Early humans in North America | Ed Barnhart and Lex Fridman

[@LexClips]

Lex Fridman Podcast full episode: kzbin.info/www/bejne/d6vddmp9hNuMsJo Thank you for listening ❤ Check out our sponsors: lexfridman.com/sponsors/cv8043-sa See below for guest bio, links, and to give feedback, submit questions, contact Lex, etc. *GUEST BIO:* Ed Barnhart is an archaeologist and explorer specializing in ancient civilizations of the Americas. He is the Director of the Maya Exploration Center, host of the ArchaeoEd Podcast, and lecturer on the ancient history of North, Central, and South America. Ed is in part known for his groundbreaking work on ancient astronomy, mathematics, and calendar systems. *CONTACT LEX:* *Feedback* - give feedback to Lex: lexfridman.com/survey *AMA* - submit questions, videos or call-in: lexfridman.com/ama *Hiring* - join our team: lexfridman.com/hiring *Other* - other ways to get in touch: lexfridman.com/contact *EPISODE LINKS:* Ed's KZbin: youtube.com/@archaeoedpodcast Ed's Website: archaeoed.com/ Maya Exploration Center: mayaexploration.org Ed's Lectures on The Great Courses: thegreatcoursesplus.com/edwin-barnhart Ed's Lectures on Audible: adbl.co/4dBavTZ 2025 Mayan Calendar: mayan-calendar.com/ *SPONSORS:* To support this podcast, check out our sponsors & get discounts: *MasterClass:* Online classes from world-class experts. Go to lexfridman.com/s/masterclass-cv8043-sa *Shopify:* Sell stuff online. Go to lexfridman.com/s/shopify-cv8043-sa *NetSuite:* Business management software. Go to lexfridman.com/s/netsuite-cv8043-sa *AG1:* All-in-one daily nutrition drinks. Go to lexfridman.com/s/ag1-cv8043-sa *Notion:* Note-taking and team collaboration. Go to lexfridman.com/s/notion-cv8043-sa *PODCAST LINKS:* - Podcast Website: lexfridman.com/podcast - Apple Podcasts: apple.co/2lwqZIr - Spotify: spoti.fi/2nEwCF8 - RSS: lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/ - Podcast Playlist: kzbin.info/aero/PLrAXtmErZgOdP_8GztsuKi9nrraNbKKp4 - Clips Channel: kzbin.info *SOCIAL LINKS:* - X: x.com/lexfridman - Instagram: instagram.com/lexfridman - TikTok: tiktok.com/@lexfridman - LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/lexfridman - Facebook: facebook.com/lexfridman - Patreon: patreon.com/lexfridman - Telegram: t.me/lexfridman - Reddit: reddit.com/r/lexfridman

[@PSi-fp8ve]

They came in 4000bc and repoulated after the flood they had a ship before Columbus in 1500ad noah built a cruise sized ark his ancestors could build ships LMAO HAHAHAHAHA ships that could cross the Atlantic in 4000bc

[@PSi-fp8ve]

Love this guest

[@MarvinEvans-ph7zv]

Tathem mound! Read it! Great book!

[@sellingsunshine]

Ed Barnhardt has two audiobooks on South America and North America civilizations pre Columbus. Very fascinating, essentially a collection of his lectures. I love his work, it’s amazing to see him on Lex’s show.

[@catfishman1768]

They are fiction

[@torreyintahoe]

I've never heard of him but enjoying his a lot. Thanks for the recommendation.

[@arsononemwv]

This might be my favorite episode you’ve ever done

[@tonysargent3852]

You should try reading more books

[@nicksweeney5176]

It's trash.

[@madisonbliss1528]

​@@nicksweeney5176why is that?

[@catfishman1768]

Hate to burst your bubble, but almost everything this guy said is fabricated. Think for a moment, how could he or anyone know?

[@arsononemwv]

@@catfishman1768 how does anyone prove anything about history? Lol

[@louislatimer4188]

I was thinking how cool a life Lex has created for himself. He makes great money picking things he is interested in and then finding and have experts in those fields come and talk with him. He studies and puts in the work before they get there and then has these wonderful insightful conversations. Dope 😊

[@davearonow65]

How do you know how much money he makes?

