Hello everyone! This episode is one of the of the many upcoming episodes that will feature the Ancient Americas by none other than The History of the World Podcast! Chris guides us into a different world as we explore the Olmec civilization, from artifacts and archaeological findings to colossal heads, a brutal Meso American Ballgame to the myth or cult of the Werejaguar! To support The History of the World Podcast check out the links in the video description above!

Enjoy the longer videos. Especially a podcast, I can crack on with other things with whilst it's on in the background

The San Lorenzo that you’re showing in Paraguay ISN’T part of the OLMEC Civilization

Hey everyone! Quick admission here! Without realizing it I used a map that does not depict the right place in this video. Sadly human error interfered an it is in no way the fault of the podcast but the fault lies with me and the channel. I have to comb through hundreds of pics per episode and sadly every so often a mistake gets by me. Best wishes everyone!

Excellent timing! Just started learning about the Olmecs and other indigenous American cultures very recently.

I really appreciate how you speak slowly and distinctly as you cover this fascinating material. Also, your visual aids are excellent. Looking forward to more!

Yal definitely need to do more research on the America’s before Europeans

*screams in Proto-Mixe-Zoquean*

Fabulous review of this ancient culture and over time this will get the viewings it deserves. subscribed.

Thank you. You’re getting better 🙏🏽♥️🇲🇽

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Absolutely great ☺️ totally love it 👍 and thank so much very much 🙏

Very useful, thank you

I am a little confused. There are two San Lorenzos on the maps displayed. One in Central America, the other in South America. I can understand two separate places being named San Lorenzo by the Spaniards who invaded them but so far in the narration I have heard no discussion about the connection between these two San Lorenzos. Has the author of this vid simply included a map of the South American San Lorenzo by mistake?

"History of the world." I always think in a Mel Brooks voice.

Would have loved more pictures during presentation ie of red palace etc etc

This was awesome, thanks!

Thank you , great video solid information

Thank you!

25:28 - it's amazing what could be done before the days of Health and Safety in the Workplace

This is a very good lecture about the mysterious Olmec civilization! We know very little about them because of the lack of archaeological excavations in significant survey areas. Besides, we don't know the provenience of many meaningful artifacts, which precludes the possibility of founded interpretations. So it is indeed difficult, at the moment, to have a good idea about their politics and religion, this is why I agree when you cast a certain doubt about the"were-jaguar" interpretation of certain objects. It is true that we have jades that represent the transformation of a human into some kind of feline, but that cannot possibly resolve so many statues' interpretations. The mask you have chosen at 24:30 is the right example of this kind of dichotomy: honestly, I cannot see any jaguar character in it, even though its carver was obviously capable of expressing whatever he wanted, but I don't see fangs, no cat eyes, no jaguar spots, no feline nose. What I see is a pointed gum without teeth, an inflated upper lip revolted to the nose, flamed eyebrows, and no feline characters at all. This mask represents certainly something supernatural and the artist has certainly taken inspiration from nature to express his message but we don't know what, yet. For me, the identity of the creature portrayed here remains an enigma, and the "were-jaguar theory" remains abused.

Interested in watching. I just toured Peru and it appears the Megalith stonework was pre Inca but most tour guides just claim it’s all Inca work. One guide was more open minded and shared more than one theory.

This was really good

Clovis isn't nearly the earliest culture discovered in America.

Mexican culture and history is amazing! 🔥

Chris Hassler could be reading Ikea directions and i'd listen

Amazing

I've great news for all the Europeans who are interested in the Olmec civilization: in Paris, from 9 October till 25 July, at the Musee du Quai Branly Jaques Chirac they'll show: Les Olmeques et les cultures du Golfe du Mexique. 200 + artifacts, many of them never exposed abroad before. I will be there for sure...

Wonderful 😎

The Basalt heads didn't need to be transported if they were "bombs" from ancient volcanoes. That's why they are flat on one side. They were carved by Chavin artisans then stood up.

I listen to your podcast just connected 2 and 2

In reference to the early working of copper, but no smelting, in the pre-columbian Americas: Almost all of the world's native copper is found in Upper-Michigan, Isle Royal, and Bolivia. The supply of native copper was plentiful, so why go to the great labors of smelting for a less pure product? Also, anyone who knows how to build and operate ceramic Kilns has the necessary know-how to do smelting, so it wasn't like they couldn't do it.

Dude you got the wrong San Lorenzo on your picture. You got a Argentinian San Lorenzo

No. The Olmecs nor other Mesoamericsns copied the Egyptians by building pyramid like structures. When you want to build a big structure of stone, without the benefit of arches or modern concrete, you will likely or even nessecarlly end up with a building with a big base and a small top. Which will look like a pyramid wherever you build it!

I don’t know about MesoAmerican agriculture, but I have heard many times, “Olmec Donald had a farm.”

