“Heartland as Hinterland: The Mesoamerican Core and North American Periphery of Book of Mormon Geography”

There is an impassioned battle going on in some circles between adherents of the so-called “Heartland” model of Book of Mormon geography (e.g., Wayne May, Jonathan Neville, and Rod Meldrum), on the one hand, and, on the other, advocates of a Mesoamerican setting (as its been set froth by such writers as John Sorenson, David Palmer, and John Clark).

I haven’t really been involved much in these clashes, even though I’m an unapologetic believer, unless and until convinced otherwise, in “limited geographical theories” placed in Mesoamerica.

Here’s a nice statement on the subject from Mark Wright, a deeply informed student of both the Book of Mormon and Mesoamerican archaeology.  (See his biography here.  He happens, as a matter of fact, to be down in Mesoamerica at this very moment.)  Dr. Wright delivered these remarks at FairMormon’s August 2013 annual meeting:

http://www.fairmormon.org/perspectives/fair-conferences/2013-fair-conference/2013-heartland-as-hinterland-the-mesoamerican-core-and-north-american-periphery-of-book-of-mormon-geography