[@Peterxxlsdmtghb7777]

​@@davearonow65I mean he gets a bunch of views per interview and factor in sponsorship money and he's doing pretty good lol

[@SiriusDogStar369]

I live near Cahokia. I was just there a couple weeks ago. The museum is always “closed for remodeling”. No one ever talks about it around here, nor does anyone really seem to know about the details, nor do they care. It’s depressing.

[@MontTheBeatMaker]

Man.. seems like no money is going to the city/area & so much crime & corruption. I'm from Belleville & it breaks my heart. Such an important part of Human History neglected.

[@jmf5246]

Giants with red hair built the mounds. Ancient aliens said ao😂

[@New-ko5qj]

Visited two years ago. It's a crazy place, we had a weird takeaway that the moind of garbage down the street is taller than the mounds

[@scorchogrey2385]

Went there at some point in the last ten years when work took me to St. Louis. Pretty cool place. Nice little climb especially if it is a hot day.

[@SiriusDogStar369]

@@MontTheBeatMaker yes it is.

[@weirdshibainu]

I'm 35,000 years old. This guy is pretty much correct.

[@joetarded7591]

There can only be one. I'll keep an eye out for you

[@DAminovLaw]

You don’t look a day over 34,000.

[@JohnwayneNOgacy]

😂

[@HuJack007]

My dad said you lying

[@Milohenry13]

really? I'm 15 billion years old.

[@1999tenorio]

remember when rogan had an interesting podcast?

[@havefunbesafe]

Back in the day ….

[@Jackson-sd5iq]

This has taken its place fs with the interesting guests

[@danielvest9602]

Yeah, that one time years ago...

[@crs092]

He had Paul Rosalie on yesterday, I enjoyed it.

[@fanetooo]

rogan talks about the same 3 things every podcast dude fell off

[@dentzer81ify]

Sad that we have such rich history that you never hear about. The mounds are all over the Midwest

[@dimelifetwon8736]

All because of white people

[@tigertank06]

I think it’s bc the mound people are overshadowed the major tribes of North America such as the Iroquois, Cherokee, Cheyenne, Comanche, etc. All those tribes kind of wiped away the mound in people in America’s collective history.

[@BartleDoo13]

Really cool mound in Vincennes, Indiana right in the middle of the town

[@1wayjc]

Mounds all over Florida too

[@OrphanJerky]

@@GUITARTIME2024To play devil’s advocate, if Egypt had as much rain and weather as Louisiana the great pyramid would probably look like a hill too.

[@maxwellhowell]

Im from Louisiana. Ive been there. Very glad to see poverty point acknowledged

[@jacobmoon5959]

Why haven't they excavated it?

[@xhxpe8004]

Yeah, there is literally no pyramid there it's fucking grass and hills

[@stewiedog01]

Back in 1994, a local Native American studies teacher at a community college talked about the date of 35,000 years and was criticized by fellow history teachers at an educational convention. They were cemented in the idea that people crossed the Baring Straight after the last ice age 10,000 years ago. I'm glad to see this outdated knowledge has changed.

[@Robvdk69]

It's sad how shut off to new information the mainstream system is

[@OTGEEZY]

@@Robvdk69History is written by the winners unfortunately

[@Caper1144]

The site he mentions of the Nordic landing, L’Anse Aux Meadows was in Newfoundland, not Nova Scotia.

[@JamesBond-uz2dm]

yes

[@imartin43]

Wait...isn't Newfoundland IN Nova Scotia??? (Hehe)

[@mattsharpe3989]

Came here looking for this comment

[@curtgozaydin922]

I am not Canadian I’m an American in nearby New England but I think it was only fairly recently that I learned that the Canadian government calls the province of that area Labrador and Newfoundland, they just kind of merge those two chunks of land together to be a province. I think that is neat.

[@buckodonnghaile4309]

​@@imartin43they're both towns in Prince Edward island.

[@ScottButt-r9g]

The Vikings were in Newfoundland Canada, that is were they built there settlement. It is believed they traveled down along the east coast but no other settlements have been found yet.

[@joearceneaux9854]

Point Rosee shows evidence of being a Norse colony site.

[@ivantuma7969]

I'm a bit saddened that much of this wasn't taught during the primary education years, because it has been studied by archeologists for a very long time. We learned more about Mexican Indian cultures in Spanish class, than we ever did about the pre-Columbian cultures in American History.

