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Ancient Advanced Technology
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00:00:00Thank you
00:01:17We're here in Central America to search for ancient technology in Nicaragua and Costa Rica.
00:01:36We've seen some amazing ancient technology in Egypt and further evidence of ancient technology
00:01:42in Peru and Bolivia.
00:01:44We're here in Central America.
00:02:15I then decided we needed to investigate the many mysteries of Central America and the
00:02:22possible evidence for advanced ancient technology in that region.
00:02:28Our first stop was the capital of Costa Rica, San Jose.
00:02:34It was in San Jose that I was very curious about the giant stone balls that have been found
00:02:43in the southwestern part of Costa Rica.
00:02:46Many of these balls are huge, bigger than a car, and they've been moved to certain parks
00:02:55that are in San Jose where people can view these megalithic stone balls.
00:03:04I was really curious as to how these stone balls were made.
00:03:12My experiences with Christopher Dunn showed me that the ancients had some kind of power tools
00:03:21and engineering capabilities, much like we have today.
00:03:25And in fact, the machining of these perfectly spherical stone balls is something that is so difficult,
00:03:36it could really only be done with power tools.
00:03:42Despite the fact that these megalithic stone balls are found throughout Costa Rica,
00:03:49the various museums and publications give no idea of what the purpose was of these balls
00:03:56or even how they were constructed.
00:04:04This granite ball here at the National Museum in San Jose, Costa Rica is one of the better specimens.
00:04:12It's perfectly round.
00:04:15It's quite a large ball.
00:04:16It probably weighs several tons, possibly even up to 10 tons.
00:04:22It's been carved out of a very hard granite and an exquisite piece of megalithic architecture.
00:04:30But once again, the purpose of these balls and even how they were made remains a mystery to archaeologists.
00:04:44One of the theories on Atlantis is that Atlantis was, around 10,000 BC, a worldwide civilization, a maritime civilization.
00:04:57They left their capital city of Atlantis and in the ships went all over the world,
00:05:03going to the Americas, to Africa, to Europe, and to all continents.
00:05:09It's one of the mysteries of Atlantis is these giant stone balls.
00:05:17These giant granite balls are often associated with the Atlanteans.
00:05:22They're found on many continents, especially here in Central America.
00:05:28But these giant stone balls have been found in Malta.
00:05:31They've been found on remote islands such as Easter Island.
00:05:35There's an area of New Zealand that also has round stone balls like this.
00:05:43Another big question with these giant stone balls is what they were for.
00:05:49It's baffling to archaeologists why anyone would go through considerable effort, even if they had power tools, to make these
00:06:02giant stone balls.
00:06:04I mean, what is the point?
00:06:06Today, mainstream archaeologists are just grasping at straws for some kind of explanation.
00:06:16Their main explanation right now is that these giant stone balls, and some of them are relatively small, only the
00:06:25size of a basketball or a little bit bigger, while others are five, six feet in diameter, that they're some
00:06:34kind of ceremonial object.
00:06:35And they have found some of the smaller stone balls in tombs in Costa Rica.
00:06:42And it's like important chiefs or kings or shamans were buried with these stone balls, generally the small ones.
00:06:53But still, it doesn't really explain what these stone balls were for.
00:07:01It's my theory that these stone balls that are found in the tombs and burials of some of these important
00:07:12people in ancient Costa Rica, that they didn't know what these balls were for either.
00:07:20And that these balls are many, many thousands of years old.
00:07:24They're apparently washed up like by some tidal wave that hit the southwest coast of Costa Rica.
00:07:34And it literally washed these balls up into mountain jungle areas, onto one of the islands that's off the coast
00:07:43of Costa Rica.
00:07:46The ancient people of Costa Rica, who are then using these balls as some kind of ceremonial object, didn't actually
00:07:59build them or machine these balls.
00:08:01They're finding them in the jungle, thinking they're some kind of, you know, eggs of the gods or giant balls,
00:08:11stone balls of the gods.
00:08:13And then the small ones, just because they're some oddball important object, are buried with these chiefs.
00:08:20But they didn't make these balls. They were already there.
00:08:25So you have to ask yourself, who made these balls? And what was their function?
00:08:33This is something that we really haven't figured out.
00:08:36My idea is that these balls are from many thousands of years ago.
00:08:42The same people who were building at Tiahuanaco and at Cuzco and Ollantaytambo and Machu Picchu and other megalithic areas
00:08:53of Peru and Bolivia
00:08:55were a similar people as to those in Central America, including perhaps the Olmecs,
00:09:03who were building the colossal basalt heads and other giant megalithic artifacts that we can find there.
00:09:13And they, with their machine tools, and I believe the Olmecs had machining tools, as were used in Egypt, as
00:09:22were used in Peru and Bolivia and other areas of the world.
00:09:26And it was through this that they were making these giant stone balls. We still don't know exactly what they're
00:09:32for.
00:09:33Theories say that they were possible use by navigators and that by placing these stone balls in positions together,
00:09:45were showing like where islands were for people who were crossing the Pacific or crossing the Atlantic in trans-oceanic
00:09:55trading expeditions and things like that.
00:10:00So that's one idea, that these huge stone balls were all part of an elaborate map system.
00:10:08Perhaps, too, they were showing where stars were and constellations.
00:10:13In my mind, that's a pretty interesting theory. However, I don't think it explains the really, really large stone balls
00:10:22very well,
00:10:23because they are so huge and so heavy, and it would have been so difficult to make those.
00:10:31It seems like it would have been a lot of extra effort that would be quite unnecessary if you're just
00:10:38trying to create star maps and navigation maps with islands and things.
