Thank you for listening ❤ Check out our sponsors: lexfridman.com/sponsors/ep446-sa See below for timestamps, transcript, and to give feedback, submit questions, contact Lex, etc. 0:00 - Introduction 1:39 - Lost civilizations 8:43 - Hunter-gatherers 12:16 - First humans in the Americas 22:07 - South America 27:36 - Pyramids 34:40 - Religion 47:44 - Shamanism 49:41 - Ayahuasca 55:54 - Lost City of Z 1:00:48 - Graham Hancock 1:07:51 - Uncontacted tribes 1:13:51 - Maya civilization 1:29:40 - Mayan calendar 1:44:57 - Flood myths 2:13:25 - Aztecs 2:30:52 - Inca Empire 2:48:52 - Early humans in North America 2:54:50 - Columbus 2:59:26 - Vikings 3:03:35 - Aliens 3:08:02 - Earth in 10,000 years 3:24:12 - Hope for the future *Transcript:* lexfridman.com/ed-barnhart-transcript *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 RUclips: 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-ep446-sa *Shopify:* Sell stuff online. Go to lexfridman.com/s/shopify-ep446-sa *NetSuite:* Business management software. Go to lexfridman.com/s/netsuite-ep446-sa *AG1:* All-in-one daily nutrition drinks. Go to lexfridman.com/s/ag1-ep446-sa *Notion:* Note-taking and team collaboration. Go to lexfridman.com/s/notion-ep446-sa
you need more about the food that originates from Mexico, like tomatoes, corn, chocolates, ect. You'd be surprised that lots of what we eat is from mexico. And they're not wild plants, they were domesticated intentionally by humans. chilli peppers. The farmers in Mexico had huge corn fields, it was a native thing not an "american thing' to farm corn and other foods. Like "italian tomato sauce" "indian chilli" "belgian chocolate" all are foods of the natives.
Hey Lex, thank you for having me on! I hope everyone enjoyed learning more about the Ancient Americas! 🌎 If anyone has a burning question: please, leave it below! 👇
Seriously. So sick of politics. Even technology is getting tiresome. But there’s something comforting about these in depth discussions that cover our species’ past. It makes things in our own time seem less dramatic.
I'm in good company with this comment section.... And in agreement with them- hell yeah! More history/archeology deep dives, please! An individual can only hear the orange man speak so many times.😂😅@@JonnyCook
@@donquijote77 ...Dr. Barnhart's expertise is in middle and South American archeology. Uncharted X is regurgitated dribble we've seen on dozens and dozens of other's podcasts. Time to give Egypt a rest.
01:53:00 Thank you sir, for giving credit to the Russian linguist who decoded the Maya language. And without even leaving his country. There's a monument dedicated to him in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico. But even so, almost nobody in Mexico or even in the state knows about that gentleman.
That's a great one ,it seems like we don't appreciate how old the Chinese civilization is ,since China is still standing on top of the world now we don't care enough to study the old China, shame
@@stickemuppunkitsthefunlovi4733 lol cool stuff too. China just had writing and printing way before Europe did and it’s never talked about. (At least in my opinion)
This has been one of my favourite episodes, just because of how so damn nice Ed is and how excited he is about what he researches. I also noted the brief discussion of Hancock. No personal attacks, just a disagreement in the conclusions. I wish more people in the archaeology field were like this guy and were receptive to maybe simplistic or uninformed questions or notions about his research. Even when Lex was asking similar questions over and over again, he just kept being nice and enthusiastic about the discussion. It never felt like he was lecturing, it felt like asking your favourite teacher about niche topics. I've never had too much interest or knowledge about this topic but even after half an hour in I started taking notes so I could research this stuff later. Really awesome episode.
Kudos on a great conversation, Lex. As a retired anthropologist and educator, I am hopeful that your audience absorbs the huge knowledge drop that Ed shares so eloquently. Thank You!
I live in Illinois, and have visited the Cahokia mounds numerous times. You would be absolutely shocked that people even an hour away have no clue that they are there. It's an absolute travesty that they haven't even been declared a national monument.
I am wondering what it would take to make that place become a national monument, or similarly preserved, acknowledged and honored. I am good with you doing that work.
School teaches me that history is boring and you teach me to love it. Thank you so much Lex / Ed for teaching us. It’s truly a privilege to listen to experts share their knowledge about different periods and places in our history. This is enough of a spark for me to take an exciting journey I never thought possible. Thank you for all you do.
School in 2025 is a joke. It is a place where people are taught what to think not how to think. While I’m respectful of these “educators” because they are underpaid and disrespected by front office and students alike. I’m tired of this sheet show.
If you think getting taught history in school is boring then you're just not paying attention because real history is very interesting without all these fantastical massive leap to conclusion history stories that these guys love to say.
This is one of my favorite shows and guests from Lex. He has a wonderful way of having deep but light conversations. The whole family enjoys listening to Lex.
I think lex is being strategic in his use of historians in the current tumultuous landscape of politics and society as a whole. There are deeper lessons to be had in these conversations! Love u lex 🫶🏼
FYI for Ed: I was raised in the 90s and learned that the Incas and the Maya were over here with their empires. We did a whole project on it in 5th grade, and decorated the classroom and everything. So we were NOT taught that "nobody was here" before the Europeans. We also learned at length about the colonist / Native American relations, and what happened to the Natives following colonization. Also I lived in the Pacific Northwest, so it's not like I learned this in Texas or New Mexico which would be closer to the Central American civilizations. So I feel it's likely that this is common education for many American kids. I love what you shared in this talk and it was in much greater depth, and much more interesting than what I learned in school. But I also wanted you to have a note that your generalization did not apply very well to my public-school education. We were under-educated about it, but not ignorant.
