Olmec Civilization

Joined Jan 2008
19,014 Posts | 433+
N/A
More Olmec Jade

kenneth-garrett-la-venta-site-olmec-jade-national-museum-of-anthropology-and-history-mexico-city-mexico.jpg

Mayan_Jade.jpg


Look what I get from wiki:

Next to emery, jade was the hardest mineral known to ancient Mesoamerica.[4] In the absence of metal tools, ancient craftsmen used tools themselves made of jade, leather [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strop"]strops[/ame], string saws to cut and carve jade, and reeds or other hard materials to drill holes. (Mesoamerican artisans also used jade tools to work other stones.) It would take many hours of work to create even a single jade bead
 
Joined Jul 2007
9,098 Posts | 19+
Canada
The African-Olmecs also had religious practices identical to that of West Africans according to "A History of the African-Olmecs," (published by 1stbooks Library, 2959 Vernal Pike, Bloomington, Indiana 47404 U.S.A ww.1stbooks.com ) Olmec religions included the use of shamen, the recognition of the Venus planet complex, the use of the ax as a prop in the worship of the Thunder God and the importance of children in their religion.

Wow! Just like practically every primitive culture in the world.

Unless the Africans colonized Siberia too, then this is irrelevant.

The statue of an ancient Nigerian Oni or Priest-king dating back thousands of years shows him holding religious artefacts that have been found among Olmec priests who are holding identical artefacts in the very same manner.

A large stone statue of a ....... character at the San Augustine Culture site in Colombia, South America, also show the same items in the hands of the statue (see African Civilizations of America "James Williamson," website,

Apparently this is copy and pasted from raceandhistory.com, whose other articles include "Zimbabwe: US Interference Backlash", "An Investigation of Zimbabwe's Different Path", "U.S. and Britain are Fueling Violence in Zimbabwe", "Understanding North Korea", "Second Thoughts on the Hotel Rwanda", and so on.

I think you must have stumbled on Mugabe's personal webpage.

For fun, I had a bit of a look into this. I managed to find the pics the text seems to be referred to from identical captions on another page, here.

The San Augustin "shaman":

postedD149.jpg


The Oni:

postedD148.jpg


Well, first of all, they don't even look vaguely similar. The San Augustin statue doesn't even look human. Looks more like an orc from the lord of the rings movies than an African. And what, exactly, does he have in his hands? It's hard to tell from that grainy photo he gives us.

Let's get some other pics and see what is this "religious artifact" that the San Augustin statues have between their hands.

stone-statues-01-500.jpg


nytg80.jpg


2568598-One-of-the-many-statues-2.jpg


:eek: Oh my!!! Ok, wait, well none of those are the same statue.

But hey look! I finally found it:

1400247-San-Augustin-statue-0.jpg



Anyway, it's pretty clear that these ... errr ... "religious objects" don't at all resemble the rattles the "oni" is carrying. So much for the power of dark, grainy photographs.
 
Joined Jan 2008
19,014 Posts | 433+
N/A
:D Good one! That was very funny indeed :D

With respect to Orcs, Olmecs also represented monsters in theirs arts... that look similar to the famous heard. Look

figure6.jpg

olmec.133.jpg



Of course, those representations are asociated to the transforming of the shaman from human to jaguar... A basic element of Olmec beliefs.
 
Joined Jan 2008
19,014 Posts | 433+
N/A
Africans eliminated the original colonists:

.... Nope. Only the British people resorted to genocide on Amerindians. Don't push your guilt upon others :D

Pictures of Africans comming to the Americas :eek:

boys.jpg


The departure.

07swim.span.jpg


Crossing the Atlantic

ncaa_blair3_300.jpg


Aproaching Hispaniola

Sanlorenzohead6.jpg


Picture that perpetuated the achievement. Lol :D
 
Joined Jan 2008
19,014 Posts | 433+
N/A
I smell racism here.

Yes, it is racism against American Indians. Some people believe Amerindians weren't smart enough to develop theirs own civilizations.
vansertima1.jpg

This guy, for instance, was the author of all that crap about "Afro-Olmecs". He lied over and over again. Everybody knows that. However, he is still a very "respected" schollar, just because he claim a fantastic achievement for black Africans.... That's racist, of course.
 
Joined Aug 2006
8,783 Posts | 44+
IA
This guy, for instance, was the author of all that crap about "Afro-Olmecs". He lied over and over again. Everybody knows that. However, he is still a very "respected" schollar, just because he claim a fantastic achievement for black Africans.... That's racist, of course.

This is a biased opinion pinguin. What evidence do you have that his work is racist? Remember, not "everyone" knows that "he lied" (including myself). Provide us with some evidence to support your conclusion.
 