00:10:45You wouldn't need giant stone balls for that, in my mind.
00:10:50Today, these balls from the swamps of southwestern Costa Rica are scattered around the country.
00:10:57They're found in bank lawns and museums and even in private homes.
00:11:00They are now in private homes.
00:11:02They are now in public homes and wherever they are, they are free.
00:11:19They are free, they are free, they've been free and easy to have a right to work.
00:11:24They're free. You can also see some great stuff.
00:11:28They're free, they're free and easy to do for things.
00:11:30Now, hopefully there's a very but, at the moment of having a lot of coffee,
00:11:35We're deep in the jungles of central Costa Rica, the lost city of Guayaba.
00:11:40This is a city that was unknown to the archaeological world until 25 years ago.
00:12:13One of the great mysteries of Central America, especially the area around Costa Rica and Nicaragua,
00:12:20is that we have very little evidence of organized city-states, of planned communities.
00:12:31And yet, here in the central jungles of Costa Rica, we find exactly that.
00:13:12We see this wide road. We see these well-built platforms on either side.
00:13:20Yet, this amazing city was abandoned a few hundred years before the Spanish arrived.
00:13:26We don't know who the people were who built this city.
00:13:30We don't know where they went or why they abandoned this city.
00:13:34It's part of the mysteries of Costa Rica and Central America.
00:13:50We don't know where they came from.
00:13:53We don't know where they were, but they aren't.
00:13:58We don't know where they were.
00:14:04They just don't know where they came from.
00:14:05They got to be taken away from us.
00:14:08We don't know where they are.
00:14:11They actually came from us.
00:14:13The elderly was to be taken away from us...
00:14:44One of the problems with the search
00:14:46for ancient technology here in Central America is, as you can see, we're in a very dense
00:14:53rainforest. This makes it extremely difficult to preserve man-made articles, especially metals
00:15:01or artifacts made out of wood.
00:15:13So, let's go.
00:15:16So, let's go.
00:15:33One of the other interesting things that we discovered in Costa Rica is their use of tattooing
00:15:38and stamps. And in fact, the various Indians in Costa Rica had all sorts of fancy textiles
00:15:46and body painting, as well as tattooing with charcoal and part of their own blood.
00:15:54This was used, of course, in all the Pacific Islands. It was also used in Southeast Asia
00:16:01and in Arabia and among the Egyptians. And here, in a 1529 book that was written by
00:16:11Gonzalo Fernandez de Oveda, they talk about the type of tattooing that they were doing
00:16:17in Costa Rica. And he says here, all the Indians of Nicoya, and especially the leaders and their women,
00:16:24have their arms painted in that black paint that is made with their own blood
00:16:30and with charcoal, cutting and drawing first with blades from the flint.
00:16:38One of the other unusual ancient technology mysteries that we uncovered in Central America
00:16:44can also be found in this book, Sweat of the Sun and the Tears of the Moon,
00:16:49a book about gold and silver pre-Columbian art. Andre Americk was a Swiss Costa Rican who was fascinated by
00:17:02all of the gold and jewelry that was found in Costa Rica and Panama and Colombia, including the oddball gold
00:17:11airplanes and things. It's mainly about the gold work and jewelry from Colombia and Panama and from Costa Rica.
00:17:22And a curious thing is in this book. On page 94, they show a gold pendant found in Panama,
00:17:32thought to be several thousand years old, and it has a gem inlaid in it. It's about four and a
00:17:41half inches long,
00:17:43and it appears to be a zoomorphic
00:17:47pendant of some kind of heavy machinery. If you look at it, it has what looks like a backhoe
00:17:54coming out of the back. It's got blades in the back. In the front, it has a skid plate and
00:18:01other things.
00:18:02It appears to be really a monster that was really some kind of heavy machinery.
00:18:11In ancient times, to have electricity, to have iron and other very strong metals,
00:18:20this would naturally lead to power tools, to heavy machinery, and ultimately, even in a sense,
00:18:29to flight. It's interesting, with this pendant being made out of gold and an unknown gem in the center of
00:18:39it, is that gold is indestructible. All the gold that exists from ancient times still exists today,
00:18:49in the form of jewelry, in ingots, in coins of gold. Gold itself was very valuable to the ancients,
00:19:00and it can't be destroyed. It doesn't rust and oxidize like other metals. But there's a problem
00:19:06with gold. Gold is really too soft to work in machines and things. Gold can be used in electrical
00:19:13devices. But otherwise, it's best used just as jewelry.
00:19:20You know, there's a lot that you don't know about the banana. The banana is, in fact,
00:19:25a seedless fruit. A fruit that seems to be genetically engineered in remote antiquity
00:19:31to be a seedless plant, like a seedless grape or a seedless orange. Bananas exist all over the world,
00:19:38even on remote islands. Bananas are one of the few fruits that you can live completely on, with
00:19:46protein and carbohydrates and vitamins and other minerals. Bananas are the world's tallest grass,
00:19:54but grass is normally reproduced by seeds and by tubers in their roots. The banana, however,
00:20:03is unusual in that the banana is only able to reproduce through its roots and through shoots and tubers,
00:20:11not through the actual fruit itself. Therefore, there's an indication that sometime in remote
00:20:18antiquity, the banana was genetically engineered to be a seedless fruit. Perhaps it was engineered in
00:20:27what we like to call Atlantis.
00:20:47Welcome to Nicaragua!
