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The Spirit Pond runestones are three stones with allegedly runic inscriptions, found at Spirit Pond in Phippsburg, Maine in 1971 by a Walter J. Elliott, Jr., a carpenter born in Bath, Maine. The stones, currently housed at the Maine State Museum, are widely dismissed as a hoax or a fraud.〔Snow, Dean R. (October/November 1981). ("Martians & Vikings, Maldoc & Runes" ). ''American Heritage Magazine'' 32(6). Archived from (the original ) on September 29, 2007.〕〔Haugen, Einar (1974). "The Rune Stones of Spirit Pond, Maine". ''The Journal of Typographical Research'' 8(1).〕 If authentic, they would be more evidence of pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact and Norse colonization of the Americas. ==Interpretation and authenticity== Unlike the prehistoric monumental runestones raised in Scandinavia, the Maine stones are small handheld objects similar to the authentic Kingittorsuaq Runestone found in Greenland in 1824. Of the three stones, one contains a total of 15 lines of 'text' on two sides. The ''map stone'' contains a map with some inscriptions. Paul H. Chapman proposes that the map depicts the landscape visible from the high White Mountain, the highest point in the vicinity of Spirit Pond,〔Chapman, Paul H. (July/September 2005). ("Where in North America did the Vikings settle?" ) ''The Ensign Message'' 7(3).〕 or the northern tip of Newfoundland.〔Chapman, Paul H. (1992). "An In-Depth Examination of the Spirit Pond Runestones". ''Epigraphic Society Occasional Papers'' 21. pp. 114-138.〕 The inscriptions contain several instances of the use of pentadic numerals in arabic placement. The number 1011 appearing on the inscription (represented as ''"011"'') has been interpreted as a date, leading to speculation that the stones are connected to the expedition of Thorfinn Karlsefni.〔''The Spirit Pond Runestones''. p. 13. 〕 Linguistic analysis, however, points to a later date. The first to study the stones scientifically was Harvard University professor Einar Haugen. In 1974, after transcribing, he found the individual runes used and the language of the inscription to be inconsistent with 11th century Old Norse. He also noted peculiarities relating the inscriptions directly to the Kensington Runestone inscription. Thus, he concluded that the inscriptions were most likely created after 1932.〔 Amateur researchers have been more sympathetic to a medieval origin of the stones. Suzanne Carlson of NEARA, a group of enthusiasts who believe there was a widespread Viking presence in North America, suggests a mid 14th century date for the inscriptions, although it is unclear how Carlson arrived at this date.〔Carlson, Suzanne. ("The Spirit Pond Stones and the Mysterious 'Facts' of their Fabrication" ). New England Antiquities Research Association.〕 Similarly, amateur rune-enthusiast Richard Nielsen claims a precise date of 1401.〔Nielsen, Richard (1993). "An Old Norse Translation of the Spirit Pond Runic Inscriptions of Maine". ''Epigraphic Society Occasional Papers'' 22(1). pp. 158-218.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Spirit Pond runestones」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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