[rameumptom]

Moroni sits down several times to "finish" his father's record. He first thinks he is finishing it in Moroni 8.

1 Behold I, Moroni, do finish the record of my father, Mormon. Behold, I have but few things to write, which things I have been commanded by my father.

He writes this around 400 AD, 15 years AFTER the battle at Cumorah. Sometime in that 15 year period, Mormon died. Whether it was soon after the battle, or long afterward, is immaterial. The point is, Moroni wandered for 15 years up to this point.

He states he has no plates to continue the record. So I assume he plans on ending it with Mormon 9.

Then, in Ether 1, he suddenly has at least 24 plates to write the Book of Ether abridgement. This must have been at a later date than his writing in Mormon 8-9.

In Moroni 1, he writes:

1 Now I, Moroni, after having made an end of abridging the account of the people of Jared, I had supposed not to have written more, but I have not as yet perished; and I make not myself known to the Lamanites lest they should destroy me.
2 For behold, their wars are exceedingly fierce among themselves; and because of their hatred they put to death every Nephite that will not deny the Christ.
3 And I, Moroni, will not deny the Christ; wherefore, I wander whithersoever I can for the safety of mine own life.
4 Wherefore, I write a few more things, contrary to that which I had supposed; for I had supposed not to have written any more; but I write a few more things, that perhaps they may be of worth unto my brethren, the Lamanites, in some future day, according to the will of the Lord.

This is obviously later than his writing of Ether, which must have taken him at least a few weeks to write, not including the time to obtain the ore to make the plates.

Here he states he has been in hiding, thinking he doesn't have the opportunity to write more, because he is constantly on the move. Yet, he finds a safe place where he can write his book. I suspect this was done in the New York area, circa 421, when he was finally ready to bury the plates.

Mormon 6:6 is suggestive that the hill Cumorah was where the vast record collection was hidden up. No where does it state that Moroni hid the plates in the same hill. Given the concept that Moroni was in Manti at one point, it doesn't make sense that he would travel back to New York, just to bury the plates. This is especially true, since those Nephites running to the south for safety were being caught and killed.

The original Cumorah was in Mesoamerica. Mormon died sometime between 385 and 400 AD, after the battle of Cumorah. Moroni wandered with just the plates given him by his father. He buried them in the New York hill Cumorah in 421 AD, after adding a few more items.