The Olmecs

The Olmecs: An African Presence in Early America
[Excerpt from a larger article]
By Paul A. Barton

'According to an archeologist who recently participated in archeological work in Mexico, One of the most ancient civilizations in the Americas, the Black (Negritic) Olmecs developed a calendar that goes back to about 3,113 years Before Christ. The archeologist who appeared on the Art Bell show made that point.

The ancient "Olmecs" of Mexico and Mesoamerica are one of the most intriguing civilizations of the Americas . In fact, they are the first civilization in Mexico and it was from them that all other civilizations in Mesoamerica followed. Yet, the fact that the Olmecs were most likely a Black civilization of African origins has not been made public and the "Indian" elements in Mexico have gained more prominence to the extent that the Negroid substrata of the ancient Mexican/Mesoamerican civilizations has been kept hidden.Yet, over the past many years, various levels of proof have been found linking the "Olmecs" to Africans in the Western part of Africa .'

Studies done by researchers such as Ivan Van Sertima (They Came Before Columbus), Alexander Von Wuthenau (Unexpected Faces in Ancient America), Runoko Rashidi and others have presented evidence that clearly show that the Olmecs were not Indians with "baby faces," or Indians who looked like Blacks (although a few Olmecs did mix with the Native Americans). They were Africans no different from Africans found in the Mende regions of West Africa .

Studies done by Clyde Winters show that the Olmecs used the Mende script, a writing system used among the Mandinkas and other Africans in West Africa . When the writings on Olmec monuments were translated, it was found that the language spoken by the Olmecs was Mende.

The Olmecs practiced a religion and astronomical sciences identical to those practiced by Africans in the Mali region and Nigeria today. The Olmecs studied the Venus Complex in astronomy. Today, the Ono and Bambara who are famous sea and river travelers have studied that same complex for thousands of years. In fact, another group the Dogon is well known for their tracking and mapping of the Sirius star system and their accurate results.

The Olmecs also had a religious practice of Thunder worship where the ax was a prominent feature. In West Africa , the ax is also a prominent feature in connection with the Shango or Thunder God worship. Both the Olmecs and the Shango worshippers in West Africa placed an emphasis on the religious significance of children in their religious practices.

The Olmecs carved about twenty-two colossal stone heads in the southern parts of Mexico and their influence have been found in Guatemala and further south. Olmec type sculptures have also been found in parts of the U.S. , (The Washitaw Nation of Louisiana), where another prehistoric Black nation (who still has members and land today) existed.

Various cultural clues and traces unique to Africa as well as the living descendants of prehistoric and ancient African migrants to the Americas continue to exist to this very day. The Washitaw Nation of Louisiana, the Garifuna or Black Caribs of the Caribbean and Central America is another, the descendants of the Jamasse who live in Georgia and the surrounding states is another group. There are also others such as the Black Californian of Queen Calafia fame, the Black Amazon Queen mentioned in the book Journey to Esplandian, by Ordonez de Montalvo during the mid 1500's.

The Olmecs and Washitaw, Black Californians, Jamassee, Califunami and other pre-columbian Blacks of the Americas were part of a prehistoric trade network that began in Africa and spread worldwide over 100,000 years ago and at various periods afterwards. According to the book, Susu Economics The History of Pan-African Trade, Commerce, Money and Wealth, these Blacks found in the Americas , as well as remnants of their ancient civilizations are not a myth or fairytale.

The ancient Blacks of the Americas are the missing pieces of a large puzzle that would be solved if many of today's writers, scientists, historians and archeologists were not as biased or "embarrassed," like the Mexican archeologists who found out without a doubt, that the Olmecs of Mexico were Black Africans and they introduced the first astronomical calendar to Mexico about 3,113 years Before Christ.

Not only is there an ancient Black African presence and contribution to the creation of civilization and culture in prehistoric and ancient America, but there also is such a presence and contribution in Mesopotamia (Nimrod a son of Kush developed the region, it is said), Sabea/Arabia, India, Cambodia, Southern China and Melanesia/South Pacific region.

