North America, and specifically the United States, has a significant pre-Columbian history unknown to most Americans. A history of the ancient mound-building cultures in North America that rivaled, in their day, any civilization found in the world. Yet little focused research has been published since the early 1900s when men through their influential positions in government and science began to discourage and suspend further research and inquiry, for they viewed it as of little additional value.
I became aware of, and interested in this ancient history many years ago, when traveling and working on projects in Ohio and New York and upon being introduced to a group of scholars and researchers who had been studying the ancient mound-building cultures for years. Through study and the in-depth research of many, a remarkable story unfolded. This lost and forgotten history of America’s earliest beginnings deserves further research. There were other amateurs and professionals who felt the same, some for the same reasons, others for reasons significantly divergent from mine. Unfortunately, the view of many in the mainstream of the affected disciplines: primarily history, archaeology, and anthropology, consider the subject closed. There has been created within these professional disciplines a climate, which discourages any further research into this known, yet forbidden history. Those who do continue to study do so at the risk of their professional standing. Many researchers who have studied these cultures have commented that any contrary research that does not conform to the establishment’s traditional position will be quickly dismissed, because it did not come through the mainstream channels of today’s scientific community.
In the face of rather significant evidence attesting to the existence of more advanced civilizations than first observed, one must wonder why so many Early American textbooks refuse to acknowledge the important and significant history of these ancient mound-building cultures. What could anyone possibly fear from a deeper examination of these pre-Columbian ancient cultures? Were there one or many, where did they come from, how did they live, and what caused their disappearance? The answer to these questions and others has helped to motivate my personal investigation into this history of America’s antiquities. It has focused my inquiry, and inspired the production of a documentary film called The Lost Civilizations of North America. What I have learned through my investigations is that the reasons and “science” behind the cessation of research into these ancient civilizations continue to impact national, international, political, economic, social and cultural perspectives and agendas.
There are those who will disagree with some of the premises and conclusions of this book. It is my hope that those who do, will only do so after serious consideration, and not simply as a knee-jerk reaction to something that runs counter to established viewpoints that have been handed down to our day. I have always hoped (perhaps naively) that reasonable people with differing views can engage in respectful discourse and learn from one another. So, with that as a point of departure, let us begin.