00:20:58Have a chance for a child in my neighborhood,
00:21:01Tierra Tropical
00:21:06Corre, corre que a la vuelta es aquel cañameá
00:21:12Ahora vengo satisfecho porque a mi negre ves lado
00:21:20Largo el corazón desecho y me siento desmañado
00:21:24Tierra mía, Nicaragua, otra tierra no se iguala
00:21:28Porque sé que no hay nochera con mi tierra vinolera
00:21:57The next country north of Costa Rica is Nicaragua.
00:22:01And Americans don't know Nicaragua very well
00:22:04Because of the political upheavals that have been happening there for the last 20 years
00:22:09But I was very, very interested in some of the unusual megalithic statues
00:22:16That were found on Zapatera Island
00:22:20Which is an island in Lake Nicaragua
00:22:25A huge inland lake in that country
00:22:28And on that island have been found dozens of strange megalithic statues
00:22:37Carved into various unusual positions and motifs around them
00:22:45So we journeyed north over the border
00:22:52And went to Lake Nicaragua
00:22:56And from there we chartered a boat to take us to the remote island of Zapatera
00:23:13Lake Nicaragua is a huge lake the size of Puerto Rico
00:23:17In fact early Spanish explorers when they first arrived in Nicaragua
00:23:23Thought that Lake Nicaragua was part of the ocean
00:23:27And in fact Lake Nicaragua was probably part of the ocean at one time
00:23:32And that lake has the only fresh water sharks that are known
00:23:38And these sharks live in Lake Nicaragua
00:23:43And at one point that lake had to be a salt water lake
00:23:48That was connected to the ocean
00:23:50But over time it became a fresh water lake
00:23:52And the sharks over time adapted to the fresh water
00:23:59We decided to journey out to Zapatera Island
00:24:02And as we proceeded from the harbor
00:24:06We were going through a series of small little islands
00:24:11In fact there's 365 of these small islands
00:24:15And so we were protected
00:24:16But once we got out into the open water of Lake Nicaragua
00:24:21The weather suddenly turned bad
00:24:23We were pelted by rainstorms
00:24:28Big waves came up on the lake
00:24:31And we didn't realize just how dangerous this journey was going to be
00:24:36And in fact on that very same day
00:24:41Two American missionaries were lost on the lake
00:24:45In the storms that proceeded to pelt us
00:24:50And any other boats that were on the lake at the time
00:25:05It was here on Zapatera Island in Lake Nicaragua
00:25:09That the American archaeologist, Ephraim Squire
00:25:12Discovered in 1840
00:25:15Over 20 mysterious megalithic statues
00:25:23These statues are in a convent
00:25:26In the city of Granada on the shores of Lake Nicaragua
00:25:30Today these mysterious megalithic statues are unknown to the archaeologist
00:25:35And to the layperson alike
00:25:38They were found here on a point on the island
00:25:42This island is also a national park
00:25:45But it's rarely visited by visitors from any country
00:26:11This is what was known as the Point of the Figures
00:26:15On the island of Zapatera
00:26:18This is where Squire found the 26 or more megalithic statues
00:26:25Carved out of basalt
00:26:29Who brought these ancient statues here?
00:26:32What were they for?
00:26:34Were they part of an ancient funerary complex?
00:26:37A giant cemetery for the ancient kings of Nicaragua?
00:26:41Are they perhaps monuments to the ancient seafarers
00:26:45Who came on transatlantic voyages in search of the Pacific Ocean?
00:26:58These unusual megalithic stones are found in many places here on Zapatera Island
00:27:05This one's been split
00:27:07It in fact appears to be a section of what was perhaps a giant pillar
00:27:13That held up the ceiling of some kind of temple
00:27:18How old this is and exactly what kind of structure it was a part of is a mystery
00:27:26This basalt column has been carved with certain kinds of designs and engravings
00:27:33And basalt is extremely hard rock
00:27:36Quite difficult to carve
00:27:40Making construction of such an edifice all the more mysterious
00:27:45Nicaragua has had a tremendous history of earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and tidal waves
00:27:51Here's some evidence right here with this basalt pillar being split by an earthquake
00:27:58Probably was many times this size originally
00:28:01Holding up part of a ceiling of a giant building
00:28:04It too has crumbled
00:28:06And what's left of the ruins here on Zapatera
00:28:10Are just a few rocks and broken pillars like this one
00:28:26Now we've seen the mysterious sites here on the island of Zapatera where the statues were found
00:28:32So we'll go directly to the convent in Granada to really view these giant statues
00:28:51We're inside the San Francisco convent in Granada
00:28:54And this is where the monolithic basalt statues from the Zapatera island were all taken
00:29:02We find here inside this open-air museum over 26 very unusual, even strange, megalithic statues
00:29:16Most of them weighing several tons
00:29:19We have zoomorphic statues, anthropomorphic statues, and anthrozomorphic statues
00:29:26Those statues that combine human and animal elements together
00:29:31This is a typical anthrozomorphic statue
00:29:35Appears to be the body of a man
00:29:38He's clasping his hands at his chest
00:29:41But his head is like a jaguar, apparently
00:29:45Possibly the totem animal of this chief
00:29:56This statue is anthrozomorphic
00:29:59And in fact it appears to be some kind of a warrior
