the times of King David, 1000s BC, his other concubine sons ... other than Bathsheba's sons Solomon and Nathan ... were moved from the Mideast into the America's West Coast line. Many of the noted West Coast Indian tribal names come from these sons. Nogah (Inca), Aleut, Inuit, Hopi, Navaho, and many more. Albeit they are considered Israelites, their mothers could be any racial ancestry. It is now more correctly known that "Bath Sheba" princess-queen daughter of Xbalba was Mayan Mihouican. So Israelite King David and Mexican wife had their bi-racial sons Solomon and Nathan, who stayed in the Mideast. So there is no problem for these concubine sons having pan-Asian ancestry, and they would provide the Asian appearance to these Pacific Northwest Indian tribes. And with Solomon having all of the international princesses, queens, and other high royal and noble females procreating a planetary dynasty of children for those regions - the Solomonic Fleet traversing the Indian and Pacific Oceans 1000s BC could have translocated and bred up any number of future royal dynasties on site - but also be moved into other areas for residency.

Having a Chinese bloodline into America would be nothing new with ancient migrations, civilizations, exploitation of areas for commerce, trade, and international expansionism.

There is every possible logical and reasonable validation for the author's impressions.

It is known that the Solomonic Fleet of the 1000s BC, that was previously the Egyptian Pharaoh's fleet give in dowry to Solomon, was already traversing the Indian and Pacific Oceans as far as Peru (biblical Ophir, gold of Ophir). Along the Pacific Northwest it is readily known that the Chinese have had fishing fleets and explorations up to the times of Chinese fleets fishing off Santa Monica harbor in the 1930s (photos shown were shocking !). It is known that the Chinese had failed sailings and shipwrecks along the Oregon and Washington coastline, with shoreline beeswax and stories of buried gold (Oregon) in the sand dunes. The Chinook tribe of Washington can be readily known to be a Chinese shipwreck, and the surviving sailors (et al) married into the local tribe.

It is being discovered that a portion of Mayan and Inca tribes, and those called the Apache were spread from the Russian Alaska down into Mexico. One period of time in the 400s CE, a group migrated up from Central America into the Pacific Northwest, chopped down trees, made ships, and sailed to the Siberian Steppes, and when arriving invaded the lands down into China (and India) as the Wu Hei (a Chinese pronunciation for Mihouican). If they were doing this, then there is no doubt that the clockwise Pacific current running from Asia to Alaska and down the West Coast could bring Chinese sailors into the Americas. Again, in another period of time, 1200s CE, another group of Central Americans again (!) moved up into the Pacific Northwest, chopped down trees, made ships, and sailed again into the Siberian Steppes, and appeared in full force, invading down into China, India, and across the Old World. They were the Monghols (Mayan cohols), the Golden Horde, the Yellow Plague. These events were before 1421, so there is no real hardship of any later expeditions to the Americas, when other migrations - and international trade (?) in iron, pottery, for fish, furs, etc could be bartered.

There is every possible logical and reasonable validation for the author's impressions.

It is known that the Solomonic Fleet of the 1000s BC, that was previously the Egyptian Pharaoh's fleet give in dowry to Solomon, was already traversing the Indian and Pacific Oceans as far as Peru (biblical Ophir, gold of Ophir). Along the Pacific Northwest it is readily known that the Chinese have had fishing fleets and explorations up to the times of Chinese fleets fishing off Santa Monica harbor in the 1930s (photos shown were shocking !). It is known that the Chinese had failed sailings and shipwrecks along the Oregon and Washington coastline, with shoreline beeswax and stories of buried gold (Oregon) in the sand dunes. The Chinook tribe of Washington can be readily known to be a Chinese shipwreck, and the surviving sailors (et al) married into the local tribe.

It is being discovered that a portion of Mayan and Inca tribes, and those called the Apache were spread from the Russian Alaska down into Mexico. One period of time in the 400s CE, a group migrated up from Central America into the Pacific Northwest, chopped down trees, made ships, and sailed to the Siberian Steppes, and when arriving invaded the lands down into China (and India) as the Wu Hei (a Chinese pronunciation for Mihouican). If they were doing this, then there is no doubt that the clockwise Pacific current running from Asia to Alaska and down the West Coast could bring Chinese sailors into the Americas. Again, in another period of time, 1200s CE, another group of Central Americans again (!) moved up into the Pacific Northwest, chopped down trees, made ships, and sailed again into the Siberian Steppes, and appeared in full force, invading down into China, India, and across the Old World. They were the Monghols (Mayan cohols), the Golden Horde, the Yellow Plague. These events were before 1421, so there is no real hardship of any later expeditions to the Americas, when other migrations - and international trade (?) in iron, pottery, for fish, furs, etc could be bartered.

The discussion about possible very early Chinese exploration in the Americas is not convincing. The location of these glyphs far distant from the Pacific Ocean would lead one to believe that other glyphs much closer to, let's say, modern southern California or western Mexico, should have long since been found. None have! Yes, a so-called "anchor" supposedly from a Chinese ship was found off Santa Barbara, but even if true it would be far more recent than the New Mexico petroglyphs.

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