Many tales of buried treasure and allegedly "mysterious" sites make their way into popular culture and folklore. The story of "Burrows Cave" is a fairly recent addition; it involves no treasure in the normal sense and no mysterious legends. Instead the basic facts, if facts they are, are well known and available from a number of sources. The people who were initially involved in the tale are still alive to discuss their side of the story, and the site is supposedly somewhat undisturbed and available for study.

So what's the mystery, and why is the site controversial? We need to examine the reasons in some detail before discussing the "facts" surrounding the discovery of the site.

First, numerous individuals and groups (often referred to as diffusionists) believe that significant pre-Columbian interaction took place between native American peoples and various ancient and early modern civilizations (such as the Hebrews, Greeks, Romans, Celts, and so forth). It is definitely possible that some communication did take place but so far little or no verifiable, objective evidence has been found to support such theories. It's one thing to find a fragment of Phoenician pottery in Boston Harbor; this can easily be passed off as the result of a European ship that discharged a load of stone ballast that happened to contain the fragment. It would be quite another if we found translatable, legible writings (as opposed to a forgery, or cracks and weathering marks that just happen to resemble such writing) that can be attributed to ancient Phoenicians carved on a datable stone standing in a field in Missouri.

It is certainly not true that some shadowy group is attempting to "suppress" legitimate evidence; this is the cry of the pseudoscientist or conspiracy theorist who believes himself to be in sole possession of the "truth" while vast forces are arrayed against his attempts to spread the gospel to others. It may be the case that certain individual scientists or historians allow their own beliefs to influence their objectivity, but this is simply human nature. The same can be said of people in any field.

Second, it has always been the case that certain theories become targets for those people who wish to make names for themselves by overturning "establishment" systems. When Newton proposed his gravitational and other theories they were almost immediately attacked by various opponents; some of these attacks were legitimate challenges to the new ideas while others were nonsensical and irrational claptrap offered up by people who had no knowledge of the subject. Attacks on Newton largely ceased once Einstein proposed the theory of relativity; deniers then aimed their barbs at the new quantum theory and Newtonian physics became the "sacred cow" they were trying to defend.

As a corollary to the above, many pseudoscientists and cranks become mortally offended when their theories are not immediately accepted by mainstream science. These people often do not understand that a single piece of evidence, or one successful experiment, will not result in a sudden, massive shift in opinion by other researchers in the field. Academic study moves slowly and deliberately; experiments must be verified through repetition, and evidence needs to be evaluated for alternative explanations so that no one rushes headlong down the wrong path. History is rife with stories of researchers who embarrassed themselves and others by announcing "discoveries" that were later found to be the results of misinterpreted evidence or poorly-controlled experiments.

Last, the alleged discovery of the cave and the events that followed it are subject to debate, and some of the persons involved certainly have hidden agendas that are affecting their objectivity. This last point is obviously related to the others; the site may be an intentional hoax, or perhaps it represents a desperate attempt by one or more individuals to focus attention on the diffusionist agenda. Even more sinister is the possibility that it was created deliberately to embarrass or mislead legitimate researchers. Of course, it is also very possible the entire story was fabricated for the sole purpose of bilking potential investors out of large sums of money.

Burrows Cave represents an ideal data point for anyone who seeks to deny "establishment" history for whatever reason, whether personal, religious, or professional. But is it a legitimate find or a hoax?

According to any number of accounts (many of which are available on the Web) a man named Russell Burrows was walking through the countryside in Illinois one day in April 1982 when he either a) fell on a large rock that suddenly tilted sideways under his weight, nearly throwing him into a pit or b) stumbled across the mouth of a cave where he noted the presence of numerous artifacts. Inside the cave he claimed to have found hundreds, perhaps thousands of carved stones, each bearing figures or letters of some unknown language as well as (in many cases) depictions of deities, humans, ships, and so forth.

To date, the cave has received scant attention from mainstream archaeology and no scholarly journals have attempted to document the "finds" made there, though the Epigraphic Society and several other diffusionist newsletters apparently carried stories about it sporadically for several years. No archaeological digs have been conducted under properly controlled conditions; indeed supporters of the cave's authenticity have derided science's inattention to the subject and claim it represents a near conspiracy to "suppress" evidence that history as it is now being taught is massively incorrect. However, a significant body of evidence suggests that Burrows and his close associates have consistently prevented such studies from being carried out and have even refused to allow the extant artifacts to be closely examined by professionals who are qualified to judge their authenticity.