There are two comments by Barnhart that stand out for me among many others, he also put well: That archaeology is supposed to attempt to disprove theories instead of proving them and that one should keep an open mind to ideas outside the majority think bubble...I am paraphrasing. I was relieved to finally hear an archaeologist say these words. You've got my respect, Ed.
Doesn’t mean you can claim outrageous theories without a single shred of evidence like graham I might add. I mean u can but until you find something, maybe don’t make a whole series about it. He’ll never prove it, because what he believes never was, sad for him
All of science is like that. However the evidence should always guide the claims and eventually the Hypotheses to then put to the test. Science is essentially about failing to disprove your hypothesis and only then does it become a theory. However making claims without substantial evidence to back it up….makes scientists turn away. We are open to the evidence but not to claims without evidence. Also its about likelihood vs unlikelihood, rather than possible vs not possible
This guy sounds very reasonable and would have been a FAR better choice than Flint Dibble to have that discussion with Hancock on JRE. I'd like to hear this guy speak his thoughts on a lot more of what Graham says
Flint and Hancock have a lot baggage that made them a great pair. They have been lobbing insults at each other on the Twitter-sphere so Rogan decided to give them both a platform to debate. But your point is valid!
@@c_rock3512 no, he is a man child. He has Graham in his head rent free. Most people move on with their lives. 58,000 plus PhD in the world. He’s acting like a brat still this day after the “debate”. Forget debate, it should be a convo, not a debate.
@@MichaelPK03 I’m not caught up on all drama outside of the podcast but I thought Flint was great during the debate. He came prepared for Hancock arguments and brought a lot of evidence to support his position. In the process I learned a whole lot, especially about agriculture in the ancient world. I think a lot of Graham fans demonize the guy because he made grahams whole thesis look pretty silly. I like both guys that’s just my interpretation. I only watched the podcast though. So I don’t endorse flints behavior if he was acting like a dick outside the podcast.
@@c_rock3512 glad your not. I see it all the time on my Twitter feed. Just does debunking stuff. You can tell how much more mature Edward is compared though
Thanks for having another interesting and humble guest on who teaches ancient history in a compelling way. This podcast is making me think about archeology and the history of the americas in a new way. Thanks Lex for always asking the questions to elicit such great responses!
Amazing podcast, as a Mexican I enjoy when some one Explain really well the ancient American Civilizations that lived here in the same Territory that I call home.
@@NorseRonin Most opposing views are in Spanish because many Latin American thinkers are not considered relevant as their opposing peers in the USA This one is in English. This author, philosopher is phenomenal, and would’ve been great to have interviewed him. He taught all over the world and was a polyglot but sadly just passed away. enriquedussel.com/txt/Textos_Articulos/213.1990_ingl.pdf
Some of the opposing views are they actually didn't do sacrifices and were doing surgeries instead. Another already corrected thing is that the term Aztec is wrong and the real correct name for them is Culhua Mexica. Another thing that most people omit is that there was actually a stronger empire in Mexico at the time the "Purepecha AKA Tarascos" that nkbody likes to talk about much.
Anyone who's driven or flown from the Andes to the Amazon understand why those people remained completely separated from each other. It's not like a gentle hike up into the mountains. It is impenetrable mountain fortresses that drop off steep cliffs into a jungle. Ain't no one going back and forth easily in ancient times.
That’s why we don’t have dengue and a lot of insects, virus, bacteria and parasites that are common in all the rest of South America. That’s also why Chile has a different culture from the rest of South America, we have been isolated from the rest of the continent by the driest desert on earth, Cordillera de Los Andes, the Pacific Ocean and antártica. All the conquistadors who came here from Perú started with great armies and had hundreds or thousands of deaths after walking in the desert with the highest UV radiation in the world, not a single tree in sight, nights with -15°C, days with 30°C and near 0% humidity. There’s a lot of stories of the Spanish carrying the frozen bodies of the ones who died walking so they could eat something while crossing la cordillera
Actually recent archeology have shown that there was a lot of contact, trade and migration between the Andes and the Amazon. Search Inka ruins in Riberalta and Rondonia.
The best part about Lex getting historians on the show is his own genuine thirst for knowledge and understanding. He asks the questions all of us listening want to ask! I am almost 3 hours in and this thing is flying by because it's so interesting.
I’m Chilean and here 95% of the people have Rh+ blood, what he says in 17:50 is very interesting. Today nearly 60% of Chileans have O+ group in part because the Mapuche people from southern Chile had more than 80% of their population with O+ blood, and basically 100% with Rh+ blood
In north east Ohio I drive by an earth pyramid complex every day. No one cares about it at all. It’s now a cow pasture, crop fields, and people’s yards.
@@OhioGentlemenArms yea I've been to all the ones near me even found a few myself that's never been documented. Was just trying figure out if one he was referring to are onea I've seen
Lex, I got to tell you man, these podcast with these archaeologist that speak about the Aztecs the Mayans, the Romans, ancient history in general, they’re fucking beautiful man. Such awesome episodes please continue to have these guys on. They’re awesome especially the guy that talks about ancient native tribes in America that guy so cool man. Thank you for this bro!
I think he's right about the use of acids in ancient masonry. There are quarry sites in Egypt, where obelisks were taken out more or less whole from horizontal stone surfaces. The edges around the monoliths appear to have been scooped out as opposed to chiseled, as if the stone had been softened prior to excavation.