[@nickkerr5714]

We spent half a year dedicated to about this Islam, very useful for Southern California 😂

[@Horse-and-Butterfly]

America's best kept secret, perhaps? It's true I remember learning about various tribes starting from the time America was becoming the US. But never learned anything pre-colombian. Interesting

[@stuckinthemud4352]

Let’s face it. North America doesn’t have history because there was no written language in all of North America. They were still in the Stone Age when Christopher Columbus hit the shores.

[@tonysargent3852]

And exactly would you teach?

[@gew2027]

Emblem of the Americas 1798 the Americans

[@EricBrunoBorgman]

One of the problems, it seems to me, of why currently society knows so little, is that there are some Native American groups that appear to not want any research done into any Native American sites. When archaeologists or scientists find an interesting artifact or remains someone claims to be a relative of the dead guy or the person who made the artifact and demands reburial. So, it kind of makes sense that archaeologists are keeping a bit quiet about possible finds and there has been a loss of interest in the ancient Native cultures since some of their modern groups want to own the history of these ancient peoples. It's a shame really. Imagine if the Italians said to rebury Pompeii and it's victims... How much knowledge about these ancient Romans would we lose?

[@nmckeown101]

Quiet, you.

[@BB-gd5pk]

True

[@andrice42]

Archeologists, Historians and even anthropologists have a racist past who don't listen to what Native Americans/ Indians have been saying for decades. I'm Navajo and we've been saying there have been people here in North America even before the Pueblo. How tf you think people will react to outsiders when they've been murdered for existing for generations and continue being lied to? You still have "researchers" lying about genetic testing so they'd influence politics and economics against Native Americans. Those groups should be EXTREMELY suspicious of anyone poking around. Our culture only does things if they profit from it.

[@hamburgler227]

@@nmckeown101seriously, the whitewashing knows no bounds

[@gew2027]

Emblem of the Americas 1798

[@markwise9868]

Etzanoa is a large settlement in Southern Kansas they have recently discovered. Thousands living in housing along the Arkansas river cultivating crops when it was thought the plains Indians were nomadic and followed the Bison herds.

[@Khankhankhan420]

Nope, French and Spanish explorers reference going into cities and towns in the plains a lot. They don’t become nomadic till the horse was introduced. Before that they hunted bison and deer and were farmers like the people who live there today. 😊

[@johnnycasteel7]

Complex is a nice way to describe the Aztecs

[@MontTheBeatMaker]

I'm from Cahokia area, I love hearing about it!!

[@ChristaFree]

I found a furnace and iron slag when i put in my septic tank. They were smelting iron. My front yard is nothing but small carved rocks. I find pottery everywhere. I live in nw Louisiana and my property is along an old river bed. Nothing but mounds. Every single little hill in my small town I've found pottery in, some places hundreds right on the surface.

[@sandrarobledo2520]

That’s amazing!!! Please take care of what you can and thank you for doing so.

[@gregorybiestek3431]

Unfortunately, since you dug up the site, according to archeology you have made up the entire thing. Unless an archeologist does the work, they attack you for making a false claim.

[@davidabbett7011]

I grew up near the Cahokia Mounds and been there many times. It is well worth the time to go see them if you are ever in St. Louis. They are no more than 20 minutes from downtown St. Louis.

[@tommyrq180]

But it’s EAST St Louis, less civilized than the ancient Cahokians.

[@diarmuidok]

@09:58 talk tuah podcast reference?

[@tose5566]

.

[@very-moth]

DAMN IT I was just about to comment this lmao

[@Grand_Master_Skywalker]

Pinson Mounds State Park in west Tennessee, near Jackson TN, is a great ancient Native American site. One of the mounds is very steep. It’s been about 11 years since I went there toward the end of my senior year in high school with this girl I was dating. I love ancient history always have and so did she and we took a Saturday to drive from Memphis to Jackson TN and then to the state park and it was really fascinating. Our friends thought it was a weird idea for a date but we were both interested in ancient history and culture so we just went. Had a blast… those were good times.