First known meso-am pyramid had stairs at each corner! Different ... Hmmmm ... Also first known spot helmets or ballgame with helmets! LIDAR reveals even more to discover! :)

Graham Hancock by day Joe Rogan Podcast by night, all day!!!

My dad told me he went to school with Olmecs in the late 60’s in Guatemala, Jalapa. they had helmets and they all had crossed eyes he says.

Why show a map of San Lorenzo in Paraguay, when the article is about the Olmec culture in San Lorenzo in Mexico?

Love being a olmec mayan Aztec 🌞 child in america

Waaaayyy better the Christian studies vids that get up loaded on here lol

I get so "upset" by people saying Christopher Columbus "discovered" America. It was never lost, but CC WAS. There were many large civilizations on both North and South of this country before he accidentally "@found" America. These civilizations are now being discovered by both archeologists AND LIDAR. Much more complicated then taught to the general public in schools today.

Suggestion: Fix the map beginning around 12:58. Suddenly you have the Olmec San Lorenzo in South America.

Maybe they left those big stone heads just to confuse us and freak us out.

Well, Pyramids were built in Caral, Peru', since 3000 B.C. and if there was indeed a direct contact between the Olmecs and the "Old World" we cannot undermine the Chinese navigation skills. It is not well known that the Chines civilization built its millennial expertise in the pyramid- building, which stopped with the Qin Shi Huang mausoleum, but nobody really knows when it started, because there are no researches about this topic yet ( at least that I m aware of...)

I'm relatively new to the Study of Antiquity and the Middle Ages Channel. I appreciated the non-Euro-centric material presented in other videos and the recognition that the racism of those who have long dominated academic fields has obscured documentable evidence (c.f., the video on the Aryans). I was therefore appalled at this video's repeated reference to "Columbus' discovery of the New world" especially when the video purports to unpack the complex culture of the Olmecs. Now I am questioning the other assertions of fact in this video, if that particular perspective has gone unexamined!

You do realize the San Lorenzo of the Olmecs isn't on the Argentine-Paraguay border, right?

"This gruesome customer is Ixtapolapoquetl-- the God of war." -Mr. Burns

Don’t mind me just putting where I leave off 10:00

Why not the olmex?

Michel Desmarquet lived in Australia and had a abduction experience, his contact with the Thiaooubans led to a book were his abductors told him about a group of humanoids from planet Bakaratini in the Centaur constellation who 1350000. years ago came to earth because their planet was dying due to nuclear war and cooling of the core, they were black and asian and settled in several parts of earth, due to a cometary impact their civilization was lost and their survivors are in Australia and Indochina, the book is the Thiaoouba prophecy and its available in PDF format.

Why is it ruled out that the Egyptian people didn’t come over through the cold waters? Surly we know they had boats/ships..

Pourriez- vous nous offrir un vidéo sur la civilidation des PASTÈQUES ,les rivaux des Olmèques et Aztèques qui ont été massacrés jusqu 'au dernier et leurs céramiques cassées et concassées ?

I want to know which part of England this narrator is from. It's this a London accent or am I way off?

Wood CAN stand the test of time... when it is petrified. As far as I know, and I've looked into this quite a bit, everything/anything solid can be petrified... not just wood. Diamonds and gold would be examples of solids that can not be petrified. The process is due to a lot of water, mud, and time. When the area around an object (that was petrified) wears away, like the mud surrounding a wooden structure (that was petrified)... it begins to reveal itself to the world as a stone structure that was once wood. Still looks like wood. A metamorphosis though has occurred. Whenever something is petrified, it gains more weight, and becomes much harder than it was before it was petrified. Wood for example is about 25-85 lbs per cubic ft... ... Petrified wood can weigh 160 - 200+ lbs per cubic ft. Now apply that logic to what we have now with these "megalithic" sites.

Temple Clomplex?

Columbus was Portuguese and a student of Prince Henry the Navigator.

América isn't an ancient land, don't forget that name was given by the european invaders just a few centuries ago, before that "we" the native people and real owners of the land named ANAWAK-TAWANTINSUYU. Too much ignorance from outsiders.

Columbus and his crews were found adrift and was found to be suffering with scurvy and had to be nursed back to health.

There never were any "Aztec", they were Chichimec Mexica.

How would you find evidence for a raft?

Thank you for clearly stating there is no evidence for pre-Columbian contact between the old world and the new. There are a lot of psuedo documentaries out there making such unfounded claims which annoys me to no end and it's refreshing to find an objective alternative.

Is Elon Musk the contemporary for those who crossed the Beringia Strait? An explorer and his family use transpiration/advanced technology to explore new regions and bring their culture into new geographical locations for it to adapt and change based on the needs of the current locations climate? (LOl)

When talking about San Lorenzo, which is in mesoamerica, you are showing a map of another San Lorenzo on the Paraguay and Argentina border on the continent of South America. This is not the correct map for what you are lecturing!