@@Akio-fy7ep not gonna lie, that's pretty inconsistent with what's observed, the smooth rounded edges, with overlapping "waves", lack of carbon residue etc. Also the likely hood of unintentional fractures would be too great. The best conceivable explanation I've heard is that they hammered it out with copper balls (which they did use for fine detailing). But again, that's inconsistent with the evidence, and the Egyptians were too smart to waste time and effort on such an inefficient method.
This was awesome, my new favorite smart person Mr Barnhart. Brilliant and I so no ego. Very down to earth, he left room for ifs and ands. Just really enjoyed it. I believe I learned more from your podcast than I have in years listening to all those that think they know everything. Thank you, it was very enjoyable
Hey Lex. Loved this episode! Can you do one on the history of Asia, like China, Japan, Korea, etc. One on the middle ages One on the anglo-saxons or the British Isles One on US History One on Mesopotamia, Assyria, Babylon, Media and Persia, and Egypt?😊
Loved this podcast!! I really enjoyed hiking a pleasant 3 mile trail in Colorado on a Monday afternoon and imagining the people that might have lived in the Amazon. Thanks Lex for inviting such interesting people!
@@giantorres3352Most of Mexico's population is mestizo, literally the mixture between indigenous and Europeans so, obviously any mestizo in Mexico is direct descent. Also there are still many indigenous communities that speak indigenous languages, it's not that hard to know it.
@@jose_reyes1111 Yes I know around 80% of mexicans are mestizos of spanish and native american heritage. But I just find it strange how most mexicans only mention the aztecs and forget all the other many tribes. For example I am sure many mexicans are mayan and spanish mestizos.
like when cortez walked into the capitol of the aztecs and saw these massive pyramids, covered in red blood, and just a completely different society in every way possible. must have been like being on an alien planet
Anyone else just wake up and this guys podcast comes on. Happens every time I fall asleep to a video. I wake up the next day and I see that my phone has played two full podcasts
Still don’t really understand why the Purepecha civilization is overlooked. They existed at the same time as the Aztecs and, in fact, halted Aztec westward expansion due to their superior metallurgy. Really a badass people.
Probably because Mexican national identity after independence from Spain was built using the aztecs as a common ancestor to all Mexicans, ignoring all other tribes. It is not uncommon for mexicans to say they are part aztec, when it could be likely that they are descendant from other enemy tribes.
Fun fact about Russian scholar Yuri Knorozov(1:53:10) He listed his cat as the co author of every book he wrote but the editors always took it out before print and in his photo he is holding her but the editors kept cropping her out
This is so refreshing to listen to. Loved what he said at 1:07:11. He's so open minded and so much less gatekeeping like all these archaeology and paleontology RUclipsrs that lean into drama every chance they get and need to correct everyone on the current state of science. Interviews like this one are so much more awe-inspiring and just so wonderful to listen to. Thank you for introducing us to Ed, Lex
I luv luv luv this episode. It was great learning more about the old civilizations of my dear Peru 🇵🇪. Bring him back as well as the Roman scholar and more history professors.
I love how completely unbiased Lex comes off even interviewing people that he doesn't agree with.. he just does it in the most tasteful and tactful and graceful manner.. and IMO episodes like these with these guests offer the most intriguing and important of questions to be asked.
@@snookmeister55 "The Book of Mormon", one of the sacred texts within mormonism, purports itself to contain both a religious and secular history of the "ancestors of the Native Americans", with the principal ancestors purportedly arriving in the Americas sometime around 600 B.C. from Jerusalem. Although there are many nuanced perspectives held by Mormons in regards to the historicity of the Book of Mormon, the "mainstream" interpretation and teaching is that the great civilizations of Southern, Central, and Northern America have some direct connections to the peoples described in the Book of Mormon.
@archaeoedpodcast Ed Barnhart, I really enjoyed your series on South American civilizations on The Great Courses and glad to see you’re getting this kind of publicity!
Great podcast but the photo of Tenochtitlan is actually Teotihuacan (a city that was ancient and mysterious for Aztecs). Tenochtitlan is literally under Mexico City.
@@randomuser6306 truly fascinating and untapped potential. Kids these days derserve to be taught history that might interest them instead of the old cookie cutter stuff. The fall of the Aztecs is one of the most important moments in western history no doubt
The Aztecs extracted the hearts of human sacrifice victims in a few ways, including: Subdiaphragmatic thoracotomy- The most common method, where the victim's chest was cut open under the ribs. This method was the easiest and didn't require cutting through bone. Mr Barnhart refers to either an intercostal thoracotomy- The victim's chest was cut between two left ribs. Or (more likely) a transverse bilateral thoracotomy where the victim's chest was cut vertically through the sternum, cutting the sternal bone.
Explaining it clinically like that doesn't take away from the brutality of it. It's unimaginable what it must've been like having your heart ripped out as you're still living.
Nat Geo did a documentary on this, and they had a surgeon try cutting through the sternum of a dummy and found they couldn't do it with an obsidian knife. The descriptions from the Spanish make it sound like they were cutting through the sternum, but I don't think it's actually possible or at least not with an obsidian knife.
This is the first thing I’ve watched with Ed Barnhart and I’m hooked!! I’m mad at myself because I’ve been watching Luke Caverns and he always talks about how Barnhart is his mentor and a brilliant man. I should have listened to Luke and checked out Barnhart’s content sooner! I love listening to and learning from archeologists like them. They make the content easy to understand and they have so many small details to share about everything! It’s amazing to watch and listen to! I enjoyed this podcast sooooo much!!!!