[@andrewglynn1982]

A very simplistic way of describing the vikings in Ireland

[@onezerooneo]

Yeah but it was probably something like that at the beginning. Very different at the end when Brian Boru kicked their asses out of Ireland (as this guy would probably put it 😅)

[@roostershooter76]

He forgot to mention trade routes. The natives of the Ohio River, mainly around the Angel Mound and Cribb mound areas of Southern Indiana were very wealthy people.

[@DMJones-gv4om]

L’Anse aux Meadows is in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.

[@chocolatethunder8477]

How could 1 thing be in 2 places?

[@DMJones-gv4om]

@@chocolatethunder8477 Newfoundland and Labrador is the name of the province. The L' Anse aux Meadows site itself is on the island of Newfoundland, which is part of the province.

[@DMJones-gv4om]

@@chocolatethunder8477 Newfoundland and Labrador is the name of a Canadian province. Specifically, the L'Anse aux Meadows site is located on the island of Newfoundland.

[@blackberrythorns]

@@chocolatethunder8477 ed is totally clueless. L’Anse aux Meadows is on newfoundland and the people there were the Beothuk. the vikings are believed to have sailed as far south as nova scotia (vinland). the people there are the Mi'kmaq.

[@Terminal-Vet]

It's rather amazing that so many ancient civilizations all share peculiar similarities like a similar creation story, a great flood story, dragons, pyramids, etc. It's almost as if they all once shared a common location and common language, and they all had passed down the same stories from generation to generation. Then, for some reason, they all went their separate ways, spoke differently languages, and the commonalities in their stories all ended with the story of them all building a tower into heaven. It's so coincidental.

[@phonsefagan5649]

Lanse aux Meadows is not in Nova Scotia, but Newfoundland.

[@torreyintahoe]

Wow, I really enjoy listening to this guy. Very knowledgeable and entertaining.

[@feliciachoate410]

Love your guest Lex - thank you. I live by Spiro Mounds and recently toured. The purpose of & the location of Spiro Mounds as they have discovered with proof plays a very important role in all scattered across the various cities of tribes. It is such a wonderful thing to understand it. I encourage everyone to check it out.

[@UnkleRiccoGaming]

I grew up like 7-10 mins away from the Cahokia mounds we go and walk them and all for exercise

[@mattygmen8316]

L'Anse aux Meadows is in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, not Nova Scotia.

[@jaikmiller4490]

Cahokia is the coolest place to visit. They gambled on a game called chonkey. Also I believe the population there was larger than Philadelphia and Boston at the time. They had a trade network from the Great lakes all the way to Mexico and the Caribbean.

[@hognetitlestad382]

Regarding the vikings, is this guy serious? The norsemens' denomination of the indians literally meant "the weak ones" (skrælinger).

[@gardener3030]

Not true, only in your dreams buddy.

[@TuckFinn831]

The Choctaw need to pay reparations for the land they stole from the Mississippians.

[@Ellifiknow]

Well said. People that talk about reparations would have to go all the way back to Adam and Eve if they wanted to be "fair".

[@gew2027]

Emblem of the Americas 1798 the Choctaw were in Mississippi on the Mississippi River

[@JeffSilvey]

Yeah really

[@impitt28]

You and your ilk always miss the point-reparations have been paid to the natives because America would sign treaties and then not honor them. Conquering is one thing, lying and cheating and then committing genocide is another. Other reparations are due to folks who were enslaved and helped a group become filthy rich. Ok? Every land has been conquered, sure but evil things were done to some folks.

[@KneeJerkReactions13]

All from the same continent. Not the same.

[@SherryWatson-v4x]

Thank you Gentlemen. Always interesting Lex. Stay awesome!

[@imsteamboat9774]

Screw you

[@zachgates7491]

A population of 150 million seems high

[@SpenceGM]

High and completely wrong

[@Halbared]

@@SpenceGMhow many?

[@catfishman1768]

Guys like this just make stuff up. And the stuff they make up has to be “new“ and surprising. No one gets huge funding when they say, yes the theories that we’ve always had are correct.

[@foreignpapi2180]

@@SpenceGMyou think over a thousand tribes between Canada and southerns states going to Mexico can’t have over 100 million people.!when they have been there for thousands of years before Columbus? It seems like your biased and ignorant

[@ericcomp7032]

Almond Joy have nuts Mounds don't.

[@mikejrSAA]

That's what Big Candy wants you to believe

[@LauraLevensonMusk]

😂😂😂😂😂

[@LauraLevensonMusk]

How could i forget!

