In this episode we will be learning about the orgins of an Idaho mystery : The Nampa Figurine. We will briefly describe the history of the figurine and try to discover whether it is fraud or forgotten history:
Support the Show/contact Chance
http://www.badarchaeology.com/out-of-place-artefacts/very-ancient-artefacts/the-nampa-figurine/
https://ahotcupofjoe.net/2018/07/forbidden-archaeology-the-nampa-image-hoax-3/
https://www.ancient-origins.net/artifacts-other-artifacts/nampa-figurine-2-million-year-old-relic-or-just-hoax-008160https://archaeology-world.com/the-nampa-figurine-2-million-year-old-relic-or-just-a-hoax/
In this episode we will be learning about the orgins of an Idaho mystery : The Nampa Figurine. We will briefly describe the history of the figurine and try to discover whether it is fraud or forgotten history:
Support the Show/contact Chance
http://www.badarchaeology.com/out-of-place-artefacts/very-ancient-artefacts/the-nampa-figurine/
https://ahotcupofjoe.net/2018/07/forbidden-archaeology-the-nampa-image-hoax-3/
https://www.ancient-origins.net/artifacts-other-artifacts/nampa-figurine-2-million-year-old-relic-or-just-hoax-008160https://archaeology-world.com/the-nampa-figurine-2-million-year-old-relic-or-just-a-hoax/
I was telling a friend the other day, that as a culture, we tend to be great myth builders. And not necessarily great at knowing our own history. Welcome to strive seek find podcast. I'm your host chance whitmore. I'm a what if guy I was growing up, it still holds today. Many of the best conversations I have my father, starting at about the age of 10, revolved around that question, what if, and from 10 to 14, when I was hitting the library, and specifically the interlibrary loan service, almost weekly to read every book I could find about Atlantis, the Hollow Earth, the spirit of destiny, and 1000 other things, those questions and that reading. I credit with, in part, my love of science fiction to this day. So when I was reminded of a local history's mystery, it piqued my interest. And I had to dig into the story a bit. I wanted to know the story a little more, and find the context. And from both a what if guy and a history buff. This is fun. So let's get started. With the Nampa figurine it's important to start with context. As Idaho was nearing the end of its time as a territory. The State of Idaho was formed in 1890, a group of men formed a company with the intent to drill an artesian well, for the then small town of Nampa, Idaho. And for those of you who live in major cities, still small town, but it feels big for Idaho. To put in perspective how remote Idaho was at the time, the first electric light went on in the city of Hailey near where all the finest movie stars like to ski Sun Valley. The Constitutional Convention for the state constitution was in full effect. And the University of Idaho was in the process of being created to try to mend fences with northern part of the territory, because they'd been denied the right to join with Washington rather than remaining with Idaho. Some things never change. So you could say there was a little bit of pre statehood, hustle and bustle. The story goes in July of 1889, one of the three men who owned the drilling company, Mark Kurtz, was examining what material had been brought up by the sand pump. At the time, they were drilling in a layer of clay about 300 feet down, that would be 91 meters for those of you listening from the more civilized parts of the world. In the materials, Mark, discovered what was termed a strange object, a small, apparently human figure, in some descriptions listed as female and others male, made of baked clay, about an inch and a half long. Kurtz shared discovery with several people, including Charles Adams, owner of the Union Pacific at the time, Adams was apparently fast say enough about it that he wrote a man named Jay W. Wright, who was an amateur geologist and writer who in turn wrote back to Kurt's requesting to see a photo of the figuring. Kurtz claimed he was unable to get a photo at the time. So he sent the original figuring. From there, it was examined and studied by Wright, who in turn, then opened it up and shared with other experts he trusted, including Harvard professor, FW Putnam, and they came to determination that they likely thought it was unimaginably old based on among other things, the iron oxide that was on the figure and match the drill tailings from that 91 meter 300 foot range with what other materials they brought up. So they pointed to it as most likely legitimately from that level, and therefore extremely old. So does this figurine still exist? Absolutely. Based on what I've read, it's still stored the Idaho Historical Society. So this is a great story. It's a person who likes to consider the possibilities. This looks like the fodder of 100 good conversations if nothing else. But what is the truth of it? Does the figurine push humanity's existence? Modern humanity At least existence back in time by approximately 1.8 million years. Because the level that this was supposedly found on was far enough down that it would be approximately 2 million years in the ground, versus the few 100,000 years that archaeological evidence has provided to us so far for the existence of humans, and related species. Let's start with this. A new discovery, when proved should change science. That's what science is. You find better data, you adjust. If you don't, science ends up becoming brittle faith, rather than a method of exploring our universe. I'm sure we can all think of examples. But when I can remember from my own childhood, dinosaurs, the mighty thunder lizards, the way we were taught back in elementary school, they were big, slow moving, cold blooded creatures. And that was basically totally wrong. To what we know now, feather coated, related to birds quick moving. We changed what we were teaching, based on what we learned. So looking at the science and the history, does this hold up to scrutiny? Does it move Darwinian evolution back to the point that modern humans existed 1.8 million years earlier. Let's take a look at some evidence. First off, if you've ever worked with a drill rig, even a small one, you know, they tend to tear things up as they go through them. And sand tends to abrade objects away. Think of a rock polisher for instance. These two reasons tend to lend doubt to the idea. Something is small and fragile is fired clay could have survived the experience of discovery described in the story. It should have been crushed or worn away to almost nothing. Other particles in the sand idea of dating, the figurine based on the iron oxide can be simulated with firing clay. So while it might be a marker, it's not a good marker in and of itself. The third fact is, as you look back for more information, and there's not a lot about this, the figurine was basically identical to dolls made by the Blackfoot tribe during the time period. And previously, number four that I would think about, nothing else has been pulled up from that depth or deeper. That would provide us with some additional point of reference to prove this was real. That's not a disqualifier by itself, because the world is a strange, strange place. But it is a pretty big question mark. If we'd only found one dinosaur bone anywhere in the world, we would definitely question their existence. But where we found lots and lots of them, it grows harder and harder to deny. The final piece of evidence I'll mention is Kurt's himself, Kurtz told two different versions of his discovery story. Most often, it was the one I relate at the beginning find it in the remains of what was pulled up from the sand pump. Other times he described finding it in core samples, to go back to my first reason would have done the same thing to the figure would have most likely destroyed it. Once again, not a disqualifier by itself. People make mistakes and how they tell stories from time to time. But it does create questions. Obviously, there's more to this, I'll attach a couple of articles to the show notes. For those who wish to follow up. You can obviously find articles that describe both ends of things, the true believers and the skeptics. Last thing to think about. This occurred less than 30 years after the discovery of the Cardiff giant. And for the longtime listeners, you may recall that I discussed the Cardiff giant during my second season episode, if you believe that I have a bridge I can sell you. I'll include the link to that in the show notes as well. The time period was a time of fraud for attention getting and financial gain. So in other words, we really haven't changed much. We love attention. These people are alive today. They would read running a YouTube channel, or dare I say, a podcast, looking for notoriety, and of course, a route to fame and fortune. On the other hand, there's the possibility that I'm a little off base and these guys were completely honest. Didn't make any mistakes along the way. So what do you think, is the Nampa figurine an example of an ignored historical artifact or history Oracle fraud, let me know. Well, my friends, that's it for this week's episode of strife seek find. If you'd like to help support the show, please suggest the podcast to your friends or leave a review on your favorite podcasting app. If you'd rather support the show financially, I do have a buy me a coffee, where the money goes 100% To buy materials to keep the podcast moving forward. Again, thanks for listening. Until next time, I'm chance Whitmore keep seeking your own brilliant future.