00:30:03Whose head is coming out of a crocodile head
00:30:10Possibly the kind of helmet that he wore into warfare
00:30:29This is an especially interesting statue
00:30:33It appears to be of a woman with some breasts
00:30:35She's wearing an unusual head ornament
00:30:38And down here near the base
00:30:41Is a very finely carved cross
00:30:46Very much thought of as a European symbol
00:30:49And in fact it's the symbol of the Red Cross today
00:31:04This basalt, Stella, is actually not a statue
00:31:08But some kind of a border marker or temple marker
00:31:16And it has carved into it some kind of serpent
00:31:22Perhaps a sea serpent or giant anaconda
00:31:27In many ways I find this very similar to the kind of stelas
00:31:32That we see around Lake Titicaca in Peru
00:31:49This curious anthrozomorphic statue
00:31:54It's only the top part of a broken statue
00:31:58Is a man here with what appears to be a dinosaur head on top of him
00:32:08As I look at this I find it very curious
00:32:12And I really can't see what other animal
00:32:16Except a dinosaur that this might possibly be
00:32:22Notice here, here's the man's head and his ear
00:32:26And here's the dinosaur head
00:32:29With the teeth here
00:32:31And the eye
00:32:32And the snout
00:32:34It really looks like some kind of dinosaur mask
00:32:42This piece is apparently one of the pillars
00:32:46That was holding up the temple on Zapaterra Island
00:32:49It's now been moved here to the convent of San Francisco in Granada
00:32:53You can actually see what's called tenons at the top
00:32:58For other pillar pieces to fit
00:33:01And this piece is especially unusual
00:33:04Because this stone has a dual purpose
00:33:09One purpose is as a section of a pillar to hold up a temple
00:33:15But it also has a metallic mold carved into it
00:33:21And this mold would have been used apparently for making axe heads
00:33:27Or even possibly keystone clamps
00:33:31And we see how molten metals would be poured into these hourglass shapes
00:33:39We see a channel for the metal to come through
00:33:42And pour a second axe head in hourglass shape
00:33:48It's clearly been used for some kind of metal manufacturing
00:33:58This itself is curious
00:34:00Because it indicates that one of the things that was going on
00:34:04Here on Lake Nicaragua and Zapaterra Island
00:34:08And on the mainland
00:34:09Was some kind of metallurgical industry
00:34:31Many of these statues here are in an unusual kneeling position
00:34:37Known as Quizuo
00:34:39We find this kneeling position
00:34:42Which is thought to be a symbol of respect for authority
00:34:48Here in Nicaragua
00:34:50We find it at statues at Tiahuanaco and Lake Titicaca
00:34:55We find a statue like this on Easter Island
00:34:58We find them in Egypt and in the Hittite cities
00:35:02And in fact all over the world
00:35:05This large basalt statue is anthropomorphic
00:35:10In that it's only of a man without any apparent animal qualities
00:35:18Probably weighs several tons
00:35:20And even though it's been defaced and extremely worn
00:35:25He appears to be wearing a turban
00:35:28Much as we see at Titicaca and Tiahuanaco
00:35:31And of course areas of the Middle East
00:35:45Each one of these monolithic basalt statues
00:35:50Represents a piece of the past
00:35:52If we could only understand the symbols
00:35:56And the meaning of each of these statues
00:35:58It would help us unravel the mysteries of Nicaragua
00:36:20One of the interesting things that they did here in Nicaragua
00:36:24Was the Birdman Festival
00:36:28Where natives got up on these long poles
00:36:32With spinning ropes
00:36:35And then spun around the pole
00:36:38Like a big maypole birdman flying festival
00:36:42This same unusual ritual
00:36:46Also takes place in northeast Mexico
00:36:50At the ruins of Tajin
00:36:54There's many similarities here in Nicaragua
00:36:58With the discovery of the Olmec civilization in Mexico
00:37:03During the 1940s
00:37:06Both here in Nicaragua
00:37:08And with the Olmecs in Mexico
00:37:10Many of these giant heads and basalt statues
00:37:14Were just found buried in swamps and jungles
00:37:24In both Nicaragua and Costa Rica
00:37:27There were many fine examples of ceramics
00:37:31Exquisite polychrome pottery
00:37:35Done in zoomorphic figurines
00:37:39Of crocodiles, jaguars
00:37:44Anthrozoomorphic animal man figures
00:37:47Some of the finest ceramics that we find in the world
00:37:51One of the mysteries of Central America
00:37:54Is that the Mayans and the Mixtechs
00:37:57And the Zapotechs
00:37:59Were farther north
00:38:01And it's not really believed that
00:38:03They had much contact with Nicaragua and Costa Rica
00:38:08Similarly, the Incas
00:38:10And other South American cultures
00:38:13Were farther to the south
00:38:15So we have in Nicaragua and Costa Rica
00:38:18Something of a null zone
00:38:22Here at the southern part of North America
00:38:25That's not really definitely connected
00:38:28To any of the known civilizations
00:38:31That we're aware of
00:39:18So we've chartered this boat here with Don Ramon
00:39:21And we're about to head out through the basalt islands
00:39:26That are here along the edge of Lake Nicaragua
00:39:29Amigos
00:39:30Amigos
00:39:31Gracias
00:39:40All along the edge of Lake Nicaragua near Granada
00:39:46Are all of these basalt islands
00:39:49Today people are building houses on some of these islands
00:39:53They appear to be artificial in fact
00:39:57Although it's been thought for many years