Ed thank you! The ancient Aztecs under Hernán Cortés rule - the riveting and grueling details had me at the edge of my seat. I appreciate all the hard work that archaeologist do especially excavating ancient artifacts and putting the tiny pieces together to create that narrative of that time period. Incredible hard work. Much love.
Great episode. The Mayan are my absolutely my favorite civilization of all time. They had such a refined and sophisticated culture; the only natives in the anericas to develop not only writting but a fantastic litersture, they are one of few peoples to invent the concept of zero and decimal-like system, sophistaced astronomy, high agro-science and hydrogical engeneering, and my favorite of all, an exquisite, whimsical visual art which competes imo with any art in this world past or present.
This one was sooooo good and got me through a long flight! His passion and humbleness for the topics really shined, and I loved the respect with which he discussed the Hancock conversation.
These sorts of discussions are fascinating, glad you had him on. I would love to see Richard Dolan on here someday to discuss UAP phenomena with you Lex🛸
This is one of the best guest on a podcast literally ever. Super knowledgeable and is able to speak to the common rabble. Fascinating especially as a descendent of the Maya. It actually reminds me of an old school Rogan episode. Politics and the culture war rots brains. I know it’s important to hear everyone out, but it’s exhausting without end… so thanks for this episode.
Thank you for listening ❤ Check out our sponsors: lexfridman.com/sponsors/ep446-sa
See below for timestamps, transcript, and to give feedback, submit questions, contact Lex, etc.
0:00 - Introduction
1:39 - Lost civilizations
8:43 - Hunter-gatherers
12:16 - First humans in the Americas
22:07 - South America
27:36 - Pyramids
34:40 - Religion
47:44 - Shamanism
49:41 - Ayahuasca
55:54 - Lost City of Z
1:00:48 - Graham Hancock
1:07:51 - Uncontacted tribes
1:13:51 - Maya civilization
1:29:40 - Mayan calendar
1:44:57 - Flood myths
2:13:25 - Aztecs
2:30:52 - Inca Empire
2:48:52 - Early humans in North America
2:54:50 - Columbus
2:59:26 - Vikings
3:03:35 - Aliens
3:08:02 - Earth in 10,000 years
3:24:12 - Hope for the future
*Transcript:*
lexfridman.com/ed-barnhart-transcript
*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 RUclips: 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:*
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What a great surprise. Butterfly wings connecting 🤍
M1
I like the little guitar on your shelf I just noticed it is it a new addition to the decor?
:p
you need more about the food that originates from Mexico, like tomatoes, corn, chocolates, ect. You'd be surprised that lots of what we eat is from mexico. And they're not wild plants, they were domesticated intentionally by humans. chilli peppers. The farmers in Mexico had huge corn fields, it was a native thing not an "american thing' to farm corn and other foods. Like "italian tomato sauce" "indian chilli" "belgian chocolate" all are foods of the natives.
This guy is so cool! Hope you have him back!
Hey Lex, thank you for having me on! I hope everyone enjoyed learning more about the Ancient Americas! 🌎
If anyone has a burning question: please, leave it below! 👇
Where would you say is the most likely place in the Americas to find an undiscovered ancient city?
@@lukecaverns Under the ash around volcanoes in Mexico and Guatemala.
Would you say there is any evidence of Christianity in ancient America?
Cerveza Cusqueña or Arequipeña?
It surprised me there wasn’t any mention of the Chinchorro culture which is older than the one you mentioned in the Peruvian Coast
lex please keep doing these history podcasts
Seriously. So sick of politics. Even technology is getting tiresome. But there’s something comforting about these in depth discussions that cover our species’ past. It makes things in our own time seem less dramatic.
@@JonnyCook year the politics episodes are annoying. I love the history pods
Agree politician ones are hard to swallow. These are gold.
I'm in good company with this comment section.... And in agreement with them- hell yeah! More history/archeology deep dives, please! An individual can only hear the orange man speak so many times.😂😅@@JonnyCook
Yes please 🙏
Please no more politics, everyone does it and we're exhausted. More history and archeologists like this guy! Its so captivating.
sorry but its time to listen jordan peterson again for some reason
@@hrodwulf172 Lmao exactly what I thought 😂
Ed was worth 50x all the JPs combined.
Lmao this guy is a liberal for sure....
@@TobyTradesApex lmfao this guy (you) is dumb enough to get fooled by an orange con man for sure 😂😂
This guy and the Roman Empire expert were 10/10 guests. Thank you Lex!
What's his name?
@@eag8999 Gregory Aldrete
@@eag8999 Gregory Aldrete #443
@@eag8999 Gregory Aldrete
Gregory Aldrete @@eag8999
dude i love him so much. no ego, no frill, just amazement wonderment, and knowledge. My type of existence i wish to meet people in.
Yea that Beta lib Neil Degrassi Tyson should take notes...lol.
Come to Kenya and look for me
Love all the historians you are having on the podcast!!!!
Yeah beats all the political bullshit for sure
Yes!! Keep it coming Lex
This has been awesoem. I’m still not quite through Eastern Europe / Germany / Russian discussion.
Specially because these are REAL historians and archeologists, not the type Joe Rogan usually has in his podcast
Super refreshing not to have current nonsense shoved down your throat every which way to Sunday
I like how lex is adding visuals to the podcast I wish many other podcasts did this
Could be more accurate though some of the videos they showed were from the wrong civilization
Like AI ? Lol
Dr. Barnhart is one of my closest friends & I’m blessed to have him as a mentor. Such a brilliant & humble guy. 🕵🏻♂️
Please put him on UnchartedX’s latest speech about his vase-findings at the cosmic summit! Would love to see this get recognized by the mainstream🙏
@@donquijote77 ...Dr. Barnhart's expertise is in middle and South American archeology. Uncharted X is regurgitated dribble we've seen on dozens and dozens of other's podcasts. Time to give Egypt a rest.