WE ARE ONE....ONE FAMILY....OLMEC MAYA AZTECA INCA LINCA TOLTEC ZACATEC...and many others This is the original family....we do real research

Hue hue tlapalan is America, the origins of all civilization.

🐆

Your display of Olmec art is sadly shallow. It would be wise to include a serious sub-section on the 'portable art' of the Olmec culture, beyond the mere monolithic carvings, such as the giant heads. You did give mention to masks but a wealth of other ceremonial objects are critical to the subject at hand.

Based Uruguay Moment

It is unlikely the Olmecs and their interest in pyramids was influenced by the Egyptians. The Egyptians were building pyramids from about 2700 to 2100 BCE The Olmec culture (and their pyramids is dated to 1200 BCE to 400 BCE That is to say, the Eqyptians were 900 years ahead of the Olmecs The construction methods used by the Egyptians and the Olmecs were quite different. The Egyptians used cut stone quarried at sites quite removed from the pyramid itself The inner core, intermediate material and the outer finish layer were all cut stone. Mesoamerican pyramids were were piles of irregularly snaped rocks and gravel held in place with blocks there were effectively a retaining wall. These pyramids were not finished with stone but plastered over with a layer of stucco.

Hey mate

Mexico 🇲🇽 culture to the world 🌎

The " Olmecs" were The Chavin

The Olmecs look like the people of Hawii, I believe their called Polynesians.

Besides there are many objects throughout Mexico from the Orient. Just look at the people's features from Oaxaca...

In my humble opinion, the Americas were settled by Boat Migrations following the coasts & living off of seals, fish, shellfish during many separate waves.

'Ullo, guv'ner.

Olmecs in Paraguay? Uh... lol, I guess.

How does one explain finding cocaine I n the Egyptian mummies bodies ?

El_Choctaw_lord_de_AztlanCalifasMexico = ANTZ

Is this civilization has a specifically developed medicine?

What was their religion

What if God was the instructer of how way and when to built the piram.. just like noah knew what to do..its mind blowing that in all historie nobody thinks about God the creator of all..

When studying some structures, such as pyramids, a more remote view may be required. European point-of-view interferes with evidence...such as the more ornate construction of the American as opposed to the more 'utilitarian' aspect of the Egyptian...which gives rise to the question...which is a copy of the other?? It is not an accepted fact that Egyptian are older, it is just an opinion. Doubtless the two 'pyramid-building' civilizations were VERY ancient, and contain clues as to their origin, but it must be understood these civilizations were far more advanced in specific areas than modern man. The science behind these structures has been completely ignored. This fact bears repeating. THE SCIENCE BEHIND THESE STRUCTURES HAS BEEN COMPLETELY IGNORED. The 'intrepid explorers' of the upper class, were, in general, uneducated persons with an existing agenda of affirming the existence of the royal class...any worthwhile findings are filtered through this 'royal and upper class' and remain hidden until such time as/when they can be used against you...

The Olmecs probably had mixed relations with other Amerindians as well as Polynesians, Europeans, Ashkenazim, Sephardim, Mestizos, Castizos, And Cholos

Olmec people I don't know whether they came from Africa or south America or Atlantis lemuria mu maybe they were star people

Is this where omelette's come from?

Where my crazy Afro-centiks at?

At 22 minutes in, does anyone think this could be half of a statue of a woman? The 'man' inside is holding the handbag i see across other early civilisations

Maps at 14:12 are totally wrong for the Olmec civilization which was in Mexico not Paraguay.

olmec wxas anc ancient giant race 30000 to 500 Bc with the zapotec this people hlep the first humans with knowledge abt building structure food harvesting and science and ofc abt the stars franc maçonic people try to hide the truh but olmec civilisation was the frist was to grown in america ;)

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉😊😊😊😊😊😊

To me, native Americans have asian features

Olmecs were the first furries

are you getting paid by all the stupid advertisement interuptions , in 5 minutes there has been 5 adverts. if u r i will subscrbe if you have no idea sue youtube

why make something that you have to lie about?

WTF - why is there a map of San Lorenzo, Paraguay in this video?? Wow, the Olmec civilization was way bigger than I thought. Lol. Maybe you should stick to the middle east and europe.

While evidence is sketchy at best I think we somewhat underestimate the ancients ability to cross continents. We are generally baffled on how they built some of their megalithic structures so why do we discount contact between Mesoamerica and the rest of the world. The giant stone heads have features that seem much more African in nature than native American. There are also sculptures of men with beards from the Olmec period - something that would been very rare in native Americans. This coupled to the consistently similar themes of belief and ritual suggest a common origin.

So at the 25:50 mark he just won't acknowledge the head is a Black Man NOT a Jaguar or anything of the sort. The People there traded with the People from Africa and that is why those heads were created. I possibly could be wrong but the image in the mask resembles a Man of African decent.

The africans walk from mexico to jamaica to florida to Brazil BEFORE the caribbean sea was formed................