Davenport Tablets

Record summary

The Davenport Tablets were inscribed objects associated with the Davenport Academy of Natural Sciences and publicized in the late 1870s as possible evidence of Old World contact with North America. They became entangled in disputes over excavation records, museum enthusiasm, and professional criticism, especially from scholars who considered them modern fabrications. The case is useful for comparing nineteenth-century epigraphy, mound archaeology, and institutional authentication practices. Researchers should establish which tablet, drawing, or inscription is being discussed because the group includes several objects with different documented histories.