Archaeology of Mexico

I hear ya Dave
The scale & wonders of these lost cities boggles the mind

I like the simplicity of the Hohokam
That make sense to
The Meso way is of different order
Yet they are all related

The massive buildings
and momentous undertaking
Why in the jungle ?
Because of water?
Because of the weather ?
Because of protection?

Why didn’t these sort of structures arise in north America?

There's a vast amount yet to be learned about the peopling of the Americas. After a lot of study and thinking I've come to the strong diffusionist point of view. I strongly believe the Americas were "discovered" several times by several kinds of people.

Some came as I’ve described below; others probably arrived across the Atlantic from the Dakar, Africa region to Brazil’s “hump” – the shortest distance across the Atlantic. Others probably followed the route that was later “discovered” by the Vikings from Northern Europe to Iceland, Greenland and present-day Canada. Others belatedly arrived across the Bering land bridge before the glacial Big Melt. We know for certain the Polynesians had settlements in South America -- how else would native sweet potatoes have been transferred to Oceania? I'm convinced the Chumash Indians from my area of California were of Polynesian origin.

Let's look at some geological facts. Roughly 12,000 years ago most of North America was covered by giant ice sheets, two miles high in some areas. It was also the home of some really scary megafauna like dire wolves and saber-toothed cats, not to mention mastodons and other predatory creatures. It wasn't exactly a Club Med for colonists.

With all that ocean water sitting in frozen form on North America and Northern Europe, ocean levels were some 300 feet lower than today. We know that some sort of boat technology was developed at least 40,000 years ago -- otherwise Australia would never have been populated (unless human life originated there somehow, which is highly unlikely). Many archaeologists now believe hunter-gatherers migrated to the west from Asia and perhaps other more southern points via boats, following ocean currents that traveled from Asia around the Aleutians and then south again aldong the American west coast.

Where's the evidence? Much, I believe, sits 300 feet or so underwater. And considering that temperatures warmed as the explorers moved southward, it seems to me early travelers would keep moving onward while avoiding ice, snow, saber-toothed cats and other northern hazards. Since they probably mainly fished for a living they likely hugged the coast until they found areas where it made sense to build permanent settlements with availability of food, water and a safer environment. Considering the world's climate at the time that would probably mean Mexico and points south. We know that the Monte Verde culture in southern Chile predates the U.S. Clovis culture by at least 1000 years: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monte_Verde

Of course it’s located on the Atlantic side of South America so it doesn’t exactly fit the scenario I’ve described above but hunter-gatherers are mobile, and the Pacific is just 50 miles west of the site. Also 10 different kinds of Pacific seaweed have been found at Monte Verde that were used in some way by the inhabitants: www.archaeology.org/issues/150-features/americans/2368-peopling-the-americas-monte-verde

When I’ve compared the artistic styles of Mayan vs. Asian jade carvings and other works I have the inescapable feeling that there was direct Asian influence in Mesoamerica, especially with the Maya. When you look at Mayan pottery many of the faces are distinctly Asian although there seems to have been several different racial types.

While I personally don’t agree entirely with the thesis presented in this link, it draws some very interesting parallels between the Maya and the ancient Balinese. It delves into the mystery of the missing Olmec elephants, as described upthread. I’d also like to interject that while touring Caracol in Belize our guide took us to a large statue of the Mayan weather god, Chaac. He had a prominent elephant-like trunk, no mistaking it. He is represented with a similar trunk in several other Mayan statues, facades and glyphs.
www.richardcassaro.com/suppressed-by-scholars-twin-ancient-cultures-on-opposite-sides-of-the-pacific

Oh, and thanks for the

At the library out of interest of this thread
scored this book



www.gerardhelferich.com/stone-of-kings.html

As an urban rockbound this is knowledge way beyond me
It’s inside esoteric gnosis of ancient peoples values
For as difficult, tough, & short as their existence was
that mankind found the beauty, sacredness
& expansion of the mind to work this stone
speaks volumes to man’s creativity.

One lesson I learned is:
if you want to be of value in a hierarchical structure,
built on backbreaking labor,
become an artistic stone craftsmen.
Easy said then done.

the book addresses many of the issues
of this Discovery Magazine video



Especially the fieldwork of Mary Lou Ridinger …