The Olmecs used an African practice that is very common in Africa and to some extent in Melanesia . That practice is body scarification and specifically facial scarification as practiced in West Africa . Many of the facial scars seen on the Olmec terracotta faces, such as "dot" keloids and "lined" patterns are identical to Africans such as the Dinka of Sudan and the Yoruba and others of West Africa . (Dinka scarification can be found in old copies of National Geographic. Olmec scarification can be found in the text by "Alexander Von Wuthenau, Unexpected Faces in Ancient America."

African hairstyles such as cornrows are found on many of the Olmecs terracotta found in Mexico . Both kinky hair carved into one of the colossal stone heads of basalt, as well as the cornrowed style wearing tassels (see African Presence in Early America, by Ivan Van Sertima; Transaction Publishers), have been found.

The "cornrow" factor clearly shows that these Blacks who were in Mexico in prehistoric times most likely came from the West Africa/South Sahara region, rather than Melanesia . It is in West Africa that cornrows are very common and have been since prehistoric times.

The Black Olmecs were the first to build "Pyramids" in Mexico , although these were built of mud and one was more cone-shaped then actually pyramidal. The Olmecs apart from carving 22 colossal stone heads dating to about 1100 B.C, also created thousands of work of art throughout Mesoamerica . Olmec terracotta art show people involved in a variety of activities from wrestling to pottery making.

In retrospect, there is no doubt that the ancient Olmecs of Mexico and the Olmec language, religion, culture were of African origins and specifically of the Mende group of West Africa . Still it is sad that essays on the Olmecs are not presented in publications, when the African origins of this Mesoamerican civilization are presented, including the latest findings. There is hope, however that the most recent findings of the ancient Olmec calendar and the similarities in race, culture and language with Africans in West Africa will be brought out and made available to those who see an obvious African influence and presence in early America.

According to author and historian Indus Khamit Cush in his book, (‘what they never told you in history class’), a conpendeum of listed quotations.

'In his scholarly work, Mayan and Mexican origins, he contended that groups of nine [9] gods were frequently mentioned in the Pyramid Texts of ancient Egypt ...And...in America we have nine[9] Lords of the night frequently recorded in Mexico .'

The burial chamber of King Unas(2375-2345 BC)
the walls inscribed with the first ever 'Pyramid Texts'
the oldest religious literature in the world.

In wonderful Egypt , on the desert plateau of Saqqara 10 miles southeast of the Great Pyramid, five very similar pyramids have survived for some forty-two centuries. They are filled inside with over four thousand vertical columns of hieroglyphs, cut into their solid rock walls.

These are the Pyramid Texts which appear quite suddenly in just two centuries between 2356 BC and 2152 BC. They are found mostly in the 5th Dynasty pyramid of King Un-is and the 6th Dynasty pyramids of Teti, Pepi I, Merenr'a and Pepi II.

The writings in all five pyramids are clearly distributed in four matching instruction locations corresponding to the Great Pyramid Entrance Passage, Queen's Chamber, Grand Gallery and King's Chamber. The five Kings evidently wanted to have a kind of stenographic record of the words which must have been said countless times in each Great Pyramid location while facing in different directions.

Egyptologists are fond of saying that the Great Pyramid is mute, with no Hieroglyphs cut into its walls. But this is really not quite true. Every upper passage, chamber, gallery and shaft inside the Great Pyramid of Giza is an incredibly old, unmistakable, megalithic Hieroglyph for the words seba and rut for "Ensouling Star door" and "Tunnel Opening gate." They are unmistakably reproduced in the Pyramid Texts of Saqqara. Egyptologists should have told the world about these architectural hieroglyphs long ago. It might have removed much needless speculation about the Great Pyramid.