[@nicksweeney5176]

Yes. Furthermore, mounds ain't pyramids.

[@DemureDarlings]

@@mikejrSAA😂

[@chriswfrye]

I live in South Louisiana, and I've been told about the pyramid up north of us here in Louisiana but have yet to make my way there. Very interesting to hear it from another person!!

[@bryce56]

Same im in Laffy and want to visit it soon

[@michaellapalice3068]

The vikings came to Canada around the year 800 to 900 ,and the dorset were killed off .

[@edwatson1991]

L' Anse Aux Meadows is in Newfoundland. There is another site called Red Bay which is also a Norse settlement.

[@RILEYLEIFSON_UTAH]

As a direct decent of Leif Erickson himself... I take issue with the whole "they got their ass kicked" talk. When he/ they arrived here 1,024 years ago... They had just sailed thousands of of miles across the open unknown AND were outnumbered 100 to 1 at the VERY LEAST. The fact that they were able to build a settlement tells you that they didn't just get slaughtered. In fact, they made many voyages from Iceland to here and back.🇺🇲 🇮🇸 💪🏻✊🏻⚔️🛡

[@OnlyShakor]

The question was why they didnt expand… it seems like you said they were outnumbered and lost right?

[@axel8406]

​@OnlyShakor or maybe it wasn't worth it. They made many voyages back and forth according to the OP. If it was for war, there would have been some mention of it in some chronicle. It seems like it was established as a colony and they traded. What's wrong with how people think about history is its always a zero sum game with winners and losers. But it's mostly just survival. In this case, England and Russia were probably more lucrative and easier to get to.

[@mattkonetski9818]

​@@axel8406I've heard that the fur trade was the reason. At the time a polar bear skin was a gift fit for a king.

[@OnlyShakor]

@@axel8406 interesting point, if you ever end up researching it and find answers please reach out

[@catfishman1768]

If Lex was worth his salt, he would have asked this dude many many times “how do you know that“

[@markdouglas485]

Viking were in Newfoundland not Nova Scotia

[@loganbaker5023]

They also found a place they called timberland an I think that was the North East coast. They had a settlement up there that was around 900-1000 ad im not sure were the ruins are at.

[@dreamjackson5483]

Talking about these mound people. It makes me wonder, are pyramids just inspired by mounds of dirt. When you try and pile up dirt high, it naturally forms the shape of a pyramid. As you pile the dirt it up, it falls down the sides and forms a point at the top

[@nicksweeney5176]

Pile dirt. You'll see. It naturally shapes up as a cone. We call that shape "conical"; not "pyramidal". You see, it's cuz of the shape; the cone shape. We don't call those "pyramids". You shouldn't call conical dirt piles "pyramids", either. You're wrong, and you look really, reeeeally ... enthusiastically committed to be incorrect.

[@corbettnorwood9514]

Ed has a great podcast

[@bronco1199]

This is fascinating stuff. It is always great when passion and knowledge converge.

[@SiriusDogStar369]

Ya know I’m in love with this man. I know I don’t know him. I’ll never need to explain it because I don’t know him. It’s cool but ngl I absolutely adore Lex. It’s an appreciation for genius with a little bit of nerd crush built in.

[@kimberhernandez1138]

So glad Ed Barnhart shared this history of America with you Lex and the world.

[@impala1977]

Man there are some historians that have way more interesting stories but they don’t do English programs

[@thesmith2]

Ive never heard rex from toy story talk so sophisticated 😄

[@tygoulding2547]

You should read the Book of Mormon. Talks all about this stuff.

[@samuelphillian1286]

You should read a little about history and learn the context of the mid 19th century when Joseph Smith wrote The Book of Mormon. Everyone was aware of the mound builders and the earthworks in their fields. It was very popular to speculate about their origin

[@PhuryousOne]

Remember when they would tell you how native Americans didn't understand the concept of owning land, but yet they would fight to the death for territory. Interesting how that all gets muddled up in translation. There's actually a lot of scenarios that fall under that same category with reasoning being short of the full picture. I don't know about you, but I'd rather just pay rent or a mortgage than have to kill somebody or be killed for my home.

[@impala1977]

Native Americans didn’t necessarily fight for land, it was resources or sacred grounds.