In one case, in 1986, a group called the Early Sites Research Society contacted Burrows about the cave; by one account he was "quite enthusiastic about Early Sites interest" but then:

A list of ten (10) suggested points of procedure was sent to him, including: the creation of a data base for all the material submitted for a radiocarbon determination; samples of metal and lithic artifacts to undergo non-destructive analysis; and most important of all, "the cave must be seen by an outsider who has archaeological expertise, and probably, a geologist as well. At the time of observation, the event should be video-taped" (Whittall, 1986). By return mail, Burrows addressed a letter to the membership of Early Sites in which he stated that he hadn't asked for help from Early Sites and that basically my proposed methodology was unacceptable to the point that he stated "NOT ONE OF YOU WILL EVER SEE THIS CAVE and that is a statement that I will abide by for as long as the grass grows, the wind blows, and the rivers run (Burrows, 1986). A discussion with Burrows on the telephone thenceforth, suggested to me that Early Sites was out of the picture. No further correspondence took place." (Whittall, 1990)

Thus, rather than an active avoidance of the subject on the part of "mainstream scholarship," it seems that Burrows himself deflected academics from performing legitimate studies of the cave's alleged wonders.

At last report, Burrows refuses to divulge the location of the cave on the grounds that he is afraid it will be looted and destroyed by artifact hunters--not an unreasonable viewpoint since legitimate sites are regularly looted by pot hunters and others. He also claims to have no further involvement with the site and claims to have been told to stay away from the area. There are allegations that Burrows and others removed "thousands" of artifacts from it for sale to private collectors; indeed, one seller claimed to have purchased hundreds of pieces from Burrows only to find later on that the "artifacts" were fake and worthless. At the time this article was written, few professional scholars support the authenticity of the cave, and only a few die-hards continue to believe it represents a legitimate find.

It seems at least strange that one site would house huge numbers of these "rock art pieces" though no similar artifacts have been found at known native American villages, burial grounds, or other locations in North America. Some supporters have suggested that the Cave represents a "central repository" of these supposedly ancient, possibly sacred objects; while this is certainly possible, it is also fairly certain that at least a few similar stones would have been found at other sites, or that anthropologists and/or archaeologists would have encountered them long ago. Given the large number of sites that have already been investigated and the hundreds of years worth of continuous contact between European and native American peoples, one would expect at least a few artifacts of this nature to have been brought to the attention of historians or anthropologists.

Also, if ancient Eurasian or Middle Eastern cultures were in regular contact with tribes in North America, one would expect folktales or other stories to have been created by one or both cultures to describe the ways of the other. If a group of native Americans held these "carved stones" in such reverence that they created a special repository for them, then oral traditions and legends about the "great ones" or "mysterious people from the East" - with accompanying art, descriptions of the other country, and so forth - would also be expected among these same tribes. Instead there are none, or at least none which have come to light as a result of anthropological study (some allusions to "gods who plant trees on floating islands" and so forth have been found, however). And if Etruscans or other cultures left carved stones containing written records of some type, it follows that native American tribes should have learned at least some of the writing system and integrated it into their own culture. Aside from Barry Fell's assertions that Algonquin contains elements that bear a resemblance to Hebrew, what evidence exists to support this? The answer, to this writers' knowledge, is "little to none" -- leading to the conclusion that little or no such contact occurred. Some occasional travelers might have landed in North America from Europe or the Far East, but present evidence does not support widespread contact over long periods.

Supporters of Burrows Cave claim that certain academics are actively suppressing the "secret" that these ancient cultures had regular contact with native American tribes; they assert that scholars want to maintain an "orthodoxy," and refuse to re-write history texts or admit to their error. This is simply preposterous since such a discovery, properly documented and presented in the academic community, would be the cornerstone of any scholar's career - like Einstein and quantum theory, the sudden introduction of a radical new piece of supportable, well-researched material would guarantee a life's worth of grants and notoriety. So what possible motivation could so-called "mainstream scholarship" have for suppressing such a discovery, and how could it possibly be done in any case, since scholars are free to present their views in any forum they might choose?

