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Most of What Pulitzer Said About the "Roman Sword" Last Night Was Total BS: Here's Why

1/11/2016

20 Comments

 
I'm working on prepping my class for tomorrow and doing other stuff this morning, but on the advice of a #Swordgate fan on Facebook, I just watched part of J. Hutton Pulitzer's latest video appearance (alternative link) It may be my last, as I presume he'll now block me from viewing them if there's a way to do that (if you didn't follow developments over the weekend, you might be interested in this post and this one about some of his websites becoming inaccessible).  

Amid the usual baloney (some of which was clearly directed at me, though he didn't mention me by name), Pulitzer provides a few details relevant to his information about and interpretation of the "Roman sword" that he claims will necessitate a "re-writing" of history.  I still haven't seen the actual sword that he has seen, of course, but I have one made from the same mold sitting in my office right now (the California sword). As shown by a hilt-to-hilt comparison, the four known brass/bronze swords floating around out there were clearly all cast from the same mold (or copied from one another). The great thing about the California sword is that it preserves details not visible on the Nova Scotia sword (or any of the other ones I've seen).  This means we can look at the California sword and evaluate Pulitzer's interpretation of the figure on the Nova Scotia sword.

If you didn't get it from the title of this post, he's wrong on just about every count.  It's laughable.

I've only got time to talk about a few of these today.  I'll call them Points 1, 2, and 3. 
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Point 1:  Pulitzer claims that gold is present on the Hercules' knees on the Nova Scotia sword. I would bet big money all that he's looking at is some shiny brass.  The knees are among the highest spots of the hilt, and they would experience the most wear (along with Hercules' beard and the lion skin framing his face) through handling. The little-worn California sword preserves more detail in the lion claws than is visible on the knees of the Nova Scotia sword, consistent with the idea that those high spots have been well worn.  I'd bet that all we're seeing is polished brass, not gold. I thought that the second I saw the image of the sword on Day 1 of Swordgate, and I still think it's probably true. What proof does Pulitzer have that those shiny spots are gold? I guess it would be embarrassing for the Commander of the world's best "professional treasure hunting" team to misidentify brass as gold, so I certainly hope he didn't just do that.  That would be a real bummer for such a person's credibility, it seems.

Point 2: A sea shell?  Pulitzer claims that the design between Hercules' legs represents a sea shell that symbolizes the Atlantic.  I suppose it could be a shell - who knows?  It seems more likely to me that it's just a floral design to fill the space. I'm not expert in Victorian design, but it wouldn't surprise me at all to such a motif on old wallpaper. Hell, it's got nine "branches" - maybe it's a symbol of the hydra. Update (1/11/2016): An alert reader just emailed me to explain that the the design is known as a "palmette" or "anthemion." 
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Point 3. Pulitzer says that the sword depicts Hercules standing astride the Pillars of Hercules (i.e., the Strait of Gibraltar, gateway between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic). He says all the bumps are "rocks" with the waters of the Atlantic flowing between Hercules' legs.  He's way off on this one.  What Hercules is actually standing on is a pair of animal figures: two animals facing outward with heads turned back toward Hercules, perhaps biting at his feet. Based on the similarity between the "folds" on the heads of these animals and how the mane is depicted in the lion skin that Hercules is wearing, I'm guessing these are lions.  The animals also have a lion-like tuft of hair at the ends of their tails, which I'm guessing that Pulitzer mistook as part of his "sea shell."

That's all I've got time for right now. I'll be scanning the California sword today as I work on other things -- I think it will have a lot more to tell us. 

Pulitzer would have been wise, I think, to purchase one of the modern Design Toscano swords before giving us his interpretation of the Nova Scotia sword. Even the Design Toscano sword, as crude a cast as it is, makes it evident that Pulitzer's claims about what is represented on these swords are a joke.
20 Comments
Gina Torresso
1/11/2016 09:49:01 am

Very good Points made, Andy.

I did notice, especially where the animal on the left is, looks like the Sphinx. Most likely the one on the right is the exact same animal.
Thank you Andy

Reply
James Lawrence
1/13/2016 06:15:51 am

One (possible) interesting point I discovered (as I spent a few minutes googling 'hercules and two lions' (assuming those are lions), is that the Andalusian Coat of Arms depicts Hercules with two lions. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coat_of_arms_of_Andalusia

Seville (Andalusia Spain) has a rather famous statue of Hercules and two lions (Hercules is the mythical founder of Spain). http://www.donfeidner.de/html/2_seville.html

It may very well point to an origin of the original sword (used for all these reproductions) in Spain (Seville/Andalusian region specifically) versus Naples/Italy.

Reply
Andy White
1/13/2016 06:19:40 am

Hey James - Thanks for that comment. That is surely something to look into. I've been wondering if the choice of two lions might be signficant, but hadn't found anything yet. As far as I know, Hercules only kills the one Nemean lion (the skin he's wearing). I think you've got a good lead!

James Lawrence
1/13/2016 06:46:07 am

Sorry - my original post should say Hercules is the mythical founder of Seville (not Spain) - apologies.

