Review of R. Kent Crookston, Book of Mormon Ecology: What the Text Reveals about the Land and Lives of the Record Keepers (Provo, UT: Village Lane, 2020). 267 pages. $12.95 (paperback).

Abstract: As is well known, the Book of Mormon is a brief spiritual account from many centuries of Lehite and Jaredite peoples. Some of its authors mentioned that the book contains very little (not even 1%) of what happened, especially of non-spiritual matters. Nevertheless, from the tidbits of information found in the book, many have deduced or speculated on aspects of Nephite, Lamanite, and Jaredite life, including where the events took place. In Book of Mormon Ecology, R. Kent Crookston analyzes agricultural, ecological, and physical information in the Book of Mormon and proposes that its peoples lived in a Mediterranean climate, not in Mesoamerica. Seeds from Jerusalem growing well in America, seasons of grain and fruit, and east winds have good connections to Mediterranean climates. His analysis raises pertinent questions about Mesoamerican models. However, many conclusions have a weak basis or do not consider other evidence strongly correlated to a Mesoamerican setting, including ecological factors. For other details, reasonable explanations also fit a Mesoamerican model. A definitive post-oceanic locale of Book of Mormon peoples remains elusive and controversial because of meager non-spiritual information in the book, multiple plausible interpretations of non-spiritual words, and insufficient archaeological data throughout the Americas.





[Page 328]The location of Book of Mormon events has been of wide interest for many years. The locations of pre-oceanic-voyage events of the Lehite party are relatively uncontroversial. The general trip from Jerusalem to the Red Sea, along the eastern side of the Red Sea, inland across the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula, and then to the shore of the Arabian Sea, is well correlated with the Book of Mormon text.1 However, the American location of Book of Mormon events remains unknown.2

The post-voyage setting of the Book of Mormon, once thought settled as occurring in Mesoamerica, has now become hotly debated, as people parse the text, modern maps, Joseph Smith’s words, historical documents, and archaeological data for clues. Hindering the effort, ancient Book of Mormon place names were not retained into modern times (as occurred with many biblical locations), and the dearth of details in the book impedes a clear understanding of most aspects of the ancient people’s lives.14:28 ; Jacob 3:13 ; Words of Mormon 1:5; Helaman 3:14 –15; 3 Nephi 5:8, 26:6; Ether 1:5, 15:33 ).">3 The morsels of geographic information have enabled people to propose multiple locations. Mesoamerica has the most developed models, but locations in North America,