African Origins of Olmec Civilization - Debunked

In this episode we are joined by the Ancient Americas YouTube Channel, Geneticist Razib Khan and Dr. Ivan Oransky to tackle this controversial subject.

In various videos, books, online forums and etc, we have seen a popular theory that the Olmecs were black or that Olmec Civilization has African roots... but is that true? Or is this merely a vicious appropriation of the history and accomplishments of Indigenous American Peoples and Cultures.

We begin with Pete from the Ancient Americas YouTube channel who explains how this theory came about and how fringe historians such as Dr. Ivan Van Sertima were able to push this almost into the mainstream so to speak and how academia choosing to ignore these theories rather than debating and crushing them have caused long term issues and especially among under educated audiences.

He notes the various problems with this theory and tackles more than just the "African" features in Olmec art but goes even further by destroying attempts to link Mesoamerican pyramids, writing systems, crops and mummification to African origins.

Lastly he points out how this abuse of history affects the indigenous peoples of the Americas and what we should do as we continue on in the future.

Next geneticist Razib Khan comes on the show to thoroughly debunk the African origins of the Olmecs by touching on ancient DNA and what it has told us about the populations of ancient and pre modern Mexico and how there is no DNA showing an African presence before the arrival of Europeans.

Lastly, we are joined by Dr. Ivan Oransky who runs a website that monitors journal publications and their retractions and we explore why a history journal retracted a paper that claimed the Olmecs were black Africans and the controversy surrounding this outdated narrative and debunked theory.
Support Pete and the Ancient Americas YouTube Channel Below!

Support Mr. Khan and his awesome work below!

Support Dr. Ivan Oransky below.

[studyofantiquityandthemidd]

FULL DISCLOSURE * I had a technical problem that caused my main mic not to work and so I apologize for the shoddy audio on my part. To my dear subscribers, thank you all. You have my love and appreciation. Support our guests in the video description above. Like our channel? Support us by clicking the THANKS button above!


Enjoy history merchandise? Check out affiliate link to SPQR Emporium!


*Disclaimer, the above three links are affiliate links which means we will earn a generous commission from your magnificent purchase, just another way to help out the channel!

Facebook Page:

[johng]

These African origin theories imply that indigenous people of the Americas could not develop their own advanced culture, which is pretty insulting. They developed it over and over again in different regions in two continents.

[FriedPi-mcyt]

I find these theories somewhat insulting, in that these theorists don’t think that the indigenous population of the Americas could develop the Olmec type of civilization.

[dwighthaas]

Depending upon which part of Africa you go to the facial features change drastically and are widely varied from tribe to tribe.

[JosephMarquez-pjdp]

Another factor is not only DNA eliminates Afican presence, there are no Olmec pyrimids in central Africa. The other is Africans had knowledge of the wheel and the Olmecs did not. The Olmecs did not have Iron or Bronze. They also where not immune to
to Europen deseases, africans were alreay exposed to these deseases. Not only Africanist are guilty of this distortion concerning Pre-Colombian history, this is going on today denying Mexican as indigenous people, but instead as Latin or Hispanics when there not.

[agustinmarioquiroga]

Great episode. The recent trend leaning towards native erasure has been growing in cult like proportions. On behalf of indigenous people across the Americas…Thank you for this.

[duxarchiteuthis]

There has been DNA extracted from Olmec remains by the National Institute of Anthropology and History of Mexico, the result is that the remains tested have the most common Native American haplogroup. Even I have the same which is not surprising since I’m from the region.

[ocelotl]

Thank you for this episode. It's always bothered me that those who hypothesize Olmec's "African descent" completely ignore the fact that there have been and STILL are native people who look just like the people the Olmec heads depict (Yes, I've lived in Mexico, I've seen them). And if one sees those people in person, one would not immediately assume an African connection as suggested. At all.
It's a bit insulting to claim a single civilization had a monopoly on being able to develop & cultivate knowledge on their own.

[rodrigosalazar]

Why everybody in USA has to be so apologetic when talking about anything that debunk Black theories? Do african americans behave like this when they debunk eurocentrism?

[ashog]

All the black isralites boutta type seven paragraphs lol

[lg]

I taught my children to respect people of other cultures and races and always told them to be proud of their Mexican heritage. I don't have a problem at the possibility of Africans landing in Olmec soil in pre-Columbian days. But i do have a problem when there is no proof to that so called theory. Thank you so much for this video.

[ScholarVisual]

All of the dislikes are coming from people who put feelings over facts.

[lexionline]

If you ask the older folks they will tell you that not only were the pyramids already there but their ancestors are African. Also there sure are a lot of theories that need debunking when it comes to African influence. There is always something for something when it comes to black peoples. It’s just so sad that we have to fight so hard and dig for our history. If they had not hidden our history we would not be looking for it everywhere we go and it’s not just our history that was hidden it was the entire worlds history that was hidden which I believe put us back centuries and actually brought us to primitive times because we are so not civilized we are barbaric and devilish

[lescobrandon]

The fact that you have to walk on eggshells & practically beg forgivenesses for telling the truth to a group of people says volumes about what exactly is the PROBLEM right now.

[xXhunterXx]

african people are not the only dark skinned people... its an evolutionary adaptation to the environment. wider nose also not an african exclusive it is another evolutionary feature to help with a certain reagon. its not a bad thing that olmecs arw not african yall have a rich culture of your own. there is no need to encroach on other ancestral people's culture.

[muhammadsfori]

Thank you for debunking the Afrocentric pseudoscience and conspiracy theories.

[theodoresmith]

If you go to that part of Mexico, you still see people that look dead on the heads. They are not black. In fact in another debunk article, the author has a half and half shot with the head and a modern Mexican from that area and its a perfect match.

[denydefendepose]

Thank you for video. Mesoamericans have been fighting this indigenous erasure for years now. We need more videos like this.

[davidagiel]

I always questioned that theory, you could say they look like pacific Islanders as well. You can't just make up a theory that they are African because of how the statues look.

[jbb]

I hate that people are trying to use African history to erase South American history smh
I truly wish both our histories had survived contact with Europeans without being heavily altered :(