Interpreting Interpreter: (Non-)Anachronisms - Warfare

The Takeaway

Roper continues his examination of claimed Book of Mormon anachronisms, looking at 39 different aspects of warfare and weapons presented in the text. He concludes that 82% of these supposed anachronisms have received subsequent confirmation in the archaeological record, with only 2 items that are yet to trend toward confirmation (steel swords in the New World and Book of Mormon battle remains).

The Summary

In this article, Matthew Roper presents the second chapter of his book, Anachronisms: Accidental Evidence in Book of Mormon Criticisms, this one focusing on warfare in the Book of Mormon. With early critics quick to ridicule the book’s depictions of war and armaments, Roper’s analysis covers 39 different items, concluding that 32 have received subsequent confirmation. The ones that have not include 4 that have been partially confirmed (early bow and arrow, copper/brass breastplates, evidence for millions of war deaths, and wars of extermination), and 2 that remain unconfirmed (steel swords in the New World and Book of Mormon battle remains). His list (with some categories combined for brevity) is outlined below; see the end of the article for some helpful charts.

• Fortifications (Confirmed). Some claimed that the fortifications described in Alma’s war chapters were implausible or did not exist, but fortifications (particularly in Mesoamerica) that align well with the book’s descriptions (ridges of earth lined with timbers) have been found dating to Book of Mormon times.

• Early Warfare and Wars of Conquest/Extermination (Confirmed wars of conquest in the appropriate period; Partially confirmed wars of extermination). There was a strong consensus that the Maya and other Indigenous peoples were generally peaceful until a few centuries before Columbus, but monumental art and deciphered inscriptions makes clear that the Maya were warlike in all periods, including for wars of conquest. Wars that involved the extermination of entire peoples are seeing increased archaeological support, with evidence of ethnically-driven massacres and site abandonment, though not yet at the scale or timeframes of the Book of Mormon.

• Armor (including Shields, Arm Shields, Headplates, Breastplates (Confirmed use of cloth armor, various shields, headplates and breastplates; Partially confirmed use of copper and brass for breastplates). Some critics ridiculed the use of any kind of armor, but evidence has been found not only of effective, tightly spun cotton armor, but also the other described armor pieces, such as shields, bucklers, headplates/helmets (including functional pieces that were quilted or made from wood/bone) and breastplates. The breastplates of copper and brass described by King Limhi among the ruins of the Jaredites have not yet received support, but reports from Spanish conquistadors indicate the use of a variety of ornamental breastplates and other armor pieces, particularly among the Inca.

• Bladed Weapons (Swords, Scimitars, Daggers, Axes, Javelins, Spears) (Confirmed use of all varieties of bladed weapons, including steel swords in the old world; New World use of steel swords unconfirmed). Critics have critiqued essentially all the bladed weaponry described in the Book of Mormon, including reports of Laban having a steel sword in Jerusalem in 600 BC. But finds in the 1960s showed that “mild steel” was indeed used in the Levant in the appropriate period, and Mesoamerican art shows examples of all varieties of the book’s bladed weapons, with the blades made of exceptionally sharp obsidian (sharp enough to perform decapitations).

• Projectile Weapons (Bows/Arrows, Quivers, Fiery Darts, and Slings (Confirmed use of quivers, fiery darts and slings in the appropriate period; Partially confirmed use of bows and arrows, though not yet in Book of Mormon times; partially confirmed plausible explanations for descriptions of Nephi’s steel bow). Critics have claimed that the projectile weapons described in the book were unknown in pre-Columbian America, but evidence for quivers, fiery projectiles, and slings is now well attested, and remains of arrow points have been found among the Maya as early as 400-600 AD. Though no Old World bows made entirely of steel have been found, the English word “steel” has had a broad range of meaning and could have referred to composite bows reinforced with bronze.

• Scale of Warfare (Large Armies, Battle Casualties, and Millions of War Deaths) (Confirmed large armies with large-scale casualties; Partially confirmed historical accounts of pre-Columbian wars involving millions of deaths). As with warfare generally, the very idea of pre-Columbian peoples fielding armies has been ridiculed by critics. But there were indeed armies, large ones, sometimes numbering in the hundreds of thousands, as is consistent with Book of Mormon accounts. With LiDAR discoveries forcing scholars to readjust their population figures for Mesoamerica, accounts of millions of (potentially civilian) deaths become plausible, and are attested in pre-Columbian oral histories.

• War-Related Medical Events (Fainting for Loss of Blood and Post-Decapitation Activity) (Confirmed). Some critics have been skeptical of descriptions of warriors fainting because of loss of blood or moving and breathing after being decapitated. Recovery after fainting due to blood loss is well-attested in the medical record, as is Shiz’s surprising post-decapitation reaction (a phenomenon called decerebrate rigidity).

• Prearranged Battles (Confirmed). The idea that two opposing armies would pre-arrange to meet for battle was once thought to be ridiculous. But native historians recount battles that were specifically timed for religious and cosmic significance, with one battle agreed to a decade in advance.

• Battle Remains (Unconfirmed). Some have suggested that the kinds of battles described in the Book of Mormon should have some kind of concrete archaeological identification. They are right that no such battle-site has been identified, but it’s unclear that such should be expected, given the well-understood challenges of warfare archaeology (especially in humid conditions).

• Supplies and Logistical Items (Trumpets, Cords, Ladders, Tents, Rations) (Confirmed). The Book of Mormon mentions a number of items used in a warfare context that critics have found objectionable. All of these have since been attested either in Mesoamerican art or by historical accounts.

• Bands of Raiders and Plunderers (Confirmed). Critics have been similarly skeptical of the Book of Mormon’s descriptions of bands of raiders, but both historians and modern scholars find the book’s portrayal of guerrilla warfare to be surprisingly authentic, including in a Mesoamerican context.

The Reflection

Roper’s analysis continues apace, and what strikes me here is just how much we had to learn by uncovering Mesoamerican art. The material culture used for warfare appears to have simply failed to stick around to be uncovered by archaeologists, and that is, of course, for good reason. Mesoamerica is inhospitable to the kinds of hard evidence historians would probably prefer to trade in. Humidity and acidic soils mean we shouldn’t expect to find a perfect archeological record, or for the records we do have to perfectly accord with what we find. This means we need to be comfortable with an incomplete picture—no mean feat for a modern culture that prefers neat boxes and pat stories. And we aren’t done yet—next week’s chapter on metals and metallurgy should be an interesting one, and one that leaves us with yet more tantalizing possibilities and frustrating evidentiary holes.