@@sitbone3 chill
Yea this guy is fantastic Luke! Humble. For sure will be reading some of his work and watching other videos of his.
@@sapiophile545 ..chill yourself, bozo.
Lex please keep having Mr. Hartman on. He’s absolutely amazing. I could listen to him for hours upon hours. Such a cool soul.
01:53:00 Thank you sir, for giving credit to the Russian linguist who decoded the Maya language. And without even leaving his country. There's a monument dedicated to him in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico. But even so, almost nobody in Mexico or even in the state knows about that gentleman.
👏👏♥️
Amazing Lex!!! Very excited about this episode. You should try and have someone on to talk about Ancient China
That's a great one ,it seems like we don't appreciate how old the Chinese civilization is ,since China is still standing on top of the world now we don't care enough to study the old China, shame
That's all samurai and kamikaze
@@stickemuppunkitsthefunlovi4733 bro thats the japanese lmao
@@VishJR07 close enough haha
@@stickemuppunkitsthefunlovi4733 lol cool stuff too. China just had writing and printing way before Europe did and it’s never talked about. (At least in my opinion)
This has been one of my favourite episodes, just because of how so damn nice Ed is and how excited he is about what he researches. I also noted the brief discussion of Hancock. No personal attacks, just a disagreement in the conclusions. I wish more people in the archaeology field were like this guy and were receptive to maybe simplistic or uninformed questions or notions about his research. Even when Lex was asking similar questions over and over again, he just kept being nice and enthusiastic about the discussion. It never felt like he was lecturing, it felt like asking your favourite teacher about niche topics. I've never had too much interest or knowledge about this topic but even after half an hour in I started taking notes so I could research this stuff later. Really awesome episode.
Kudos on a great conversation, Lex. As a retired anthropologist and educator, I am hopeful that your audience absorbs the huge knowledge drop that Ed shares so eloquently. Thank You!
These historian podcasts are awesome. I personally would love listening to a discussion on ancient Asia like China or the middle east.
I live in Illinois, and have visited the Cahokia mounds numerous times. You would be absolutely shocked that people even an hour away have no clue that they are there. It's an absolute travesty that they haven't even been declared a national monument.
I live in Texas. Made a special trip up there. It’s truly mystical
I am wondering what it would take to make that place become a national monument, or similarly preserved, acknowledged and honored. I am good with you doing that work.
School teaches me that history is boring and you teach me to love it. Thank you so much Lex / Ed for teaching us. It’s truly a privilege to listen to experts share their knowledge about different periods and places in our history. This is enough of a spark for me to take an exciting journey I never thought possible. Thank you for all you do.
School in 2025 is a joke. It is a place where people are taught what to think not how to think. While I’m respectful of these “educators” because they are underpaid and disrespected by front office and students alike. I’m tired of this sheet show.
@@Jazsway910education has always been about what to think
If you think getting taught history in school is boring then you're just not paying attention because real history is very interesting without all these fantastical massive leap to conclusion history stories that these guys love to say.
AS an adult, I SO wish I could go back to school and retake history and earth science with the same curiosity I have now!
@@el.blanco552 If you sat in my history class you wouldn't be saying that. But I will still get an A!
I wish I had these podcasts as a teenager. This would have moved me into Archaeology
Didn’t you watch Indiana jones?
It seems we would all like a weekly history podcast
Daily
Yeah, I'd love a good weekly history podcast episode. Ancient civilization stuff.
🫡
How have i never heard of this fella? Finally a humble open minded archeologist that doesnt rip on peoples theories.
I'm not really a history geek here but this podcast is one of the most brilliant ones I've been listening to recently. Good job, Lex!
This is one of my favorite shows and guests from Lex. He has a wonderful way of having deep but light conversations. The whole family enjoys listening to Lex.
Going hard on the history lately Lex! Great content!
I think lex is being strategic in his use of historians in the current tumultuous landscape of politics and society as a whole. There are deeper lessons to be had in these conversations! Love u lex 🫶🏼
What do you mean by that?
Yea what are you trying to say?
@@spodergibbs5088 he is not saying anything
@@Ps3keks15 I liked this interview
👏👏👏
"I am an educator. Refusing to be a part of the conversation is an immediate fail in my book." And I have huge respect for that!
FYI for Ed: I was raised in the 90s and learned that the Incas and the Maya were over here with their empires. We did a whole project on it in 5th grade, and decorated the classroom and everything. So we were NOT taught that "nobody was here" before the Europeans. We also learned at length about the colonist / Native American relations, and what happened to the Natives following colonization.
Also I lived in the Pacific Northwest, so it's not like I learned this in Texas or New Mexico which would be closer to the Central American civilizations. So I feel it's likely that this is common education for many American kids.
I love what you shared in this talk and it was in much greater depth, and much more interesting than what I learned in school. But I also wanted you to have a note that your generalization did not apply very well to my public-school education. We were under-educated about it, but not ignorant.
There are two comments by Barnhart that stand out for me among many others, he also put well: That archaeology is supposed to attempt to disprove theories instead of proving them and that one should keep an open mind to ideas outside the majority think bubble...I am paraphrasing. I was relieved to finally hear an archaeologist say these words. You've got my respect, Ed.
Doesn’t mean you can claim outrageous theories without a single shred of evidence like graham I might add. I mean u can but until you find something, maybe don’t make a whole series about it. He’ll never prove it, because what he believes never was, sad for him
All hypothesis develop over time. Graham Hancock is a writer, not, an archaeologist.
metoda falsei ipoteze
The idiot has no idea. He is lying his ass off. please stop the lies.