From the above it can be inferred that diffusionists themselves are not a monolithic group. A short reading of diffusionist literature demonstrates a significant gulf separating the academics from those who support the theory on religious or other grounds.

Many archaeologists and other scholars have labeled Burrows Cave as an outrageous hoax, infuriating those diffusionists who feel it's a legitimate and important find. Some academics may be reacting in a very predictable, pedantic manner and rejecting outright a "find" that seems to invalidate a great deal of widely accepted historical data, but they are correct in being very skeptical of the site since it does represent an extraordinarily bizarre situation. As we noted earlier, why would we find a high concentration of these artifacts in only one location, when by all odds others should have turned up at numerous native American sites over the years? The situation is an unusual one and deserves to be handled with special attention. If the site's authenticity were established it would represent a staggering find with repercussions across numerous fields -- history, archaeology, anthropology, and others. But if it's a hoax then whoever perpetrated it deserves jail time and public censure for misleading those who long to find validation of their beliefs.

Thus, the subject of Burrows Cave involves two highly polarized camps. On one side are the academics, who may be rejecting the "artifacts" prematurely and without sufficient study. Ideally, someone in the archaeological community should conduct a valid, unbiased test excavation of the site--presuming its location is revealed by Burrows or someone else who possesses this information. Validation of the site is a relatively simple matter since faking the deposits and strata one would expect to find in such an area would require incredible expertise and a great deal of labor. Faking a number of carved stones is a relatively simple proposition (though such fakery is easy to expose through proper scientific study), but faking the context in which legitimate, ancient items would be found is a very different thing indeed.

On the other side are those few diffusionists who feel the Cave represents a treasure trove of artifacts proving their pet theories. They may be correct and the "scientific establishment" is ignoring a legitimate or valuable find; conversely it could also be argued that since these people have already decided to "believe" in their theory of ancient contact, their own biases may be causing them to accept the site's legitimacy without having conducted sufficient study.

Burrows cave may well be a hoax, and a reading of past interactions--such as his interaction with the Early Sites group, described above--involving Russell Burrows and the academic community supports this theory. Between roughly 1985 and 1995 numerous academics contacted Burrows to arrange for a viewing of the cave; in every instance he managed to find some reason to cancel their visit, set unacceptable conditions on their research, or otherwise prevent the sort of academic study that would have either confirmed or denied the authenticity of the site. On at least two known occasions professional archaeologists offered to conduct studies of the site on a volunteer basis; each time their request was denied. Burrows often blamed these changes on the owner of the property where the cave is said to be located, but as no one but Burrows had any contact with this landowner there is no way to know for certain. In 1986 an archaeologist (James P. Whittall) "...offered to inspect the cave and suggested guidelines for proper study. But his insistence on scientific rigor angered Burrows, who denied him further information about the location" (McGlone, et. al. 1993).

On at least two instances Burrows himself contacted the Illinois State Archaeologists' office to ask about appropriate measures when ancient burial sites and artifacts were discovered; on both occasions he asked for and received the necessary instructions and documents but made no further effort at registering the site with the state. Later he asserted that he avoided doing so because he thought the state would "steal" the $60 million in gold he claimed was concealed in the cave (Benedict, 1992).

To date, Russell Burrows is apparently the only person who has actually been inside the alleged cave. No one else has been allowed into it or given its location. The shadowy landowner's name is still unknown though many people have guessed at his identity. Some people have been taken to a wooded area and told that the cave is nearby, and at least one was shown an overhanging rock ledge purported to be close to the cave's mouth, but none have ever been inside the actual cave. The only evidence of its existence is Russell Burrows' testimony to that effect. Apparently one of Burrows' excuses for not taking people into the cave itself is that "Illinois has taken over the cave, and refused to to let me dig anymore, or I have to ask their permission to take anyone to see the cave without an appointment (of course when he is asked, he tells those asking, that the request was denied, as there is such tight security and personnel involvement to allow visitors)." (Benedict, 1992). This contradicts a letter from the Illinois State Archaeologists' Office, which stated that no one ever attempted to register the site.