00:40:00That they're natural islands
00:40:01However, on the remote Pacific island of Anapay
00:40:06There was also an island city like this
00:40:10Known as Nan Madal
00:40:11And it has over a hundred artificial islands
00:40:15Just like this
00:40:16Made out of basalt
00:40:43As we move by boat through these basalt islands here along Lake Nicaragua
00:40:50We've discovered something that we think is very important
00:40:52It looks like some of these islands are in fact artificial and have pyramids on them
00:40:57In fact, one of the islands appears to be this one straight ahead of us
00:41:01We're going to land here and investigate what appears to be a giant basalt pyramid
00:41:13We're landing on the artificial island with the pyramid that we've discovered
00:41:17Everything about this unusual place seems to be that this is some ancient pyramid on this island
00:41:24Giant blocks of basalt stacked up
00:41:35What we see here on this island is rocks piled up
00:41:39You see certain levels of terracing
00:41:43Very large basalt blocks
00:41:49Seems incredible to me that they're just here naturally
00:41:52They appear to have been piled up
00:41:54But it's difficult to tell
00:42:07Here on this pyramid island that we've found on the edge of Lake Nicaragua
00:42:13Are big walls with huge basalt stones
00:42:19Some of these are definitely weighing several tons
00:42:24There's no cement or really indication of modern building here
00:42:29But this is clearly man-made
00:42:33We don't know how old this is
00:42:36But someone has put in a lot of effort
00:42:39To build these walls that seem to be part of this pyramid island
00:42:47Exactly how old this is
00:42:49Whether it's only 50 years old or 5,000
00:42:53We just don't know
00:43:00Our next stop was the Gulf area of Mexico
00:43:03The area around Villa Jamosa and Veracruz and Jalapa
00:43:09This area is the heartland of the mysterious Olmecs
00:43:15The Olmecs are one of the most baffling of Central America's cultures
00:43:21And probably the oldest
00:43:24Archaeologists now trace the Olmecs back to at least 1,300 BC
00:43:33The Olmecs are known for their colossal heads
00:43:37These are 20 ton basalt giant heads
00:43:44That are carved from one of the hardest rocks known
00:43:48The carving is extremely fine
00:43:51It appears to be machined
00:43:55And that some kind of power tools were used on these basalt heads
00:44:03How they were transported and brought to various areas
00:44:09Around the Gulf of Mexico
00:44:10And Mexico is a mystery
00:44:12And similarly
00:44:14Like the giant stone balls of Costa Rica
00:44:18It's not really known what the purpose of these giant heads was
00:44:22And what they were doing with them
00:44:24It's presumed that they were somehow
00:44:26The kings
00:44:28The chiefs of the Olmecs
00:44:39Here we are in Jalapa, Mexico
00:44:42In the state of Veracruz
00:44:44Near the Gulf Coast
00:44:46It's here in this museum
00:44:47That some of the finest Olmecs statues can be found
00:44:51The Olmecs are thought to be the mother culture
00:44:54Of all of Mesoamerica
00:44:56But they are the most mysterious
00:44:58Of all of Mexico's many civilizations
00:45:21In the early 1940s
00:45:24University of California
00:45:25Archaeologist Matthew Sterling
00:45:27Discovered over five colossal Olmec heads
00:45:31Made out of granite
00:45:33The largest weighing over 24 tons
00:45:38It's a mystery
00:45:39How the Olmecs were able to move
00:45:41These giant heads and other statues
00:45:44Over a hundred kilometers
00:45:46From the quarry
00:45:47To their pyramid city at La Venta
00:45:49Archaeologists assume
00:45:51That the Olmecs didn't know
00:45:53About the wheel
00:45:55The Olmecs are really
00:45:57A recent discovery
00:45:59To archaeologists
00:46:01Prior really
00:46:03To 1940
00:46:06Archaeologists and historians
00:46:08Did not recognize the Olmecs
00:46:10And that they existed
00:46:11Certain
00:46:14Art
00:46:15That was coming out of Mexico
00:46:18It was noticed to be very unusual
00:46:21And in the 1930s
00:46:24The Smithsonian Institution
00:46:26And the Museum of the American Indian
00:46:30In New York
00:46:30They started realizing
00:46:33That some of the artifacts
00:46:37That they were getting
00:46:38Were not Mayan
00:46:40And couldn't be
00:46:42Ascribed to any of the known
00:46:44Cultures in Mexico
00:46:46Then in 1940
00:46:48A huge archaeological conference
00:46:53Was held in Mexico City
00:46:55And in that conference
00:46:57Mexican archaeologists
00:47:00And American archaeologists
00:47:01Presented evidence
00:47:03To archaeologists from all over the world
00:47:05That there was
00:47:06An older culture
00:47:09Than the Maya
00:47:10And this culture
00:47:13They called the Olmecs
00:47:14Or the rubber people
00:47:17And in that conference
00:47:20They claimed that
00:47:22The Olmecs were the oldest
00:47:23Of all the cultures
00:47:25In Mesoamerica
00:47:27And that the Mayans
00:47:30And the Zapotecs
00:47:31And Mixtecs
00:47:32Were all coming
00:47:34Ultimately
00:47:35From this older culture
00:47:36Which they then called
00:47:38The Olmecs
00:47:39So many questions remain
00:47:42About the Olmecs
00:47:43Who were they?
00:47:45Were they from Africa?
00:47:46From Egypt?
00:47:47From Atlantis?
00:47:49We know that the Olmecs
00:47:51Are over 3,000 years old
00:47:55But what were they doing here?
00:47:57Why were they carving
00:47:58These giant heads?
00:48:01Why did they move them?
00:48:03What happened to them?
