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HISTORY AND MISSION STATEMENT OF THE
The Heartland Research Group is a grassroots, boots-on-the-ground organization that believes that the historical narrative of the Book of Mormon took place in the Heartland of North America. The HRG is active in archaeological research and in the acquisition, restoration and display of ancient American artifacts. The HRG is currently preparing an ancient ship replica called the "Phoenicia" for display. The ships construction design is patterned after a shipwreck dating to 600 BC. The Phoenicia ship made modern voyages, first around Africa and then also from the Middle East to Florida in 2019 – proving that voyages around Africa or from Sidon to North America were feasible anciently.
Heartland Research Inc is a 501c3 private operating foundation for archaeological research and to complete preparations for the Phoenicia display. Current plans are for a museum large enough to house the Phoenicia ship and many other ancient artifacts and exhibits from North America. The location of the museum is planned to be in Zarahemla which is Lee County Iowa, near the Mississippi river and east of Nauvoo, Illinois.
Our activities are too many to list, but some recent major expeditions are listed below. Many of these expeditions are open-ended and we expect to continue research in these and other similar activities as time, resources, and volunteers become available. We have dozens of volunteers and hundreds of donors, large and small, but we need many more. Check out the websites listed below for details of Heartland Research Group projects. Our current project is is our biggest yet: to refurbish the Phoenicia ship for display.
- The Heartland Research Group: TheHeartlandResearchGroup.org
- Phoenicia ship website: Phoenicia.rocks
- Zarahemla website: Zarahemla.site
We invite you to support our efforts so we can complete these worthy goals!
If you have skills or knowledge to contribute to our research and discovery projects, please contact us directly to volunteer.
- What: Sonar scanning of Mississippi between Nauvoo and Keokuk. The purpose of the expedition was to discover a crossing route that ancient people could have taken.
- Who: Heartland Research Inc volunteers.
- Where: Between Keokuk and Nauvoo, Iowa.
- How: Private donations of money, time and equipment.
- What: Magnetic scanning of 221 acres of farmland near Montrose, Iowa. The purpose of the expedition was the discovery of fire-pits and other evidence of ancient occupation.
- Who: Members of the Heartland Research Inc, local farmers, volunteers, plus technicians from German company SYNSYS. Signs of habitation were found with magnetometery scanning and then C14 dating.
- Where: Near Montrose Iowa and between Montrose and Fort Madison Iowa.
- How: Large and small donations of money, time and equipment.
- What: A one week seminar in Fort Madison, Iowa with 25+ participants. Included visits to the Putnam museum in Davenport, Iowa. There were twelve presentations on the ancient history and written languages of the upper Mississippi.
- Who: Members of Heartland Research Inc plus presenters and interested attendees.
- Where: Fort Madison, Iowa.
- How: Private donations for space, time and lodging.
- What: Ground penetrating electrical resistivity scanning for building foundations using electrical resistivity equipment from LandVisor.
- Who: Members of Heartland Research Inc and volunteers.
- Where: Zarahemla in Lee County, Iowa.
- How: Private donations and ground support.
- What: Metal analysis for alloy content. Ancient arrow and spearhead found in Wisconsin stream of cast bronze.
- Who: Heartland Research Group
- Where: Sample found in Wisconsin stream by scuba diver.
- How: Private donations for lab analysis.
- What: High resolution LiDAR scanning by supporter Air Data Solutions of 34,000 acres in Lee County, Iowa and also part of Illinois. The focus was to create high quality digital maps showing the terrain of the land, especially in the foothill areas where large earthworks are found. Discovery of 5-10 miles of ancient earthworks from LiDAR using QGIS and ArcGIS visualization software.
- Who: Members of Heartland Research Inc plus AirData Solutions Inc.
- Where: Lee County, Iowa and also part of Illinois, covering the much of Nauvoo.
- How: Private donations for services, data processing, and analysis.
- What: Commence process of restoring the world's oldest ship replica from 600BC, which has circumnavigated Africa and crossed the Atlantic ocean from the Middle East to America.
- Who: Members of Heartland Research Inc plus volunteers.
- Where: Lee County, Iowa between Montrose and Fort Madison.
- How: Private donations for materials, space, and equipment plus donations in labor.
Mission StatementHeartland Research Group activities include:
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