The artifacts themselves are by all accounts ludicrous, obvious fakes created by someone who paged through various books, found likely-looking inscriptions, and copied them onto available pieces of stone. Many of the "rock art pieces" depict the same "lantern-jawed" profile of a human male, and numerous artists and archaeologists have noted that all appear to have been drawn by the same individual. Several pieces have been recognized as copies of known artifacts that have been depicted in various works over the years, and Barry Fell commented that the "Elephant stele" was an obvious copy of one he depicted in his book America BC. The forger even copied a mistake Dr. Fell made on the transcription in the first edition, which allows the forgery to be dated to sometime after 1976.

Many comments have been made, in fact, that numerous stones closely resemble other known examples of various art forms which have been found in various parts of the world. This, say supporters of the cave's authenticity, is evidence in their favor. However, an alternative interpretation of this similarity is that someone simply copied known inscriptions and images from readily-available books!

From a technical standpoint, several researchers commented upon the condition and material from which the "artifacts" had been made. One said "on close inspection of the artifacts it was determined that they were recently created as the stone they were made from showed geologic characteristics that only exist during a short span of time after being exposed to the atmosphere." This same researcher commented "...one other aspect of these stones that differs from the norm is the nodular nature and uneven shapes that were used for the art work. Normally art of this nature is found on well formed flat surfaces...and not soft shale. These stones also showed two textures and color differences that are indicative of fresh and not ancient buried artifacts" (Pyle, 1994). In yet another report, it is stated that "every professional archaeologist who has seen photos (or in the rare instance been allowed to examine actual artifacts) has judged them to be very modern and very crude fakes made by someone with no real knowledge of ancient cultural symbols" (Hayden, 1994).

Burrows once admitted that ten of the stones were forgeries created by a young relative of the landowner. This is extremely difficult to verify since the young man was killed before Burrows made this assertion, which was later retracted when it apparently became inconvenient. Jean Hunt, then president of the Louisiana Mounds Society, noted that in 1990 when this tale was fabricated, Burrows told her he was attempting to get it published "to get [Barry] Fell off his back." When he thought the information was about to be published he made a feeble attempt to have it retracted and when told it could not, he "laughed...and told me that the story of the stolen artifacts was a lie...he seemed to be enjoying himself immensely, laughing or chuckling throughout the call" (Hunt, ESOP V. 21. 1990).

As for those researchers who claim to have made successful translations of some of the inscriptions, at least one is highly suspect since the translator made free use of various alphabets and languages in constructing his results. Some characters were taken from Etruscan, others from Hebrew or another language. An academic who reviewed the translators' efforts commented that "if one is allowed to pick and choose the letters and their translations, and fill in the blanks with vowels of one's own choosing, then words can be composed to fit any story." (Chapman, 1995)

If the rest of the translations are similarly flawed, then Barry Fell's assertion that the stones were "nothing but gibberish" becomes all the more likely.

Another name which is strongly associated with the Cave is that of Dr. James Scherz, a retired engineer and surveyor who has written numerous articles in support of the Cave's authenticity. It should be noted that Scherz is (or was?) the president of a diffusionist group called The Ancient Earthworks Society; thus his support for the Cave may be somewhat biased for the reasons noted above.

First we hear of "Fred Rydholm," who apparently has been involved in some archaeological research in the past, apparently as an amateur, in association with Russell Burrows and James Scherz. He is also said to have produced an excellent 2-volume work on another topic unrelated to Burrows Cave.

"Zena Halpern" is cited as "a Hebrew scholar from New York." Another source says that she is "a scholar who CAN do good work" but has become a "true believer" regarding Burrows Cave and therefore refuses to believe any evidence contradicting her interpretation that it's legitimate.

The list continues. If the other names listed are also people of the same stripe, i.e. "believers" who have naturally come to accept the validity of the evidence, then the article is merely a smoke screen. It pretends to be a scholarly work while tossing out important-sounding terms and dropping lots of impressive-sounding names, but really says nothing much at all.

Soper claimed to have found his site by accident, upon viewing the debris an animal was excavating from its burrow. Russell Burrows claimed to have nearly fallen into the cave that now bears his name.

