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 On Halloween Day, 2001, naturalist Christopher Nyerges was leading an excursion in the Angeles National Forest when he accidentally discovered an engraved rock.  He recognized the markings on the rock as a form of rock writing – ogam – that had died out in Europe by the 5^th century.  Intrigued by the possibility that the engraving was an authentic piece of evidence that travelers from afar had been to Southern California hundreds of years ago, Nyerges researched the rock for the next several years, soliciting the assistance of geologists, archaeologists, linguists, epigraphers, various academics, and local Indians.

By 2008, another rock inscribed with what appeared to be ogam was discovered at the same site, as well as numerous other rock features that are stereotypical of western European’s many ancient ceremonial sites, things such as dolmens, “sacrificial” rocks, standing stones, and more. 

Nyerges shares his painstaking research, step by step, with the reader, including those who support the site as evidence of the presence of ancient Europeans, as well as the commentary of those who believe Nyerges had a vivid imagination. It is left for the reader to decide.

The first large inscribed boulder was tentatively transliterated by Nyerges to read “Bel, Memory, Young Hero, son of, mother, buried, stone,” which would be translated as “To Bel (the god of that era), in the memory of the young hero, son of the mother, laid to rest with this stone.”  If Nyerges’ interpretation is correct, it suggests that a prominent figure died in the Angeles National Forest, and surviving members of the party inscribed the stone.  The second inscribed stone is more straight-forward, reading B-EA-N-EA in ogam, which readily translates as “Byanu,” one of the chief goddesses of the European pre-Christian religion of 2000+ years ago.

To his credit, Nyerges presents both sides of the issue in his fully-illustrated book.