Limited geography model

A limited geography model for the Book of Mormon is one of several theories by Latter Day Saint movement scholars that the book's narrative was a historical record of people in a limited geographical region, rather than of the entire Western Hemisphere as believed by some early Latter Day Saints.

These models, developed in an effort to reconcile claims in the Book of Mormon with archaeology and geography, have situated the book's events in South America, Mesoamerica, and the Great Lakes area. One popular LDS theory places the setting for the Book of Mormon in the vicinity of Mexico and Central America surrounding the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Others recognize a setting among the mound builders as the book's original setting. This North American setting has gained support from some notable members of the LDS community, including LDS filmmaker Keith Merrill. The mound builder setting parallels traditional settings of the Book of Mormon accepted during the 19th century, but is still a minority view in LDS academia.

These models have not changed the academic consensus outside the Latter Day Saint movement that the Book of Mormon is not an accurate description of ancient American history.

The limited geography models are the result of a growing school of thought among Latter Day Saint scholars that for the text of the Book of Mormon to realistically be interpreted as a historical document, the events described therein must be limited to an area of several hundred square miles. Proponents of these theories find support in the text of the Book of Mormon, as well as the interpretation and correlation of archeological findings. However, as with all archaeological interpretations of the Book of Mormon, most LDS researchers believe that nothing has yet been found to conclusively link the events of the book with any particular geographical location. There are significant challenges to the Central American setting, as the Hill Cumorah (in New York) and the remains of Zelph (the Naples Mound 8, in western Illinois) were found many thousands of miles away from Mesoamerica. Archaeological evidence supporting the Book of Mormon's "Mound-builder" literary setting is not interpreted by mainstream academia as proving the historicity or divinity of the work.

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