A New Twist (update 1/2002)

Recently a number of readers have requested information about a man named "Glenn Kimball" and his association with Burrows Cave. As this fellow's name had never before been seen in the context of this saga it seemed prudent to perform some additional research, which is still underway. However, the story so far is as follows.

"Glenn" Kimball's real name is Eldon W. Kimball; he may be a Mormon and he operates a Web site where he sells books, or at least photocopied works, relating to religious topics such as the "secret teachings of Jesus" and other apocryphal subjects. Since at least mid 2001 he has been posting messages on his discussion board regarding the "excavation" of a cave near the rumoured location of Burrows Cave; he claims to be in the process of performing site studies in preparation for the recovery of golden coffins, inscriptions relating to the Bible, and so forth. Kimball claims to have conducted GPR (Ground Penetrating RADAR) and other technical studies of the area in question. Some of the charts and other data from these studies are posted on one of Art Bell's Web sites since Kimball has been a frequent guest on Bell's show. However, as another researcher points out on his site, none of the charts show any sort of legend or distance scale, so we're presented with ambiguous data that could have been obtained anywhere. Without the chart certification data and scale indicators we have no idea what the images show, where they were taken, or even if they were obtained by a competent operator. See an off-site article for more information, as well as allegations (as yet uncorroborated) that the GPR and other sensing equipment was tampered with in order to cause it to produce spurious results.

At first it seemed Kimball represented a completely new, independent player who was trying to capitalize on the notoriety of the cave, possibly in order to promote his Christian-text sales efforts. However, recent postings on Kimball's e-mail list have revealed that the old triumvirate of Wayne May (publisher of The Ancient American magazine), Frank Collin, and Russell Burrows are involved in Kimball's efforts. This is extremely interesting, given the latter's statement that "In January, 1998, I was informed by the person now in charge of the property that my responsibility to what has become known as Burrows Cave had ended" (Burrows, 1998). If this is true, how has he suddenly become involved in this saga yet again?

Kimball himself is an interesting character. He uses the honorific "Dr." but does not specify in what field it was awarded . He also claims to have "taught at Southern Illinois University" in the 1976-78 timeframe. The personnel department at this institution was unable to find any record of Kimball's status as a faculty member; instead he was listed as a graduate teaching assistant in the Communcations department during the timeframe mentioned above. They were also unable to find any record of his having received a PhD or any other advanced degree.

Similarly, Kimball recently claimed he was in discussion with The Discovery Channel regarding "his" new TV series; in one message he claimed "we have met with [the channel] on Monday and shown them the pilot of my new series. It was so well received that they told us point blank they are sending us a package contract for our consideration" (Kimball, msg. of 25 Oct., 2001). When contacted about this, an individual working on the concept for the series in question replied:

"All I can say is that Glenn Kimball is exaggerating. We are developing a concept with a producer...[who]...is the same guy who put us in touch with Glenn to begin with and he put Glenn in the demo reel as the host. Glenn is not going to be the host. He may come in as an expert here and there, but he is not the host...I think we mentioned the show to Discovery (and only in passing) but at this point they have not expressed any level of interest." [identity withheld by request]

Another researcher who is familiar with Kimball's career commented on a portion of his resume':

"I can give you a concrete example of how Kimball inflates his (self-)importance:

Glenn was the keynote address speaker at the IUFO convention in 1999 in Laughlin, Nevada

"In reality, I was the keynote speaker at that conference (UFO Congress). Because I teach that Christ is an ancient mythical motif found in many pre-Christian cultures, Laurence Gardner, who was set to speak after me (I had replaced Sitchin, who couldn't make it), objected to my presence, and I was asked not to show up. I stepped down, and Gardner decided not to show anyway. I was replaced by Jordan Maxwell, who likewise teaches Christian mythology, and Gardner was replaced by Kimball, who likewise spreads pablum. He was very much a last-minute replacement, and followed Maxwell, who would then technically be considered the keynote speaker." (Acharya S., msg of 17 Aug, 2001).

The same person noted that many of Kimball's "hidden Christian documents" are known apocrypha -- texts of highly questionable authority and authenticity -- that are not accepted by the mainstream Church. Kimball often claims to have "found" these himself, when in reality most have been known, and known to be forgeries, for centuries.