[@willisfritz4562]

​@impala1977 land is a resourse

[@impala1977]

@@willisfritz4562 in a capitalistic frame of reference it is a resource and a potential source of income.

[@SwampFeet678]

I live about 2 hours from Poverty Point in Louisiana. Ive never been but always wanted to go.

[@malimish]

L'anse au meadows is on Newfoundland, not Nova Scotia. I assume he just misspoke since he is supposedly the expert on this topic.

[@danielfelland3046]

We have Cahokia style pyramids in MN. They are along the waterways that were used to transport copper from around Lake Superior down to the Mississippi and eventually to St. Louis (Cahokia).

[@missourimongoose8858]

I'm 100 miles south of st louis and we have bluffs around our property that still have mississippian artwork on them

[@nicksweeney5176]

No. No, we don't. We do not. I live in Mound, Minnesota; Mound, not Pyramid. There aren't pyramids ANYwhere, here, and you cannot take me to slap my eyes on one. Stop. You're embarrassing.

[@thefarmerswifeknits6190]

Cahokia has a nice museum.

[@krisius1]

Lex has actually had some very interesting guests lately. I might have to sub after all these years

[@Greg-l8r]

Early English settlers in the northeast left accounts in the 1600’s of villages with nothing but skeletons. Golgotha, they wrote.

[@7791D]

I’m from St. Louis and I think all of us as kids took field trips to the Cahokia mounds there’s only a couple left.

[@OspreyVision]

Read: "Guns, Germs, & Steel" by Jared Diamond 💎 This book explores some of the topics discussed in this fantastic interview.

[@mark.J6708]

Great book.

[@JustFacts-q4x]

Germs from Asia killed 70% of European population in 14th century.

[@braindrain329]

1491 by Charles Mann would also be a great book to read if this interests you

[@miahconnell23]

Guns, Germs, & Steel is a really good book, but it’s important that readers then pick their own favorite points of interest and go read further. A lot of folks read that book, absorb it like it’s a math-text (or something else dependable), and think: “oh, ok, we’ve got anthropology & history all figured out now,” and then quote Diamond to their friends and family. Don’t get me wrong: there’s a lot of good stuff in there worth quoting and repeating, but it isn’t meant to be a totally comprehensive “one and done” sort of read.

[@MasterShake9000]

That book has been fairly well demolished by experts as being misleading to straight up wrong on most of its arguments.

[@Locoapache3]

“Straight up tragedy” telling it & thank you

[@algonquin91]

Correction: l’Anse aux Meadows is on the island of Newfoundland (province of Newfoundland and Labrador), not in Nova Scotia (a separate province quite a far ways away).

[@pattonmaclean4777]

LAnse Aux Meadows is in Nefoundland, not Nova Scotia.

[@dansullivan8968]

Pyramid is a universal mathematic expression in both reality and logic that appears in the early building cultures, so it's no surprise to see it across time and geography. Also no surprise that earth mounds were first given material science capabilities require to move to dirt and through the various metals.

[@maxwindom1200]

They’re also the only shaped structure capable of withstanding 1000s of years of weathering

[@Clemfandang0]

If you are trying to build something, a pyramid is one of the simpler things to make.

[@consciousmachine413]

No, it's cause dirt piles up with a slope of about 45 degrees... so they made walls that wouldn't erode.

[@tyzxcj34]

4:44 it's a damn shame they never taught us this in the US educational system. Should be mandatory

[@Ellifiknow]

I appreciate that he assumes his audience has enough intelligence to understand that ancient history doesn't have photographs and videos to tell us exactly what happened. There are lots of crimes that happen every day which contain electronic records, photos, videos, and other evidence that investigators still have not figured out. We can assume that he has giving us the best information based upon evidence, and he knows there's nothing stopping any of us from researching any of this ourselves. Thankfully, he doesn't spend half his time qualifying everything he says like KZbinrs who are constantly worried about offending everybody and constantly saying, "I'm just speaking from my own experience, everybody will not interpret this information the same way, your mileage may vary," etc.

[@SpikedCollar666]

This guys awesome I watched all his great courses episodes on this topic

[@nicksweeney5176]

Spell. Punctuate.

[@alexhale2596]

What does one study in school to do this work ?