00:48:04These are some of the
00:48:06Greatest mysteries of history
00:48:14This Olmec altar
00:48:16Is from around 1200 BC
00:48:18According to archaeologists
00:48:20It's also carved out of basalt
00:48:22And shows a man
00:48:23Emerging
00:48:24From a cave
00:48:25Possibly the creation cave
00:48:29We can see here
00:48:30How it was buried
00:48:31And has been
00:48:32Almost completely eroded
00:48:34Over time
00:48:37In my book
00:48:38The mystery of the Olmecs
00:48:40I discuss
00:48:41I discuss much of the history
00:48:43And how many of the
00:48:45Giant statues were found
00:48:48In fact
00:48:49One of the most famous
00:48:51Olmecs statues
00:48:52Which was discovered in 1945
00:48:55At San Lorenzo
00:48:57Which is near to Veracruz
00:49:00Along the Gulf Coast of Mexico
00:49:02This giant basalt head
00:49:06Was completely buried
00:49:08In the ground
00:49:09As were almost all
00:49:11Of these huge heads
00:49:12And people were walking over it
00:49:15And a trail
00:49:16Happened to just pass over the forehead
00:49:18Of this giant buried head
00:49:22And eventually archaeologists
00:49:25Realized that yeah
00:49:26This rock
00:49:27That was just exposed
00:49:29On this trail
00:49:30Was part of this huge
00:49:32And beautifully carved
00:49:36Olmec head
00:49:37And of course
00:49:38Like many of the
00:49:39Giant Olmec heads
00:49:41It looks very African
00:49:44When we look at the heads
00:49:46We see
00:49:46That not only are they colossal
00:49:49Weighing many tons
00:49:50But the facial features
00:49:52Seem to not be
00:49:54American Indian
00:49:55But more African
00:49:57With the wide nose
00:49:59The thick lips
00:50:02They're wearing some kind
00:50:04Of leather helmet
00:50:05To have the stern expressions
00:50:08Of warriors
00:50:10Many Olmec statues
00:50:11Have a trademark
00:50:12Frown on their face
00:50:16All of these features
00:50:18Puzzle archaeologists
00:50:20And it's one of the mysteries
00:50:22Of the Olmecs
00:50:23They appear to be
00:50:24Negroes from Africa
00:50:26Many of them
00:50:27Have thick beards
00:50:28And mustaches
00:50:29And appear to be
00:50:30Caucasians
00:50:31From the eastern Mediterranean
00:50:33Other Olmecs
00:50:34Seem very oriental
00:50:36And Chinese
00:50:37In their look
00:50:38Is it possible
00:50:40That thousands of years ago
00:50:42In southern Mexico
00:50:43And Guatemala
00:50:44And Honduras
00:50:46That this area
00:50:48Was some kind
00:50:49Of trading zone
00:50:52Where ships
00:50:53And seafarers
00:50:54Came across the Atlantic
00:50:55Across the Pacific
00:50:57Meeting in Central America
00:50:59And this early culture
00:51:01Is known today
00:51:03As the Olmecs
00:51:04With some of these
00:51:06Colossal heads
00:51:06With some of these
00:51:07They are intricately
00:51:09Carved out of basalt
00:51:12Which is extremely hard stone
00:51:15And carving these basalt heads
00:51:19In my mind
00:51:20Would have required
00:51:21Some pretty advanced technology
00:51:25And tools
00:51:26Including, I think
00:51:27Power tools
00:51:28In fact
00:51:29One of the
00:51:30Colossal heads
00:51:31From San Lorenzo
00:51:33Was very interesting
00:51:36And unique
00:51:37Because
00:51:39It was a 20 ton
00:51:41Basalt head
00:51:42But
00:51:45Along parts of the top
00:51:47Of the helmet
00:51:48Are all these
00:51:49Strange pockmarks
00:51:50And circular grooves
00:51:53In it
00:51:54And in fact
00:51:55Archaeologists
00:51:56Have wondered
00:51:58About these strange
00:52:00Pockmarks
00:52:02In this
00:52:02On this head
00:52:03Because it's like
00:52:04After it had been
00:52:07Carved
00:52:08As a complete stone head
00:52:10Someone then
00:52:11Took
00:52:12What was
00:52:13A power tool
00:52:15And was
00:52:17Basically
00:52:18Dishing out
00:52:19Parts
00:52:20Of the head
00:52:21With this power tool
00:52:23In an
00:52:24Like an effort
00:52:24To deface it
00:52:25And this has
00:52:27Baffled archaeologists
00:52:28For a number of reasons
00:52:30One
00:52:30They don't know
00:52:32Why someone
00:52:33Would try to
00:52:34Deface this
00:52:35Basalt head
00:52:35With these pockmarks
00:52:37And
00:52:38They can't figure out
00:52:39How these marks
00:52:40Would have been
00:52:41Made on the head
00:52:42Because
00:52:43In their mind
00:52:45The Olmecs
00:52:46Were primitive people
00:52:47They didn't
00:52:48Have knowledge
00:52:49Of the wheel
00:52:49Of course
00:52:50They didn't have
00:52:51Power tools
00:52:51But how they could
00:52:53Have bashed out
00:52:54These little
00:52:55Circular pockmarks
00:52:57They can't figure out
00:52:59And in fact
00:53:00They have
00:53:01All of the indications
00:53:02Of being
00:53:04Some kind of
00:53:05A power tool
00:53:06That was