If the rest of Kimball's credentials and alleged accomplishments are similarly exaggerated, it bodes ill for the future of his escapades with the Cave. That he may be a Mormon is even more revealing, since some members of the LSD church and other literalist or conservative Christian groups previously have tried to manufacture evidence to support the authenticity of claims regarding pre-Columbian Americans and "the lost tribes of Israel" (also recall Dr. Murray, mentioned above).

The roles of Burrows, Collin, and May in these recent developments are still under investigation, but some of the connections may become obvious since May is a Mormon.

As of January 2002 the Illinois State Museum had no record of any registered archaeological digs in the area of Richland County mentioned on Brian "Harry" Hubbard's site. The researcher who checked on the status of known sites in this area even commented "boy, it's awful flat in that vicinity, and hardly the place I'd expect to find any caves. I'm not aware of any limestone formations around there" (Klobuchar, 2002). Is the reported location incorrect? Is this yet another hoax?

Short Addendum (1/2003)

Little progress appears to have been made regarding the alleged cave since the 2002 update. A new page appeared on The Ancient American's site and "Glenn" Kimball continues to send updates to his readers, but none of the long-awaited spectacular discoveries have been announced; even if they were their accuracy and authenticity would be highly suspect. Indeed, a reading of the article at the URL above reveals that (at least as of late 2001) there was some heated debate over the location of the "real" cave and its ownership. Some of the "technical" people on the site allegedly tried to break into the "cave" and steal artifacts, or take over aspects of the project from May and Kimball.

The major problem with Burrows Cave is that the more one examines the story, the more hoax-like and fabricated it begins to sound. At first glance it sounds plausible--a hiker falls into a cave and finds a trove of potentially-important artifacts. Then we find that the artifacts appear Egyptian, Etruscan, Greek, Scandinavian, Roman, Vedic (from India/Pakistan), Hebrew, and so forth. The situation begins to sound suspicious since it's highly unlikely that all these cultures would've been interacting with the same native American tribes, much less at the same time, without leaving records of their own to tell the tale.

The situation is further complicated by the appearance of Frank Collin/Frank Joseph, a former neo-Nazi and convicted felon who's restyled himself in a new and more respectable mold. But loud alarms begin going off once murky relationships involving certain diffusionists, Mormons, and fundamentalists begin to emerge. Here we are presented with groups who desperately want to believe in extensive contact between native American tribes and various Old World cultures, for a variety of reasons, and who reject interpretations that fail to support this theory.

Worse still, these same groups label mainstream science as the "defenders of orthodoxy" who are attempting to "suppress" their new discoveries. These are the rantings of the pseudoscientist who believes in his own genius and that everyone else is simply misguided or wrong. One is reminded of UFOlogists who treat government denials as "proof of the conspiracy," or hawkers of perpetual-motion devices who claim their revolutionary breakthroughs are being ignored or "suppressed" by jealous scientists.

Burrows Cave may be a legitimate find or it may be an elaborate hoax; given the available data the latter conclusion seems far more likely. If it is the former, then it behooves its supporters to bring it more fully to the attention of mainstream archaeologists using the same channels and publications that are used for scholarly purposes; write and publish solidly researched articles, allow a legitimate archaeological survey of the site, and let the evidence stand on its own. If it is indeed a hoax, then the reason the location of the cave (if one even exists) is being kept secret becomes obvious--a close examination would reveal the lie.

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof. Until Burrows supporters allow proper studies to be done by competent and unbiased researchers, and until they are willing to accept legitimate criticism from scholars who find their evidence sketchy at best, their claims will remain relegated to the "junk science" file. Likewise, scientists and historians who have dismissed the site as a hoax would do well to publish at least one detailed refutation discussing all the available physical evidence to support their own viewpoint. A blithe dismissal of the site without publishing a readable, accessible refutation only provides additional fuel to support the views of those who accuse mainstream science of excessive orthodoxy and an inability to accommodate new ideas. But the burden of proof is firmly upon the supporters of the cave's authenticity since their extraordinary claim has, to this date, produced only sketchy evidence and a great deal of suspiciously evasive maneuvering. To echo the words of several academics, it's time for Burrows supporters to put up or shut up.