[@TheTylerj315]

I live in alabama about 30 minutes from moundville, alabama. There was a large Mississippian culture there. Multiple very large pryamidal mounds, apparently they used them for burial. Very interesting check it out.

[@michaelcombs4545]

I live not far from the Serpent mound here in southern Ohio there are a lot mounds. Circleville Ohio was built over one.

[@SkorLord]

I'm up near the Miamisburg Mound. But, I used to travel for my job. Mostly southern Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia. There is incredible density of some of the forests there. To think that most of the Ohio region looked like that when the mounds were constructed is mind bottling. Especially, since the natives still didn't have the wheel when Europe arrived!

[@RowlandLegg]

9:57 talk tuah

[@brianroth9175]

Have to remember, too. The Mississippian did not have any hills or mountains to mine. If they wanted stone, the only way was straight down past the top soil.

[@willisfritz4562]

The bluffs along the Mississippi River have exposed limestone from Minnesota all the way to Tennessee

[@Khankhankhan420]

I love this guy, he actually tells it as it is

[@stuckinthemud4352]

He compared 70 foot dirt mounds to 700 foot stone carved structures. That’s not really telling it how it is

[@nicksweeney5176]

Actually, not actually. You've been sold an ideology; he sold it, you bought it. How do you feel?

[@E.Current]

The Viking's settlement of L'Anse auxiliary Meadows is in Newfoundland & Labrador. The Vikings were driven from the island of Newfoundland by the Beothuks, who are now extinct.

[@phillipwilcox6377]

i believe that Fort Walton Beach had/ has a large mound within site of the beach. due to tourism and sport boarders, its much smaller now

[@impala1977]

What’s that settlement in Miami that was discovered during construction and now stands to be one of the early settlements

[@nicksweeney5176]

*sight

[@robertstewart6956]

“Colombian Exchange”, you conveniently left out that the Siberian-Americans received the horse, iron, steel, gunpowder, firearms, and eventually modern medicine, written language, electricity, computers, the internet, indoor plumbing, etc, not to mention “rich, vibrant diversity which is our strength”.😂

[@impala1977]

From the Chinese? You’re so right 😂

[@gew2027]

Had nothing to do with Chinese. Emblem of the Americas 1798 the Americans no Chinese

[@vladimirlegrand2917]

You mean... 1% of them ?

[@nicksweeney5176]

*Columbian

[@aleksanderrivia8250]

Now your culture is going to suffer the same fate and get bred out of existence.

[@codyfagan3294]

The America's also got the horse and the wheel! So much missed in this conversation

[@johnbrown2030]

THE VASES THE VASES THE VASES .... as someone with an engineering background this has to be on Lex's list .... please get Uncharted X on sometime and talk about the precision pre dynastic artifacts that could not be made by hand.

[@yeahright2068]

How do they know how old the pyramid is?

[@nicksweeney5176]

Which one? I'll tell you, if you tell me which one.

[@EastlakeRasta7]

Not sure how far back they date but as far as I know the mound builders went as far north as Minnesota. And don't say I'm wrong, just say it I was missing a piece of information. Obviously those mountain builders worked their way up North after the glaciers receded, considering most if not all of Minnesota was under glaciers

[@Robert-bh1ox]

We have mounds in Washington state as well! Very rarely hear these spoken about.

[@Shakesbear-c1g]

no Lanse Aux Meadows is not in Nova Scotia but in further north Newfoundland,the Viking settlement was from 998AD to 1021AD, the beothuk fought the Vikings in Newfoundland but earlier in 985 the Vikings traded sporadically with Thule Innuit people in Artic territory

[@DaveKukreja]

Great guest

[@naelyneurkopfen9741]

I was taught about these groups, starting in elementary school.

[@catfishman1768]

If Lex was worth his salt, he would have asked this dude many many times “How do you know that?“ Much of what he said is baseless speculation. It’s simply un-knowable. Guys like this need to be discredited. Let fact based archaeologist have the stage.

[@0ptimal]

We have some large unusual mounds in central texas, near the brazos river. Years ago it was rumored that universities wanted to explore them, for artifacts and or dinosaur bones, but the owners rejected them. My friend who is a lifelong very successful indian artifact hunter always would point at the mounds and say "indians made those." There are 3 or 4 in same general area, 2 of them very large. 2 of them along side a creek. They do not look like the natural terrain.

