Did Ancient Phoenicians Sail Up the Susquehanna?

from Uncharted Lancaster · host Adam Zurn

Did ancient sailors cross the Atlantic long before Columbus? This episode explores one of the most controversial questions in American archaeology—the claim that Phoenicians reached North America in antiquity. At the center of the debate are the Susquehanna Stones, hundreds of carved ironstones discovered in Pennsylvania that some researchers argue bear archaic Semitic inscriptions pointing to a pre-Columbian presence in the Mid-Atlantic.The episode examines why these claims persist—and why most archaeologists remain unconvinced. We look at competing interpretations that attribute the markings to natural geological processes or modern fabrication, as well as related evidence often cited by proponents, including megalithic stone structures in New Hampshire and ancient Mediterranean coins reportedly found on Corvo Island. Rather than offering easy answers, this episode traces the decades-long tension between fringe theories and established scholarship—revealing how extraordinary claims, ambiguous evidence, and the desire to rewrite the past continue to collide in the study of American prehistory.Learn about other unique people and places like this when you step off the beaten path with Uncharted Lancaster: Field Guide to the Strange, Storied, and Hidden Places of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania by Adam Zurn. This one-of-a-kind 239-page guidebook uncovers 56 fascinating sites, from the county’s very own fountain of youth to the oldest continuously operating short-line railroad in the western hemisphere. Order your copy here.