In his 1973 essay, Coe argues that the Book of Mormon’s horses, chariots, crops, and metallurgy do not fit the archaeological record of pre-Columbian America. He places the narrative alongside nineteenth-century speculation about mound builders and argues that general cultural resemblances do not establish the specific peoples and events it describes.
- Michael D. Coe, “Mormons and Archaeology: An Outside View,” Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 8, no. 2 (1973): 40–48.
there is an inherent improbability in specific items that are mentioned in the Book of Mormon