All of science is like that. However the evidence should always guide the claims and eventually the Hypotheses to then put to the test.
Science is essentially about failing to disprove your hypothesis and only then does it become a theory. However making claims without substantial evidence to back it up….makes scientists turn away. We are open to the evidence but not to claims without evidence. Also its about likelihood vs unlikelihood, rather than possible vs not possible
This guy sounds very reasonable and would have been a FAR better choice than Flint Dibble to have that discussion with Hancock on JRE. I'd like to hear this guy speak his thoughts on a lot more of what Graham says
Flint was great
Flint and Hancock have a lot baggage that made them a great pair. They have been lobbing insults at each other on the Twitter-sphere so Rogan decided to give them both a platform to debate. But your point is valid!
@@c_rock3512 no, he is a man child. He has Graham in his head rent free. Most people move on with their lives. 58,000 plus PhD in the world. He’s acting like a brat still this day after the “debate”. Forget debate, it should be a convo, not a debate.
@@MichaelPK03 I’m not caught up on all drama outside of the podcast but I thought Flint was great during the debate. He came prepared for Hancock arguments and brought a lot of evidence to support his position. In the process I learned a whole lot, especially about agriculture in the ancient world. I think a lot of Graham fans demonize the guy because he made grahams whole thesis look pretty silly.
I like both guys that’s just my interpretation. I only watched the podcast though. So I don’t endorse flints behavior if he was acting like a dick outside the podcast.
@@c_rock3512 glad your not. I see it all the time on my Twitter feed. Just does debunking stuff. You can tell how much more mature Edward is compared though
I am a Ed Barnhart fan now
Check out his Great Couses audiobooks they are great
Definitely
This might be your best podcast. It might actually be one of the best I’ve ever seen.
Possibly even the best of all time, better than any other podcast episode ever created, ever.
😂@@american_cosmic
Thanks for having another interesting and humble guest on who teaches ancient history in a compelling way. This podcast is making me think about archeology and the history of the americas in a new way. Thanks Lex for always asking the questions to elicit such great responses!
Amazing podcast, as a Mexican I enjoy when some one Explain really well the ancient American Civilizations that lived here in the same Territory that I call home.
There are incredible historians in Mexico and Latin America that are revisiting and challenging these standing narratives.
@@impala1977can you point to the research and what opposing views there are to what this interviewee presented?
@@NorseRonin
Most opposing views are in Spanish because many Latin American thinkers are not considered relevant as their opposing peers in the USA
This one is in English. This author, philosopher is phenomenal, and would’ve been great to have interviewed him. He taught all over the world and was a polyglot but sadly just passed away.
enriquedussel.com/txt/Textos_Articulos/213.1990_ingl.pdf
Some of the opposing views are they actually didn't do sacrifices and were doing surgeries instead. Another already corrected thing is that the term Aztec is wrong and the real correct name for them is Culhua Mexica. Another thing that most people omit is that there was actually a stronger empire in Mexico at the time the "Purepecha AKA Tarascos" that nkbody likes to talk about much.
@@NorseRonin funny, I posted stuff and it’s gone.
Anyone who's driven or flown from the Andes to the Amazon understand why those people remained completely separated from each other. It's not like a gentle hike up into the mountains. It is impenetrable mountain fortresses that drop off steep cliffs into a jungle. Ain't no one going back and forth easily in ancient times.
That’s why we don’t have dengue and a lot of insects, virus, bacteria and parasites that are common in all the rest of South America. That’s also why Chile has a different culture from the rest of South America, we have been isolated from the rest of the continent by the driest desert on earth, Cordillera de Los Andes, the Pacific Ocean and antártica. All the conquistadors who came here from Perú started with great armies and had hundreds or thousands of deaths after walking in the desert with the highest UV radiation in the world, not a single tree in sight, nights with -15°C, days with 30°C and near 0% humidity. There’s a lot of stories of the Spanish carrying the frozen bodies of the ones who died walking so they could eat something while crossing la cordillera
Lex did that. Bucket list for sure.
There was contact though, just not a ton.
Actually recent archeology have shown that there was a lot of contact, trade and migration between the Andes and the Amazon. Search Inka ruins in Riberalta and Rondonia.
Lex has been having all these history podcasts recently and its been amazing! Its great to see more podcasts with historians and/or archaeologists.
This is the content we want and need!
I could watch unlimited minutes of this conversation
I like the visuals that lex started putting in the podcasts. It's cool to see the figure he was talking about.
The best part about Lex getting historians on the show is his own genuine thirst for knowledge and understanding.
He asks the questions all of us listening want to ask! I am almost 3 hours in and this thing is flying by because it's so interesting.
After watching the Rome podcast this was a must to see and it didn't disappoint. Love it. Please more of these kind of podcast Lex.
I love these historical interviews. First - roman history. Now - mesaamerican. I'd love to see more!
It is so refreshing to hear "I Do Not Know, however, this is what I Do Know concerning this topic."
Lex deserves credit for the polish hes put into his delivery, tone, cadence, and line of questioning as he has furthered along on this journey.
I’m Chilean and here 95% of the people have Rh+ blood, what he says in 17:50 is very interesting. Today nearly 60% of Chileans have O+ group in part because the Mapuche people from southern Chile had more than 80% of their population with O+ blood, and basically 100% with Rh+ blood
Lots of people from the Basque Country went to Chile and they have one of the highest concentration of O+ blood in the world.
Easily one of the best podcast episodes I've seen in a while.
