This project asked a simple question: if you take the Book of Mormon at its word, treating its descriptions of geography, material culture, flora, fauna, technology, government, religion, and warfare as a coherent portrait of a real civilization, which place on earth does that portrait most resemble?
This is a verisimilitude question, not a historicity question. We are not asking whether the Book of Mormon is true. We are asking which proposed setting, if any, produces the fewest contradictions and the most structural matches when measured against what the text actually says. Seven models were tested against 81 criteria extracted from the text itself, scored on a 0-4 scale across 12 categories: Flora, Fauna, Metallurgy, Writing Systems, Weapons and Military, Economy, Government and Law, Religion and Temples, Transport, Demographics, Chronology, and Physical Geography.
The results are not close.
| Category | Max | Meso | Heart | Malay | Baja | Panama | Mex High | S. India |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A. Flora (1-8) | 32 | 13 | 10 | 17 | 2 | 10 | 13 | 23 |
| B. Fauna (9-18) | 40 | 8 | 5 | 22 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 34 |
| C. Metallurgy (19-27) | 36 | 3 | 3 | 24 | 0 | 12 | 3 | 34 |
| D. Writing (28-33) | 24 | 13 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 21 |
| E. Weapons/Military (34-42) | 36 | 25 | 14 | 23 | 6 | 13 | 25 | 36 |
| F. Economy (43-48) | 24 | 14 | 5 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 14 | 21 |
| G. Government (49-53) | 20 | 15 | 4 | 12 | 0 | 7 | 15 | 18 |
| H. Religion (54-58) | 20 | 15 | 3 | 13 | 0 | 3 | 15 | 20 |
| I. Transport (59-62) | 16 | 7 | 2 | 11 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 15 |
| J. Demographics (63-67) | 20 | 19 | 10 | 17 | 0 | 9 | 19 | 19 |
| K. Chronology (68-70) | 12 | 11 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 11 |
| L. Physical Geography (71-81) | 44 | 29 | 20 | 32 | 14 | 24 | 26 | 35 |
| TOTAL | 324 | 172 | 81 | 208 | 24 | 101 | 169 | 287 |
| Category | Meso | Heart | Malay | Baja | Panama | Mex High | S. India |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A. Flora | 41% | 31% | 53% | 6% | 31% | 41% | 72% |
| B. Fauna | 20% | 13% | 55% | 3% | 18% | 20% | 85% |
| C. Metallurgy | 8% | 8% | 67% | 0% | 33% | 8% | 94% |
| D. Writing | 54% | 0% | 50% | 0% | 0% | 54% | 88% |
| E. Weapons | 69% | 39% | 64% | 17% | 36% | 69% | 100% |
| F. Economy | 58% | 21% | 67% | 0% | 33% | 58% | 88% |
| G. Government | 75% | 20% | 60% | 0% | 35% | 75% | 90% |
| H. Religion | 75% | 15% | 65% | 0% | 15% | 75% | 100% |
| I. Transport | 44% | 13% | 69% | 6% | 25% | 44% | 94% |
| J. Demographics | 95% | 50% | 85% | 0% | 45% | 95% | 95% |
| K. Chronology | 92% | 42% | 75% | 0% | 33% | 92% | 92% |
| L. Physical Geography | 66% | 45% | 73% | 32% | 55% | 59% | 80% |
| OVERALL | 53% | 25% | 64% | 7% | 31% | 52% | 89% |
| Rank | Model | Score | Percentage | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South India / Taprobane | 287/324 | 89% | |
| 2 | Malay Peninsula (Wiang Sa) | 208/324 | 64% | |
| 3 | Mesoamerican (Limited Geography) | 172/324 | 53% | |
| 4 | Mexican Highland (Continental) | 169/324 | 52% | |
| 5 | Panama | 101/324 | 31% | |
| 6 | Heartland (North America) | 81/324 | 25% | |
| 7 | Baja California | 24/324 | 7% |
| Category | Winner | Score | Runner-Up | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A. Flora | South India | 72% | Malay | 53% |
| B. Fauna | South India | 85% | Malay | 55% |
| C. Metallurgy | South India | 94% | Malay | 67% |
| D. Writing | South India | 88% | Mesoamerican | 54% |
| E. Weapons/Military | South India | 100% | Mesoamerican / Mex High | 69% |
| F. Economy | South India | 88% | Malay | 67% |
| G. Government | South India | 90% | Mesoamerican / Mex High | 75% |
| H. Religion | South India | 100% | Mesoamerican / Mex High | 75% |
| I. Transport | South India | 94% | Malay | 69% |
| J. Demographics | South India / Meso / Mex High | 95% | Malay | 85% |
| K. Chronology | South India / Meso / Mex High | 92% | Malay | 75% |
| L. Physical Geography | South India | 80% | Malay (Wiang Sa) | 73% |
South India wins or ties for first in every single category. No other model wins any category outright.
The South India/Taprobane model scores 89% across 81 criteria. It achieves perfect scores in two categories (Weapons/Military and Religion), scores above 85% in eight of twelve categories, and never drops below 72%. Its weakest category is Flora (72%), followed by Physical Geography (80%). It leads in every category.
What makes this result striking is not just the aggregate score but the pattern. The BOM describes a very specific kind of civilization: one that works gold, silver, copper, iron, and steel; fights with swords, cimeters, and armor; rides chariots and builds ships; writes on metal plates; grows wheat, barley, and silk; raises horses, cattle, goats, elephants, and swine; builds temples and maintains competing religious traditions; operates a sophisticated monetary system with named denominations; and governs through kings, judges, and written law codes. That is not a generic ancient civilization. It is a particular technological and cultural package, and it maps onto ancient South India with a specificity that no other proposed geography approaches.