Andy White
1/13/2016 11:52:33 am

Thanks for the tip - great observation. I wrote this hoping the internet could work its magic: http://www.andywhiteanthropology.com/blog/could-the-swords-be-from-spain

robert
1/15/2016 03:26:55 am

i actually think this could be from a Viking shipwreck more then a Roman shipwreck. Better chance for the Vikings to have made it all the way around to Oak Island. and also it would be a lot more likely for them to have roman gear along for the ride. they pillaged most of Northern Europe before heading west to Vinland. and if i connect the dots...it leads to that coin they found in Maine also....

Peter Geuzen
1/11/2016 10:31:54 am

watchable here:

https://katch.me/HuttonPulitzer/v/16308983-a1fe-3ca2-9125-da0e45d6370f

Reply
Peter Geuzen
1/11/2016 10:49:43 am

Forgot to say per above - link for Explorer users; the article link is for other browsers

Reply
Traveller
1/11/2016 01:20:35 pm

If he blocks you just get a program called Private Internet Access to randomize your ip. Then you can even join his amazing broadcasts!

Reply
Peter Geuzen
1/11/2016 01:41:49 pm

The public viewable copies can't be blocked. Just don't sign-up to add comments live, because that would be blockable. Just watch them after they are done and get posted.

Reply
Andy White
1/11/2016 01:46:01 pm

You guys are leaving me with fewer and fewer excuses not to watch these things.

Peter Geuzen
1/11/2016 01:44:10 pm

So does the magnetic lodestone club in Hercs hands cause this thing to always miraculously spin out of your grip, or like ‘spin the bottle’ if you put it on a table it pinwheels around until it points north? Why does he not have video of this magical miracle? :)

Reply
Andy White
1/11/2016 01:45:21 pm

That will be covered fully in the "white paper," I'm sure.

Reply
Mike Jones
1/11/2016 02:12:43 pm

Hey Jovan, I know you've read this by now. Care to weigh in?

Reply
Mike Morgan
1/11/2016 02:33:43 pm

If this is a point you were planning on covering in a later post, please forgive me for jumping the gun.

I see at about 44:50 in the aforementioned video, he addresses part of "a magical quality built into the sword" stating, while pointing to the club on the hilt of the sword, "This is the club that Hercules always carried. In it, there is a load stone which makes it always point toward magnetic North." While that clears up the "magnetic qualities", it still leaves as a mystery it's ability to "point to TRUE NORTH" as he stated in this quote on your blog of 12/23/2015, "Not Only Is the Sword "Roman," It's "Magical," Too!", taken from his post of 12/22/2015, "How can a sword cut history?" at https://medium.com/@InvestigatingHistory.org/how-can-a-sword-cut-history-2b7cca649a49#.2s4vqqc5d "What is this special quality? The sword has an ancient ocean navigational device built into it which causes the sword to point true north. Such magnetic qualities are only found in authentic items of antiquity, not cast iron or manufactured stone replicas."

I am perplexed as to the process used to allow this heavy sword to point to the magnetic north. The magnetic pull would not be strong enough to move that heavy sword if one were just holding it or lying it on the ground or some other support surface. I guess one could support it from a leather thong? Or did one lay it on a board floating on still water? I suppose those methods could work on land, but on a ship rolling on the waves? After all, wasn't shipboard navigation it's primary purpose since "The sword has an ancient ocean navigational device built into it"?

Reply
Peter Geuzen
1/11/2016 07:51:59 pm

You have to wonder what the Lagina’s are thinking at this point. JHP confirms in the video that they own the sword, yet who is that is trying to ‘own’ the story? If something I owned was being exploited by somebody else for their websites, social media, news releases, and book covers, I think I would be a tad ticked off. Same goes for the show producers. The show is their hit, yet it is being blatantly exploited. On the other hand, if the Lagina’s and the producers have done their own due diligence and come to the same conclusion that seems pervasive now in the public eye, as reflected on the net, well then they might be having a good laugh. Bizarrely, JHP wants his followers to think and believe he is actually still part of the show. What would be even stranger is if he believed it himself, and he might even think he is still buddy buddy with everyone involved. In the last couple videos I have noted however that he has said “I don’t speak for the brothers” but he gets that out of the way real quick up front. We would all of course love to know more of what’s going on ‘behind the scenes’ because you have to wonder what contact or back and forth has happened, or might happen, regarding recent developments

Reply
Bobby B.
1/12/2016 09:06:19 pm

I've seen some sleuthing on a Curse of Oak Island forum, the person doing the sleuthing presents the idea that the show is staging reenactments of the Lagina brothers' past expeditions, which took place prior to 2013 when the show began filming. The lay out the case that the Laginas already did their digging, realized there is nothing buried there, and have now used the show to drive tourism to the island. The Laginas also have stakes in the Oak Island Tour Company. The evidence the sleuth turned up makes coincidental sense, but there is no smoking gun proof of their research.

Reply
Peter Geuzen
1/11/2016 07:57:15 pm

On another note, all attempts tonight to find any symbols for ancient Carthage or Phoenicia that suggests a palmette represents the Atlantic Ocean, have failed. Just sayin.

Reply
Darren Beck
1/13/2016 07:44:05 pm

the 2 animals at the bottom of his feet are griffins with their beaks resting on his feet looking up in a a sign of reverence, or at least that's what it appears to be to me, the image of them match quite a few early carvings and statues of the griffin, hope this helps.

Reply
Darren Beck
1/13/2016 08:09:48 pm

I would also like to add that the griffin was also known as the hound of Zeus, so it would make sense for them to be depicted under Hercules (the son of Zeus)

Reply



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