[@yougle9201]

American Natives vs Vikings........someone should really update Age of Empires.

[@bighoss8793]

This guy is just speculating but he talks like it's all 100% true.

[@Ellifiknow]

I think we all appreciate that he's not like KZbinrs who constantly qualify everything they say by ending every sentence with, "...but this is just my opinion. I'm only talking about what I have experienced. You might have a different situation. You might be at a different point in your life. You need to assess your particular needs before you apply the information I'm giving you. Your mileage may vary"... and on and on and on. They seem to assume we're all too stupid to realize they are giving an opinion, and we have no obligation to listen to them, apply what they suggest, or have any obligation to do anything they say. But they qualify what they say because of people like you that love to take offense.

[@nicksweeney5176]

It's not even legitimate speculation, it's wild Horseshit-n-Gunsmoke.

[@mattkonetski9818]

​@nicksweeney5176 this guy has several classes on Great Courses. He is super knowledgeable.

[@frankgarrett2517]

@@nicksweeney5176youd be fun at parties. Daddy touch you or was he not there?

[@aynrandish9106]

The pyramids in Egypt are well over 3,500 years old. If they were only 3,500 years old, we would have some evidence of how they were built.

[@consciousmachine413]

The more recently built ones can prove 3500, so that's what they use as certain for all of them.

[@AnnieWinter148]

Book of Mormon is about people from the Americans. Dates line up with mound builders

[@je9237]

No

[@liviasalgado]

Several differences that need to be considered while talking about this subjects, the people in what is now central Mexico where extremely clean, in Tenochtitlan many shower twice a day, the water canals were Cristal clear because they had a drainage system that the Spaniards destroy when they got the power, so cleanliness work against the natives and diseases really help to exterminate people also Mexico was not a colony like the USA was a Virreinato and the new generations of people of Spaniard ancestry and mixed ancestry were creating universities, hospitals, working not as a colony but as a virreinato, that was happening in the way earlier than in the colonies, the first university in Mexico was founded in 1551. Americans (Europeans) are not aware of their First Nations history and is by design, we know our history because we know knowledge is power.

[@PowerfulRift]

No way! Based Spanish and Portuguese! 🇪🇸🇵🇹

[@Warrior_By_birth]

I’m not a scholar but I have my reservations with respect to Vikings coming to America. The site was “rebuilt” as if it wa found with a reality all they found was a mound of dirt. Where there was a couple of inches of dirt there’s now buildings. All someone found was a pin and nothing after that, so from a pin a dirt mound, we find an entire village, a village that was built to reflect they was someone think it “would’ve been” if it was there. Scientists have been looking for years and found nothing.. no boats, cemeteries, burial sites, cooking sites/spots, NOTHING. The arrival of the Vikings is based also on Vikings saga that talks about them arriving to an unknown land which could’ve been anywhere.

[@BlackwingTT]

Lex is rocking the Omega!

[@thinkIndependent2024]

The Root of Technology is alive in precision while complex North, Central, South Africa all held complex precise Technology

[@Skatelifefool]

Very interested in this Mississippian culture

[@joecha9746]

“Eating all their corn” 😂

[@LuisaMLores]

Francisco Pizarro was “not” an Inca; he was a Spanish conquistador (Peru)

[@alejandromagallanes1967]

Thank you!!!!

[@RichardNunes-m8o]

You guys should talk about Charles C. Mann. Or find and interview him

[@chipdouglas9349]

Lets say people from one island that haven’t had contact for 10000 years go to another island. And they carry contagious diseases with them that they are “immune” to and then everyone on the island they are visiting has no immunity. So 90% of them die. So lets think about this. Do the people on the island that is being visited have diseases they developed immunity to over 10,000 years? Or do they not have diseases on some islands?.?.? What happens to the people that are visiting that don't have immunity? What happens when they go back to the island they came from? Nothing?

[@nicksweeney5176]

👍🏻

[@feliciachoate410]

I like to Add- they are calling it the most preserved history of all cities and tribes. Most were just destroyed or covered up but it’s all there at SPIRO MOUNDS.

[@brianroth9175]

Thank you Lex. Aztalan in Wisconsin is a city buily by Cahokia.