In north east Ohio I drive by an earth pyramid complex every day. No one cares about it at all. It’s now a cow pasture, crop fields, and people’s yards.
Where at in ohio
Where is this in ohio, I'm from Southern ohio would love to see it
@@TimFaulkner-qb5kl mahoning county but in southern Ohio you have many documented earth works
@@OhioGentlemenArms yea I've been to all the ones near me even found a few myself that's never been documented. Was just trying figure out if one he was referring to are onea I've seen
@@TimFaulkner-qb5kl it’s wild think some of these are older than Egypt. No one seems to care that we are living in a place people have been forever.
Lex, I got to tell you man, these podcast with these archaeologist that speak about the Aztecs the Mayans, the Romans, ancient history in general, they’re fucking beautiful man. Such awesome episodes please continue to have these guys on. They’re awesome especially the guy that talks about ancient native tribes in America that guy so cool man. Thank you for this bro!
This guy was seriously awesome. Have him again sometime. He needs to be the face of archeology like Brian cox is for physics
Couldn't agree more
Wow, 3.5 hours. Talk about long form content. The Internet needs more of this!
I think he's right about the use of acids in ancient masonry. There are quarry sites in Egypt, where obelisks were taken out more or less whole from horizontal stone surfaces. The edges around the monoliths appear to have been scooped out as opposed to chiseled, as if the stone had been softened prior to excavation.
That would be alot of acid
We know how they did that. It involved building a fire and then quenching with water to shatter the stone. Rinse and repeat.
@@Akio-fy7ep not gonna lie, that's pretty inconsistent with what's observed, the smooth rounded edges, with overlapping "waves", lack of carbon residue etc. Also the likely hood of unintentional fractures would be too great. The best conceivable explanation I've heard is that they hammered it out with copper balls (which they did use for fine detailing). But again, that's inconsistent with the evidence, and the Egyptians were too smart to waste time and effort on such an inefficient method.
I've been falling this guy for years. He is a literal treasure.
This was awesome, my new favorite smart person Mr Barnhart. Brilliant and I so no ego. Very down to earth, he left room for ifs and ands. Just really enjoyed it. I believe I learned more from your podcast than I have in years listening to all those that think they know everything. Thank you, it was very enjoyable
This has to be one of my absolute favorite episodes! What an amazing guest!
Lex’s reaction when Ed is describing Aztec sacrifices is perfect 😂
Hey Lex. Loved this episode!
Can you do one on the history of Asia, like China, Japan, Korea, etc.
One on the middle ages
One on the anglo-saxons or the British Isles
One on US History
One on Mesopotamia, Assyria, Babylon, Media and Persia, and Egypt?😊
Thanks for having this guest. I have watched many hours of his classes on the Great Courses.
What a thoroughly nice and humble man Ed appears to be
Loved this podcast!! I really enjoyed hiking a pleasant 3 mile trail in Colorado on a Monday afternoon and imagining the people that might have lived in the Amazon. Thanks Lex for inviting such interesting people!
Aztec descendent here - thank you!
A spanish descendant for sure
How do you know you are of aztec descent?
@@giantorres3352Most of Mexico's population is mestizo, literally the mixture between indigenous and Europeans so, obviously any mestizo in Mexico is direct descent. Also there are still many indigenous communities that speak indigenous languages, it's not that hard to know it.
@@jose_reyes1111 Yes I know around 80% of mexicans are mestizos of spanish and native american heritage. But I just find it strange how most mexicans only mention the aztecs and forget all the other many tribes. For example I am sure many mexicans are mayan and spanish mestizos.
@@giantorres3352I’m just Mexican .
Imagine how crazy the Americas must have been to a european compared to where they came from.
like when cortez walked into the capitol of the aztecs and saw these massive pyramids, covered in red blood, and just a completely different society in every way possible. must have been like being on an alien planet
Yes I would have stayed back at the ships 😂
Wish they would have 😂
You mean the Europeans who already had a long history of engaging in slavery, pillaging, torture, and colonization?
@@metehancebeci2346serious or actually that stupid? The European states didn't have any colonies before 1492.
I'm truly thankful for this type of information, learning about these sorts of things really keeps life interesting ❤
Anyone else just wake up and this guys podcast comes on. Happens every time I fall asleep to a video. I wake up the next day and I see that my phone has played two full podcasts
I do.
Good guest. I’ve watched much of his Great Courses lectures. So knowledgeable about the Americas.
Still don’t really understand why the Purepecha civilization is overlooked. They existed at the same time as the Aztecs and, in fact, halted Aztec westward expansion due to their superior metallurgy. Really a badass people.
Yup. Been there
Facts. They were powerful too. They both couldn't conquered each other
supposedly they were different from the surrounding tribes and more related to the andean peoples
Probably because Mexican national identity after independence from Spain was built using the aztecs as a common ancestor to all Mexicans, ignoring all other tribes. It is not uncommon for mexicans to say they are part aztec, when it could be likely that they are descendant from other enemy tribes.
Never heard of him but can’t wait to put some time aside to watch and listen
Fun fact about Russian scholar Yuri Knorozov(1:53:10) He listed his cat as the co author of every book he wrote but the editors always took it out before print and in his photo he is holding her but the editors kept cropping her out
This is so refreshing to listen to. Loved what he said at 1:07:11. He's so open minded and so much less gatekeeping like all these archaeology and paleontology RUclipsrs that lean into drama every chance they get and need to correct everyone on the current state of science. Interviews like this one are so much more awe-inspiring and just so wonderful to listen to. Thank you for introducing us to Ed, Lex
I luv luv luv this episode. It was great learning more about the old civilizations of my dear Peru 🇵🇪. Bring him back as well as the Roman scholar and more history professors.
