America Unearthed
| America Unearthed | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Documentary |
| Presented by | Scott Wolter |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 39 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
|
| Camera setup | Multiple |
| Running time | 43 minutes |
| Production company | Committee Films |
| Original release | |
| Network | H2 |
| Release | December 21, 2012 – present |
America Unearthed is an American television series that was the first original series to air on the A&E Networks channel H2.[2] The show premiered on December 21, 2012, and is produced by Committee Films of Chaska, Minnesota.[3] The program is hosted by Minnesota-based forensic geologist Scott Wolter, who investigates mysteries and artifacts believed to reveal an alternative history of the North American continent before the United States.[4]
Predecessor
In September 2009, History Channel aired the two-hour special "Holy Grail in America", produced by Committee Films,[3][5] which follows Scott Wolter as he explores the idea that the Kensington Runestone is evidence that the Knights Templar sailed to America about one hundred years before Columbus's voyage.[5]
Reviewer Paul Mavis characterized "Holy Grail in America" as enjoyable pseudoscientific entertainment in the tradition of the 1970s television series In Search of…. Mavis noted that, "tellingly, the doc never presents any other geologists who have alternative theories about Wolter's findings" but concluded, "who cares if it's true or not? It's fun."[5]
Reception
America Unearthed began airing on the H2 network in December 2012[6] The first episode, "American Maya Secrets", aired on the supposed end of the Mayan calendar and deals with a possible Mayan village in Georgia.[7] The program was a success for the network, becoming "the #1 series of all time on H2" and was subsequently approved for a second season[8] with production starting in early 2013.[9] The series had an average of 765,000 viewers in early 2013 and surpassed one million viewers in January 2013.[2]
Episodes
Season 1 (2012–13)
| No. in series |
No. in season |
Title | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "American Maya Secrets" | December 21, 2012 | |
|
Wolter explores a government-restricted site in rural Georgia and believes it is connected to the ancient Mayans. | ||||
| 2 | 2 | "Medieval Desert Mystery" | December 28, 2012 | |
|
Wolter investigates a burial site in the mountains of Arizona and believes it may belong to a medieval Englishman. | ||||
| 3 | 3 | "Great Lakes Copper Heist" | January 4, 2013 | |
|
Wolter investigates the possibility that ancient copper mines in northern Michigan are possibly connected to the Minoan civilization and the Bronze Age. | ||||
| 4 | 4 | "Giants in Minnesota" | January 11, 2013 | |
|
Wolter visits a Minnesota farmer to investigate bones the farmer believes may be from a Norse giant. | ||||
| 5 | 5 | "A Deadly Sacrifice" | January 18, 2013 | |
|
Wolter investigates a large boulder from the Arkansas River inscribed with a bull symbol. | ||||
| 6 | 6 | "Stonehenge in America" | January 25, 2013 | |
|
The idea that America's Stonehenge is related to England's Stonehenge and that ancient Phoenicians are common to both, is investigated. | ||||
| 7 | 7 | "Mystery of Roanoke" | February 1, 2013 | |
|
Wolter examines a series of clues that have been largely ignored and considered frauds may be related to the Lost Colony of Roanoke. | ||||
| 8 | 8 | "Chamber Hunting" | February 8, 2013 | |
|
Wolter heads to rural Pennsylvania to investigate an underground stone chamber he thinks may have been a ritual bath chamber for a secret society. | ||||
| 9 | 9 | "Motive for Murder" | February 15, 2013 | |
|
Wolter investigates the death of Meriwether Lewis and questions Lewis's suicide. | ||||
| 10 | 10 | "The Desert Cross" | February 22, 2013 | |
|
Wolter and his son Grant investigate the Tucson artifacts, thirty-one lead objects including crosses, swords and other relics pulled from the desert in the 1920s. | ||||
| 11 | 11 | "Tracking The Templars" | March 1, 2013 | |
|
Wolter investigates the possibility that a symbol known as the "Hooked X" is unique to the Knights Templar and the Freemasons. Wolter went on to investigate the Narragansett Runestone which was stolen at the time. | ||||
| 12 | 12 | "America's Oldest Secret" | March 8, 2013 | |
|
The Newport Tower connection to Knights Templar who came to America centuries ago, is researched. | ||||
| 13 | 13 | "Hunt for the Holy Grail" | March 15, 2013 | |
|
A treasure hunter invites Wolter along on his quest to find the Holy Grail in a well on the property of a rumored Templar prince. | ||||
Season 2 (2013–14)
| No. in series |
No. in season |
