This letter from the Smithsonian’s Department of Anthropology is in response to your inquiry regarding the Book of Mormon.
 
The Smithsonian considers the Book of Mormon a religious document and not a scientific guide. The Smithsonian Institution has never used it in archaeological research and has found no archaeological evidence to support its claims.
 
You might wish to consult the following publications:
 
Coe, Michael D. and Rex Koontz.  Mexico.  5th rev. and expanded ed. Thames & Hudson, 2002. (A well-written, authoritative summary of Mexican archeology.)
 
Coe, Michael D. The Maya.  6th fully rev. ed. Thames & Hudson, 1999.  (A general summary of the archeology of the Maya.)
 
Coe, Michael D. and Richard A. Diehl. In the Land of the Olmecs. 2 vols. Univ. of Texas Press, 1980.
 
Fagan, Brian. Ancient North America: The Archaeology of a Continent. 3nd ed. Thames & Hudson, 2000.
 
________. Kingdoms of Gold, Kingdoms of Jade: The Americas Before Columbus.  Thames & Hudson, 1991.
 
Freidel, David, Linda Schele, and Joy Parker. Maya Cosmos: Three Thousand years on the Shaman’s Path.  1^st Quill ed. William Morrow & Co., 1995.
 
Hammond, Norman.  Ancient Maya Civilization.  Rutgers Univ. Press, 1982.
 
Hunter, Milton R. and Thomas S. Ferguson.  Ancient America and the Book of Mormon.  Kolob Book Co., 1950.  (The Mormon point of view is presented.)
 
Jennings, Jesse D. Prehistory of North America. 2nd ed. McGraw Hill, 1989. 
 
Jennings, Jesse, editor.  Vol. 1. Ancient North Americans. Vol. 2. Ancient South Americans.  W. H. Freeman, 1983.
 
Lamberg-Karlovsky, C. C. and Jeremy A. Sabloff.  Ancient Civilizations; The Near East and Mesoamerica. 2nd ed. Waveland Press, 1995.  (Chapter 4 discusses the first Mesoamerican civilization and its origin. Very readable.)
 
Larson, Stan. Quest for the Gold Plates: Thomas Stuart Ferguson’s Archaeological Search for The Book of Mormon. Freethinker Press, 1996.
 
Marcus, Joyce.  Mesoamerican Writing Systems: Propaganda, Myth, and History in Four Ancient Civilizations.  Princeton University Press, 1992.
 
Papers of the New World Archaeological Foundation. Brigham Young University, 1952-. (Published results of archeological investigations in Mesoamerica by the Foundation, supported by the Mormon Church.)
 
Riley, Carroll L. et al., editors. Man Across the Sea: Problems of Pre-Columbian Contacts.  Univ. of Texas Press, 197l.  (A collection of articles, mostly by well-qualified specialists, concerning transoceanic contacts.)
 
Sabloff, Jeremy A. The New Archaeology and the Ancient Maya. Scientific American Library, 1994.
 
Sabloff, Jeremy A. Cities of Ancient Mexico: Reconstructing a Lost World. Thames & Hudson, 1990.
 
Schele, Linda, and David Freidel.  A Forest of Kings: The Untold Story of the Ancient Maya. William Morrow & Co., 1992.
 
Schele, Linda. The Inscription on Stela 5 and Its Altar. Copán Mosaics Project, 1987.
 
Wauchope, Robert.  Lost Tribes and Sunken Continents. Univ. of Chicago Press, 1974.  (Chapter 4 covers Mormon theories, setting them in the context of other nonscientific schemes.  Author is a well-qualified specialist on Mexican archeology.)
 
Williams, Stephen.  Fantastic Archaeology:  The Wild Side of North American Prehistory. Univ. of Pennsylvania Press, 1991.  (See the chapter "Archaeology and Religion: Where Angels Fear to Tread.")
 
Thank you for your interest in the Smithsonian Institution.
 
Department of Anthropology
Smithsonian Institution
2004