Joined Jan 2009
8,299 Posts | 3+
Tennessee
Im still stuck on the face mask thing (Im naturally slow).
Im wondering what they were used for. I dug around on the net, but couldnt really find much to satisfy my questions.

Were the masks ceremonial, or did the Olmec use them in a form of drama and theatre, like the ancient Greek used masks of the muses?

I did find that the Aztecs collected them as antiquities. I kind wish that we knew a lot more about these masks.

Another thing that puzzles me is that some Olmec art is very fanciful and almost cartoonish, while other art is very naturalistic and lifelike. There must have been some meaning to this, some code of how to interpret this art?
 
Joined Jan 2008
19,014 Posts | 433+
N/A
This is a biased opinion pinguin. What evidence do you have that his work is racist? Remember, not "everyone" knows that "he lied" (including myself). Provide us with some evidence to support your conclusion.

Would you agree that Afrocentrism is a form of racism? If so, that guy is one of the "pilars" of that ideology. That's why I call him a promoter of racist ideologies.

He lied, of course, because he simply didn't have any evidence at all to his claims. If you read his book, you will find out all the "evidence" was made up with refferences to outdated books.

If you don't believe me, just read the following article, which explains it better than myself.

http://www.hallofmaat.com/modules.php?name=Articles&file=article&sid=73

Just imagine what Mayan children would think when they see theirs heritage taken away from theirs own ancestors

Look at this, for instance:

http://www.yale.edu/opa/arc-ybc/v32.n18/story4.html

http://www.yaledailynews.com/opinio...afrocentrism-in-lear-overlooks-native-people/
 
Joined Jan 2008
19,014 Posts | 433+
N/A
Im still stuck on the face mask thing (Im naturally slow).
Im wondering what they were used for. I dug around on the net, but couldnt really find much to satisfy my questions.

Were the masks ceremonial, or did the Olmec use them in a form of drama and theatre, like the ancient Greek used masks of the muses?

Theatre, as we know it today, was invented by Greeks. In the ancient world most of the representations were rituals associated with religion. Now, with respect to the mask, it is very likely it is a mortuory mask, although I don't know for sure.

I did find that the Aztecs collected them as antiquities. I kind wish that we knew a lot more about these masks.

Another thing that puzzles me is that some Olmec art is very fanciful and almost cartoonish, while other art is very naturalistic and lifelike. There must have been some meaning to this, some code of how to interpret this art?

Well, Olmecs developed some form of pictographic writings. The decoding of those is at the earliest stages, though. The Olmec writing evolved into Mayan with time, and Maya was decoded.

Here is a page about Olmec writing:

http://www.ancientscripts.com/epiolmec.html
 
Joined Aug 2006
8,783 Posts | 44+
IA
If you don't believe me, just read the following article, which explains it better than myself.

It's never about whether I believe you, its about the statement you are making. Those are accusations without the basis of proof. Now that you have provided links to help support your claims, people can look at what you mean...and with that people will hopefully being to see your point of view.
 
Joined Jan 2008
19,014 Posts | 433+
N/A
Indeed. Perhaps Van Sertima and other Afrocentrists didn't have the intention to offend Native Americans and Latin Americans at all.

However, they do offend when they prettend foreigners tough something to our ancestors. In our own "creation myth", Mesoamericans and Incas aren't only civilizations to venerate but the promise of a future rebirth.

So, it is not strange that those crazy Afrocentric ideas on Olmecs crashed head on with our own regional beliefs.

These are the Ancient Olmecs, anyways:

471334891_61309d550c_o.jpg

indians.jpg
 
Joined Jul 2009
334 Posts | 0+
The papyrus boat were in Egypt, not in West Africa.
So? Do you think the current is enought to bring people swiming to the Americas? :D
Even though i believe it was papyrus, anyway, the current was sufficient for a journey from Western Africa to South America in some type of sea craft, without advance navigation or ship building
 
Joined Jul 2009
334 Posts | 0+
There is not a single genetic link. What exist is certain similarities in phenotype that has nothing to do with genetics at all.

Look, this is a West African

sawadogo.jpg


This is a Papuan
wbPAPUA_wideweb__470x327,0.jpg


A Fijian

r113636_392453.jpg


This man is from India
730378.jpg


And this woman is from the Maya region

a-rigoberta_menchu.jpg



Besides superficial similarities, like lips tickness, they have nothing in common. Not genetic relation at all.
whatever point you are trying to make eludes me, but the point is trying to show pictures of what you call more "realistic" is subjective and non-scientific
 

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