Among the many Black Nations of the U.S. before and after Columbus were and are:

The Yamasee of the South East
The Washitaw of the Louisiana/Midwest
The Black Californians (Calafians

The Olmecs and their civilization is discussed throughout this great work. Olmec origins are in West Africa and Egypt-Nubia. Their arrival goes back before 3000 years B.C., when an Egyptian-Nubian calendar is introduced to Mexico . The Mende or Shi People form the dominant language and culture in Olmec Mexico. Their alphabet, language and religion dominates Olmec Mexico.

Dr. Clyde Winters: http://www.geocities.com/olmec982000/blshang2.htm

Another source of Olmec Culture is the Black Shang Dynasty of China. The Shang was a pre Chou Dynasty. The Chou were the first predominantly Mongoloid peoples to rule China according to some sources. The Shang were Blacks described by the Chou as "black and oily skinned," and they ruled China from about 2200 B.C. to 1100 B.C. Many Shang migrants moved to Southern China with the infiltration of the Chou, however many sailed across the Pacific with Mongoloid Chinese and became part of the Olmec civilization, a culture that was already in existence when they arrived.

Old World Celtic migrations and the trade between the Celtics of Europe and West Africans (Formorians, Black giants who occupied Ireland in ancient times) is discussed.

The many mysteries about Old World visits to the Americas has been thoroughly researched and is part of this well-written work. There are many facts that we have never learned in school. For example, the most ancient civilization in the Americas were the Black Mound-building "Giants" of the Mississippi Valley . They are still in existence today and are called the Washitaw Nation.

The works of I. Rafinesque is discussed in this book, especially his work, "Black Nations of America." One of the least known facts about American history is that along with the American Indians, there were millions of African Blacks who lived in the Americas before Columbus and for thousands of years. They were enslaved right here in the Americas and sold to plantations in the South. Blacks from South America who had lived there for thousands of years were also taken and sold to plantations in North America . These Blacks were the cousins, brothers and sisters of the Africans who were taken to the Americas as slaves after 1492. Hence, Blacks in America also lost millions of square miles of land to the European settlers and invaders. In fact today in parts of coastal South America and Central America , Blacks descended from pre-Columbian Africans are still struggling to maintain the lands they have had long before the arrival of the Europeans.

The earliest people in the Americas were people of the Negritic African race, who entered the Americas perhaps as early as 100,000 years ago, by way of the Bering straight and about thirty thousand years ago in a worldwide maritime undertaking that included journeys from the then wet and lake filled Sahara towards the Indian Ocean and the Pacific, and from West Africa across the Atlantic Ocean towards the Americas. According to the Gladwin Thesis, this ancient journey occurred, particularly about 75,000 years ago and included so called Black Pygmies, Black Negritic peoples and Black Australoids similar to the Aboriginal Black people of Australia and parts of Asia, including India .

This stone belt was used by the Olmec ballplayers to catch the impact of the rubber balls in their ball games. This face is typical Negritic, including the eyes which seem to "slant," a common racial characteristic in West Africa, the Sahara and in South Africa among the Kong-San (Bushmen) and other Africans.

Subject: Black Sailors Among the Ancient Mayans Black Sailors Among the Ancient Mayans.

In what is now Southeastern Mexico, in 918 AD, artistic representations and hieroglyphs were painted on the walls of the Temple of the Warriors (Templo de Los Guerreros) in the ancient Mayan city of Chichén Itza depicting black skin men paddling, poling and sitting as passengers in river canoes. There are other brown skin men and women doing various things on land on these same walls, and there are light complexioned people doing various things also, such as paddling black skin warriors. Chichén Itza is in the Northernmost part of the State of Yucatan . It is served by a harbor island named Isla Cerritos, which though small (200 meter diameter) possessed a bustling town that functioned as a stopover and trading post for early boat traffic. It is situated between what is now the Mexican States of Vera Cruz, Tabasco , Campeche , and from the Southern side of the peninsula Honduras , Guatemala , Belize and the State of Quintana Roo .

