Physical Proof for the Book of Mormon

[Thinking]

As it stands, it testifies of the reality of the account within 3rd Nephi.

As it stands it confirms the possibility of the account within 3rd Nephi.

[Brant Gardner]

I agree, ERayR, that one needs to consider all the evidence. This is why I asked if there was correlating evidence from other records/peoples, etc for this proposed proof. I'm not rejecting the evidence. I'm simply asking for more information to make a more informed decision.

One of the most difficult tasks in even approaching the question of the Book of Mormon in the ancient New World is the lack of texts. Are there contemporary records from other peoples during most of the Book of Mormon times that refer to Book of Mormon peoples? No. However, that isn't really as negative statement as it might appear. There aren't any records from other people at all, not even about themselves. We can learn about them by making educated guesses based on archaeology and iconography, and using a technique of taking information from later times and imputing things backwards. However, there are no texts of any kind, of any people. Now, truthfully, there are a few records that give a little information, but not a text.

The murals at San Bartolo are the first to show that there really was a tradition of texts by 100 BC. However, that location is not know to have any connection to the Book of Mormon, falls into what the Book of Mormon would have considered Lamanite territory, and cannot currently be read (it appears that the later Maya must have written in "Reformed Maya" ).

[Walden]

I was hoping for some golden plates. How is this physical proof?

Agreed, the title of this post intrigued me and I thought that it would point to some actual, physical, objective evidence of the Book of Mormon.

Trying to tie similarities between ancient american folklore/myth or oral history to the argument for "physical proof" supporting the BoM is weak, at best.