Title | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | 1 | "Ark of the Covenant" | November 30, 2013 | |
|
Wolter investigates whether the Ark of the Covenant could be in America. | ||||
| 15 | 2 | "New World Order" | December 7, 2013 | |
|
Claims that the New World Order was behind the Denver International Airport and the Georgia Guidestones are investigated. | ||||
| 16 | 3 | "Great Wall of Texas" | December 14, 2013 | |
| 17 | 4 | "Vikings in America" | December 21, 2013 | |
|
Vikings are widely accepted to have come to Newfoundland in 1000 A.D. The show investigates claims that they may have ventured farther south to the land now known as the US. | ||||
| 18 | 5 | "Grand Canyon Treasure" | December 28, 2013 | |
|
The show investigates claims that in 1909, Egyptian treasure may have been discovered in a Grand Canyon cave. | ||||
| 19 | 6 | "Lost Tribe of Menehune" | January 4, 2014 | |
| 20 | 7 | "Secret Blueprint of America" | January 11, 2014 | |
|
The show investigates claims the Megalithic Yard was used in designing the layout of Washington, D.C. | ||||
| 21 | 8 | "The Underwater Pyramids" | January 18, 2014 | |
|
The show investigates pyramids believed to have been built in Lake Mills, Wisconsin and other parts of the midwestern US, and their claimed connections to the Aztecs. | ||||
| 22 | 9 | "Mystery of the Serpents" | January 25, 2014 | |
|
The Serpent Mound, the Mound Builders, Native America, Scotland and astronomy are discussed. | ||||
| 23 | 10 | "Lost Relics of the Bible" | February 1, 2014 | |
|
Ancient Hebrew writings and artifacts are investigated, including some that are claimed to pre-date Christopher Columbus arriving at America. | ||||
| 24 | 11 | "Swamp Mammoth" | February 8, 2014 | |
|
Ancient human remains and mammoth bones with carvings on them found in a bog in Florida are investigated as potential evidence for the Solutrean hypothesis. | ||||
| 25 | 12 | "Lincoln's Secret Assassins" | February 15, 2014 | |
|
The show investigates the idea that a secretive group known as the Knights of the Golden Circle funded and had other connections with Abraham Lincoln's assassin John Wilkes Booth and Booth's co-conspirators. It goes on to suggest that the Knights included among their membership some of the most prominent figures of the Civil War-era South and the possibility that the Knights evolved into the New World Order. | ||||
| 26 | 13 | "The Spearhead Conspiracy" | February 22, 2014 | |
|
After a spearhead bearing a resemblance to Mesoamerican artifacts is found in Maui, Scott Wolter investigates the possibility that this represents a connection between Polynesians and Pre-Columbian North America. | ||||
Season 3 (2014–15)
| No. in series |
No. in season |
Title | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 | 1 | "Secrets From the Alamo" | November 8, 2014 | |
|
Scott Wolter investigates the possibility that Davy Crockett may have survived the Battle of the Alamo, and reviews evidence in favor of this claim. | ||||
| 28 | 2 | "Guardians of Superstition Mountain" | November 15, 2014 | |
|
Scott Wolter searches for the possible location of the Lost Dutchman Gold Mine in the Superstition Mountains of Arizona. | ||||
| 29 | 3 | "The Appalachian Giant" | November 22, 2014 | |
| 30 | 4 | "Montezuma's Gold" | November 29, 2014 | |
| 31 | 5 | "Custer's Blood Treasure" | December 6, 2014 | |
| 32 | 6 | "Captain Kidd's Pirate Code" | December 13, 2014 | |
| 33 | 7 | "Marco Polo Discovers America" | December 20, 2014 | |
| 34 | 8 | "The Plot to Steal America" | December 27, 2014 | |
| 35 | 9 | "The Blood Stone" | January 3, 2015 | |
| 36 | 10 | "Egyptian Secrets of New York City" | January 10, 2015 | |
| 37 | 11 | "Tracking Bigfoot" | January 17, 2015 | |
| 38 | 12 | "The Templars' Deadliest Secret: The Chase" | January 24, 2015 | |
| 39 | 13 | "The Templars' Deadliest Secret: Evidence Exposed" | January 31, 2015 | |
References
- ^ "Splice Handles Post for America Unearthed". Splice Post Production. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
- ^ a b "H2 Network a Hit With Men". Ad Age Media News. Retrieved February 22, 2013.
- ^ a b "Unearthing America's Secret History". Chaska Herald. Retrieved February 22, 2013.
- ^ "Twin Cities Geologist Digs into Mysteries". Pioneer Press. Retrieved February 22, 2013.
- ^ a b c Mavis, Paul (March 18, 2010). "Holy Grail in America". DVD Talk. Retrieved February 5, 2014.
- ^ "Air Date Obtained from Online Episode List". History Channel. Retrieved February 5, 2013.
- ^ "History Channel program probes Mayan presence in north Georgia". Athens Banner Herald. Retrieved February 5, 2013.
- ^ "H2 Renews America Unearthed". TVbytheNumbers. Retrieved January 30, 2013.
- ^ "Renewal Round Up". Real Screen Online. Retrieved February 5, 2013.