What is important to note about this little island on the top of the Yucatan Peninsula is the concept that the Olmecs might have been the original settlers, since legend has it that they came by ship and were traders. The Olmecs are represented by those African head statues in Tabasco and Vera Cruz. Amongst the products passed along this route were honey, cotton, corn, obsidian, jade, turquoise, spices, cacao and going in both directions were slaves. Because of this last word [slaves] no question is raised about the black warriors and sailors nor brown merchants. It is sort of like when you have eight African heads and one Phoenician carved representation Thor Heyerdahl tried to find how the Phoenician arrived in the " New World ". As a matter of fact, if you see Heyerdahl’s possible pre-Columbian routes they circle Africa but does not touch it. So it seems that the black warriors being paddled by light skin Mayans are not important enough to investigate, I mean they were probably warrior slaves, right?

Even if they were warrior slaves wouldn’t that be worth studying? These Mayan trade routes connected at trading posts to footpaths called sac-be to the cities on the interiors. Except for the trading posts on the coasts most cities were inland sot he coasts have not been seriously studied and until tourism took over from commerce these routes were utilized into the late 20th Century. This brings in the Garifuna, or Black Caribb of the late 18th Century and their 40-foot double masted sailing canoes and the thoroughly mixed and very independent Miskitos and their 30 to 50-foot sailing canoes. Nobody is specifically studying any of this maritime heritage. The term canoe is thought to be of Mayan origin yet the word seems one of those universal sounds that you hear everywhere. The design is basic with subtle features but generally a trunk is cut down of a particular type of tree. It is hollowed by first chopping at its center then burning and chopping at the burn weakened part, then turned over and shaped to fit the circumstance, such as lake, lagoon, bay, river, coastal ocean or deep sea. We were and are sailing in the Caribbean Basin , South America, Africa, India , Southeast Asia , Micronesia , Melanesia and Polynesia . We have designed vessels that have withstood the changes of time that are classics. We have invented, developed and refined much of what the sailing world keeps going back to. And yet we, collectively, think this important part of our history and an important career alternative belongs to another culture of a very different hue.

Most of us are familiar with the Mayan civilization of Yucatan and Central America , since American archaeologists have devoted many years of intensive research to these territories. Among the speculations concerning the origin of this culture, those of LePlongeon and Raquena are the most valuable. Professor Rafael Requena, a Venezuelan archaeologist, holds that there was once an island in the Atlantic Ocean, of continental dimensions, known to the ancients as Atlantis, that this island was settled by Egyptians, who in turn established colonies in America before the submergence of Atlantis. The findings of Professor Augustus LePlongeon are of great interest.

This Franco-American archaeologist discovered the ruins of a palace in Chichén Itza in 1874. He found in this structure, known as Prince Coh's Palace, pictographs and inscriptions which he was able to decipher. The story, as unraveled by LePlongeon, may be read by the student in Queen Moo and the Egyptian Sphinx, where the professor gives his interpretation of the inscriptions and reproductions of the pictographs. Mrs. LePlongeon's work, Queen Moo's Talisman, might also be consulted. The story runs roughly as follows:

About 11,000 years ago, two brothers Princes of Yucatan, sought the hand of the ruling monarch of the land, Queen Moo, in marriage. The brothers were named Coh and Aac, respectively. Prince Coh was the successful suitor; which so enraged Prince Aac that he stabbed his brother through the heart with a stone knife, which, needless to say, caused his death. Then Aac attempted to force Queen Moo to wed him. The Queen, rather than submit, decided to flee to Atlantis. On reaching the coast she learned that great earthquakes had submerged Atlantis beneath the sea; so she sailed for Africa instead, and ended her journey in Egypt . There she was hailed as Queen, and erected the Sphinx as a memorial to her slain husband.

The foregoing story sounds like a fable, but there is probably a core of fact in it. If the Sphinx, with its Ethiopian face, is a memorial to an ancient Mayan prince, it shows that the Mayas were of African origin.