In 1972, Barnard Hansell discovered a small stone on his father’s farm. It was not until nine years after the initial discovery that Hansell looked at the stone and discovered the carvings on both sides of the stone. He then sold the stone to Henry Paxton a young collector of Native American artifacts. The carvings on this stone are the most shocking part of the discovery. On one side, the carvings are of fish and birds, and on the other, a mammoth and Native Americans. At the time of the discovery, there had been no evidence of interaction between humans and mammoths in North America. The only piece of evidence of interaction between humans and mammoths was in France about nine years prior to Hansell’s discovery of a detailed carving of a mammoth. The stone was deeply cleaned and displayed at the Bucks County Historical Society where H.C. Mercer worked. H.C. Mercer was a founder of the Bucks County Historical Society and had a growing interest in archaeology. However, he had no recognition from the archaeological community as he was not a scholarly archaeologist. In an effort to prove himself and his importance to the archaeological community, Mercer conducted research on the stone found by Barnard Hansell: the Lenape Stone. He compiled all of his research in a book called “The Lenape Stone or, The Indian and The Mammoth.”

The legitimacy of this artifact has been long debated. There is no ability for archaeologists to decipher if it is a legitimate artifact or a hoax. This is because the stone had been deeply cleaned multiple times to showcase the carvings, and no one can conquer the legitimacy of the initial discovery. However, there is a lot of evidence to suggest a lack of authenticity. Firstly, the farm where Barnard Hansell discovered the Lenape Stone was within Bucks County, a country which has a deep sense of pride for the town. This could mean Hansell forged the artifact to place his father’s farm into the history of Bucks County. Secondly, Henry Paxton, while being an amateur collector of Native American artifacts, was the son of a prominent man in Bucks County. This could imply that Hansell intentionally sold the stone to Henry Paxton with the knowledge that the stone would eventually go from Paxton to the historical society. Thirdly, the Lenni Lenape, the Native American group that has been linked to the stone has not taken responsibility for the stone. The style of the carvings and of the stone do not align with any of the legitimate Lenni Lenape stones. Lastly, and most importantly, H.C. Mercer’s book on the Lenape Stone is the only major publication about the stone. This means that all of the evidence and analysis Mercer has a lot of authority on the topic of the authenticity of the discovery. 

Throughout the semester, we talked about different hoaxes that were intended to bring fame and attention to specific people. While not the traditional pseudoarchaeology method that we had seen involving Native Americans of trying to prove their primitiveness, the Lenape Stone had clear pseudoarchaeological qualities. The stone brought attention to Hansell’s farm and was used by Mercer to bring legitimacy to himself in the archaeological field. In Mercer’s writings on the stone, he questions the authority of archaeologists to make an educated statement on the stone, but also states that there is no way to know if the stone is real. This stone was used to bring fame to every party involved in the discovery and the analysis. 

Sources

Mercer, Henry C. 2014 ‘’The Lenape Stone or, The Indian and The Mammoth’’ The Project Gutenberg. Electronic document, https://www.gutenberg.org/files/45853/45853-h/45853-h.htm, accessed December 5, 2019

Kraft, Herbert C. and Kraft, John T. 1985 ‘’The Indians of Lenapehoking’’ Seton Hall University Museum. https://www.digifind-it.com/njhistoricalportal/data/ringwood//The%20Indians%20of%20Lenapehoking.pdf, accessed December 5, 2019.