00:53:07Dishing out
00:53:07These little
00:53:08Circular holes
00:53:09On this basalt head
00:53:26The Olmecs
00:53:26The Olmecs were also known
00:53:27For cranial deformation
00:53:30They were
00:53:31As
00:53:33You know
00:53:33I sometimes call them
00:53:34Cone heads
00:53:35And
00:53:36Like in South America
00:53:38And
00:53:40Other areas of the world
00:53:41Like Malta
00:53:42The Kurds
00:53:43The
00:53:44Otanists
00:53:45In Egypt
00:53:46Like Akhenaten
00:53:47And Nefertiti
00:53:48And
00:53:49Their children
00:53:50All
00:53:51Also had
00:53:52Elongated
00:53:53Craniums
00:53:54This was
00:53:55Done
00:53:56Also
00:53:56Apparently
00:53:57In ancient China
00:53:58It was done
00:53:58On remote
00:53:59Pacific islands
00:54:00Like Vanuatu
00:54:02And
00:54:03The
00:54:04Olmecs
00:54:05Are
00:54:05Particularly
00:54:06Well known
00:54:07For
00:54:08Having
00:54:09These
00:54:10Deformed
00:54:11Cranium
00:54:13What the purpose of that was
00:54:15We don't know
00:54:16Some of these people
00:54:17Had
00:54:20Crania
00:54:21That was
00:54:21Twice the size
00:54:23Of
00:54:24Our own
00:54:26Heads
00:54:26How
00:54:27Were they
00:54:28Doing this
00:54:29And
00:54:29One of the ways
00:54:30Apparently they did it
00:54:31Was they
00:54:32Took
00:54:32A
00:54:34Baby's head
00:54:36And
00:54:39The plates in your head
00:54:40Haven't
00:54:42Fused yet
00:54:43When you're
00:54:44A small baby
00:54:44And
00:54:45By
00:54:45Binding the head
00:54:47You're able to
00:54:49Elongate the skull
00:54:51And
00:54:51Essentially
00:54:52Deform it
00:54:53Some of these people
00:54:54Had their heads
00:54:55Flattened
00:54:56And
00:54:57Looked
00:54:58Very wide
00:55:00Others
00:55:01Had
00:55:01Their heads
00:55:02Extremely
00:55:03Elongated
00:55:04So that
00:55:05They were narrow
00:55:05And came to a top
00:55:07As a
00:55:08Cone head
00:55:09We don't know why
00:55:11People did this
00:55:12But it was a practice
00:55:14Used
00:55:14Throughout the world
00:55:16And it's quite unusual
00:55:17Just
00:55:20Cranial deformation
00:55:21In itself
00:55:22Is
00:55:23In
00:55:23Some
00:55:24Way
00:55:25Evidence
00:55:26For
00:55:27Ocean going
00:55:28Travel
00:55:29Trans-Pacific
00:55:31Trans-Atlantic
00:55:33Kind of
00:55:33Voyagers
00:55:34The
00:55:36Idea
00:55:36That
00:55:37People
00:55:38In
00:55:38Africa
00:55:39And
00:55:40The
00:55:40Middle East
00:55:41And
00:55:41China
00:55:42And
00:55:42Remote
00:55:42Pacific
00:55:42Islands
00:55:43In
00:55:43Mexico
00:55:44And
00:55:44South America
00:55:45Even
00:55:46The
00:55:46Chinook Indians
00:55:47All did this
00:55:49Separately
00:55:50And
00:55:51Invented it
00:55:53Separately
00:55:56Doesn't seem
00:55:57Right
00:55:57I mean
00:55:58This is something
00:55:59That
00:55:59People
00:55:59Had to learn
00:56:01Culturally
00:56:02And
00:56:03Is
00:56:04To say the least
00:56:06Highly unusual
00:56:07Notice here
00:56:09On this Olmec statue
00:56:11He's wearing
00:56:12A topknot
00:56:14On his head
00:56:15Which may have been
00:56:16The way he wore
00:56:17His hair
00:56:18We find this curious
00:56:20Topknot
00:56:21On the head
00:56:22Is also found
00:56:24In the statues
00:56:25Of Easter Island
00:56:27One of the really
00:56:29Strange
00:56:29Statues
00:56:31In the museum
00:56:33Is the statue
00:56:34That
00:56:35Looks
00:56:36Very Egyptian
00:56:36Notice that he's
00:56:38Apparently wearing
00:56:38The false
00:56:40Beard
00:56:40That we associate
00:56:41So much
00:56:42With the pharaohs
00:56:46Other parts of his head
00:56:48To
00:56:49Seem to be
00:56:50Egyptian
00:56:51Type
00:56:52Pharaonic
00:56:53Headdress
00:56:53That he's wearing
00:57:01He's wearing
00:57:01Looking at this sculpture
00:57:02You might think
00:57:03You were in a museum
00:57:04In Cairo, Egypt
00:57:06Notice here again
00:57:07That
00:57:07How his hands
00:57:09And
00:57:10Are on his knees
00:57:11This is known
00:57:11As the Quizuo
00:57:12Position
00:57:14He's wearing
00:57:15An unusual headdress
00:57:16With the
00:57:17With the ball
00:57:18In front
00:57:19It's possible
00:57:19That there was
00:57:20A snake here too
00:57:21This also would have
00:57:22Been very Egyptian
00:57:23His headdress
00:57:25As well
00:57:25Is very Egyptian
00:57:28It's a very
00:57:29Fine
00:57:31And well made
00:57:31Statue
00:57:33Some Olmec statues
00:57:34Are extremely
00:57:35Unusual
00:57:36Even abstract
00:57:38In their nature
00:57:40Something you might find
00:57:42In a modern art museum
00:57:45One of the interesting things
00:57:47About the Olmecs too
00:57:48Is that
00:57:48Their
00:57:50Core
00:57:51Area
00:57:51Is known as
00:57:52The Isthmus of
00:57:53Tehuantepec
00:57:54And the Isthmus of
00:57:56Tehuantepec
00:57:56Is that
