KRS - Kehoe - A review.

I have just finished reading Alice Kehoe's new book, The Kensington
Runestone: Approaching a Research Question Holistically (Waveland
Press). Kehoe is an anthropologist at the University of Wisconsin,
Milwaukee, and it is from this field of science that she approaches the
question of the Kensington Runestone.
As an anthropologist, Kehoe notes that she is "accustomed to taking a
holistic view, encompassing data from archaeology, natural sciences,
history and human behavior" (p1). Later she contineues in a similar
vein: "[fellow anthropologist Guy] Gibbon and I, looking on as
anthropologists familiar with the philosophy of science... see, on one
hand, the intertia of mainstream science - the Runestone is a hoax
'everybody knows that' - and on the other hand, anomalies that press
upon the accepted position. The range of data and interpetations, from
geophysics to world history, calls for the anthropological perspective,
weaving together hard science and humanities." (p15).

This book is liable to be a dissapointment for those seeking in depth
analysis of specific contentious points regarding the Stone. Rather
than focusing intently on specifics, Kehoe steps back, looking at the
case from a broader perspective. It is from this persepective that
Kehoe finds the weight of evidence supports the claim that the
Kensington Runestone is authentic.

Much of the book is spent in summary of the history and agruments
regarding the Runestone. In this endeavor, Kehoe is both factual and
objective. What she adds to the discussion is an examination of the
reasoning behind some of the arguments. For instance, Kehoe notes that
the pro-authenticty philologist Robert Hall was a student of the
linguist Leonard Bloomfield, whose work concentrated on the phonetic
aspects of the science. Hall used this backround to present the KRS as
a document whose abberitions could be explained as a phonetic rendering
of the dialect used by the expedition, as opposed to the more formal
renderings of the literary record.

Kehoe also examines the historical record, and suggests that at that
time period, Sweden might be looking to establish fur trading on the
North American continent, beyond the control of the Hanse. The KRS
inscription may have been the result of a failed mission along those
lines.

Kehoe also believes that the reason it is difficult to accept the KRS
as authentic, is that it requires a major paradigm shift. "Dropping the
pardigm of a pristine New World outside of history until Columbus
sailed to the world's edge jolts the structure of beliefs taught to
Americans." (p86).
The Ingstad's discovery of the Norse site at L'Anse aux Meadows has
begun such a shift, and there is now an acceptance of early Norse in
the Canadian arctic. However, the KRS goes far beyond that acceptable
level in regards to the paradigm of non-contact between Europeans and
North America.

Kehoe finds the Kensington Runestone an interesting study of science vs
popular myth, and suggests that it presents a hypothesis which could
produce interesting new research and discoveries. This well written
and well researched book provides insight into the thought processes
behind the opinions. It is highly reccomended for anyone with an
intrest in the Runestone, but I would also reccomd it for those with an
intrest in the scientific process and the conflict that arises when
pardigms are assaulted.

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