00:57:57Narrow
00:57:59Part of
00:57:59Mexico
00:58:01In the very south
00:58:03And it's where
00:58:04The
00:58:05Mexico
00:58:07Is at its narrowest
00:58:08Between
00:58:08The Atlantic Ocean
00:58:10And the Pacific Ocean
00:58:12And in fact
00:58:13This is
00:58:14The core
00:58:15Area
00:58:15Of the Olmecs
00:58:16And the Olmecs
00:58:18Were really
00:58:19On both coasts
00:58:21They were on the
00:58:22Atlantic coast
00:58:23And on the Pacific coast
00:58:25So the Olmecs
00:58:27Could have had
00:58:28Ultimately
00:58:29Ports
00:58:30On two oceans
00:58:32The Isthmus of
00:58:34Tehuantepec
00:58:35Too
00:58:35Has a lot
00:58:36In common
00:58:37With
00:58:38Today's
00:58:39Current
00:58:39Panama Canal
00:58:42Back in the 1800's
00:58:43When
00:58:44The
00:58:45Panama Canal
00:58:46Was first being conceived
00:58:47There were three areas
00:58:49In Central America
00:58:50That were
00:58:51Being considered
00:58:52To try
00:58:53And create
00:58:54A
00:58:56Transit zone
00:58:58Between
00:58:58The Atlantic
00:58:59And the Pacific
00:59:01Panama
00:59:01Was
00:59:02Of course
00:59:03Being considered
00:59:03Because it had
00:59:04A series of lakes
00:59:05And was a narrow area
00:59:07Nicaragua
00:59:08Was also
00:59:09Being considered
00:59:10For this
00:59:11Because
00:59:12Boats
00:59:13Could come
00:59:13From the Atlantic
00:59:15Into Lake Nicaragua
00:59:17And they could get
00:59:18Very very close
00:59:19To the Pacific Ocean
00:59:21However
00:59:22There was still
00:59:23A narrow
00:59:24But high mountain range
00:59:25That's separating
00:59:26Lake Nicaragua
00:59:27With the Pacific
00:59:28The third area
00:59:29That was considered
00:59:30Was the Isthmus
00:59:32Of Tehuantepec
00:59:33In Mexico
00:59:33And
00:59:35What the Mexican government
00:59:37Ultimately did
00:59:38Was build
00:59:39A railroad
00:59:40Between
00:59:41The Atlantic
00:59:42And the Pacific
00:59:44And
00:59:44To bridge
00:59:45This narrow area
00:59:46But it's kind of curious
00:59:48Because the
00:59:49Olmecs themselves
00:59:50Had already
00:59:53Realized
00:59:53That
00:59:54Yeah
00:59:54This area
00:59:56Was
00:59:57The
00:59:58Tehuantepec
01:00:00Isthmus
01:00:01In Mexico
01:00:01Was an area
01:00:02Where
01:00:04You could have
01:00:06The
01:00:07Ports on the Pacific
01:00:08And ports on the Atlantic
01:00:10And right in the middle
01:00:11Of that area
01:00:12Was
01:00:13The
01:00:14Early
01:00:15Megalithic cities
01:00:16In Mexico
01:00:17Such as Monte Alban
01:00:18And
01:00:19Mitla
01:00:20And
01:00:21These areas too
01:00:21Were part of the heartland
01:00:23Of the Olmecs
01:00:24And
01:00:25Ultimately became
01:00:26Mixtec
01:00:27And
01:00:27Zapotec cities
01:00:29Here's another example
01:00:31Of the very unusual
01:00:33Olmec art
01:00:34And style
01:00:35It's very distinct
01:00:37But the stylization
01:00:40Is so unique
01:00:41Almost futuristic
01:00:51It's thought that the Olmecs were the mother culture of Mesoamerica
01:00:56As archaeologists studied the Olmecs
01:01:00They realized that many of the things that had been previously ascribed to the Mayans
01:01:09Having invented
01:01:10Had really been invented by the Olmecs before them
01:01:14And we're talking about
01:01:16The Mayan calendar
01:01:18The number system
01:01:20The hieroglyphic
01:01:22System
01:01:23Even
01:01:24The building of early Mayan pyramids
01:01:27Such as the ones at Washaktong
01:01:29North of Tikal
01:01:30All of these things
01:01:32Really began with the Olmecs
01:01:34And it was the Mayans who essentially inherited all of this scientific knowledge
01:01:43That ultimately came from the Olmecs
01:01:46Year after year
01:01:48Archaeologists discover new things about the Olmecs
01:01:51Pushing them farther back in time
01:01:53And
01:01:54Deeper into the heart of Mexico
01:01:56Only recently
01:01:58Archaeologists have discovered the oldest writing in Americans
01:02:02Which is Olmec
01:02:04Also they've discovered Olmec remains near Mexico City
01:02:10What caused the collapse of this great early civilization?
01:02:15We may never know
01:02:17The secrets of the Olmecs
01:02:19As a sudden
01:02:20The happenings
01:02:22Ho бывает
01:02:23Old
01:02:23Alf
01:02:23High
01:02:32Urban
01:02:32Let
01:02:32There
01:02:32It
01:02:32So
01:02:48grad
01:02:48Next, we'll be continuing our adventures in Mexico, going to the Great Pyramid of Cholula in central Mexico, and to
01:02:59the enigmatic pyramids of Teotihuacan and Tula, and then north, over the border, into Arizona, New Mexico, to look for
01:03:10the lost cities and ancient mysteries of the Southwest.
01:03:32Next, we'll be back to the Great Pyramid of Cholula in Mexico.
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