I love this dude. I have all his lectures
You got me now i must watch. Thank you lex fridman for the content your always bringing fire fire content for years dont ever change God bless 🔥
I love how completely unbiased Lex comes off even interviewing people that he doesn't agree with.. he just does it in the most tasteful and tactful and graceful manner.. and IMO episodes like these with these guests offer the most intriguing and important of questions to be asked.
Really enjoyed listening to this one! One of the best so far. If I had a teacher like Ed, I would have definitely become an archeologist.
Thank you Lex 💙
Yw
This is much better than history class...
Please send this interview to every Mormon you know.
It won’t help. LDS is a cult based on false theology.
Why send to Mormons?
Because they teach America was populated by the tribes of Israel. One Mormon tried to uncover evidence for this and found none. He remained Mormon
@@snookmeister55 they have some pretty crazy beliefs surrounding ancient Americans.
@@snookmeister55 "The Book of Mormon", one of the sacred texts within mormonism, purports itself to contain both a religious and secular history of the "ancestors of the Native Americans", with the principal ancestors purportedly arriving in the Americas sometime around 600 B.C. from Jerusalem. Although there are many nuanced perspectives held by Mormons in regards to the historicity of the Book of Mormon, the "mainstream" interpretation and teaching is that the great civilizations of Southern, Central, and Northern America have some direct connections to the peoples described in the Book of Mormon.
Loved this one! Felt short somehow, even though it's 3.5 hrs long. Felt like a departure from the usual for this podcast in a great way.
@archaeoedpodcast Ed Barnhart, I really enjoyed your series on South American civilizations on The Great Courses and glad to see you’re getting this kind of publicity!
I'm 30 min. inTo this episode, and I'm so glad RUclips brought me here ❤
This guy is great ! Thank you Lex!
Great podcast but the photo of Tenochtitlan is actually Teotihuacan (a city that was ancient and mysterious for Aztecs). Tenochtitlan is literally under Mexico City.
The most engaging interview by Lex I've seen so far, and the first one I watched in its entirety, not just clips.
This guy and the Roman historian 2 best podcasts I’ve watched in years, thank you lex
People forget that back in the day there was no internet or TV etc. People didn't just sit around all day and do nothing.
Wow. Amazing podcast. As a Peruvian American, learning more about the early civilizations in Peru and the Incan empire was awesome.
There’s better sources I. Peru
There is a question, why is this episode the greatest feeling of "i have so many more questions"
The acid theory about how the rocks were melted makes so much sense! Hope Ed gets approval to get some core samples :)
Thank you for all the great podcast guests Lex!!
Awesome these ancient History episodes are great.
My favorite subject of all time is South American history. We should be taught this in school
My favorite subject of all time is how their civilizations collapsed like a house of cards and their demon worship ended in a fortnight. Happy days.
@@randomuser6306 truly fascinating and untapped potential. Kids these days derserve to be taught history that might interest them instead of the old cookie cutter stuff. The fall of the Aztecs is one of the most important moments in western history no doubt
The Aztecs extracted the hearts of human sacrifice victims in a few ways, including: Subdiaphragmatic thoracotomy- The most common method, where the victim's chest was cut open under the ribs. This method was the easiest and didn't require cutting through bone. Mr Barnhart refers to either an intercostal thoracotomy- The victim's chest was cut between two left ribs. Or (more likely) a transverse bilateral thoracotomy where the victim's chest was cut vertically through the sternum, cutting the sternal bone.
Explaining it clinically like that doesn't take away from the brutality of it. It's unimaginable what it must've been like having your heart ripped out as you're still living.
Nat Geo did a documentary on this, and they had a surgeon try cutting through the sternum of a dummy and found they couldn't do it with an obsidian knife. The descriptions from the Spanish make it sound like they were cutting through the sternum, but I don't think it's actually possible or at least not with an obsidian knife.
you do know the church has its share of doing the same things right? @Allplussomeminus
@@blvkfvng2727which church, where and when cut out human hearts?
Religion poisons everything - Christopher Hitchens
This is the first thing I’ve watched with Ed Barnhart and I’m hooked!! I’m mad at myself because I’ve been watching Luke Caverns and he always talks about how Barnhart is his mentor and a brilliant man. I should have listened to Luke and checked out Barnhart’s content sooner! I love listening to and learning from archeologists like them. They make the content easy to understand and they have so many small details to share about everything! It’s amazing to watch and listen to! I enjoyed this podcast sooooo much!!!!
FASCINATING!!! I Love everything in this podcast. What an impressive guest, possessing tremendous expertise in the Americas' history and archeologist.
Just when I was getting interested in that topic, perfect timing !
Sou do Brasil e Sr LEX FRDMAN.
POR FAVOR TRADUÇÃO E PORTUGUÊS., LEGENDA.
GRATIDÃO 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
I agree. Lexi, translate these conversations. They’re highly educational.
So you are saying the predator movies are movified documentaries?!
Ed thank you! The ancient Aztecs under Hernán Cortés rule - the riveting and grueling details had me at the edge of my seat. I appreciate all the hard work that archaeologist do especially excavating ancient artifacts and putting the tiny pieces together to create that narrative of that time period. Incredible hard work. Much love.
Great episode. The Mayan are my absolutely my favorite civilization of all time. They had such a refined and sophisticated culture; the only natives in the anericas to develop not only writting but a fantastic litersture, they are one of few peoples to invent the concept of zero and decimal-like system, sophistaced astronomy, high agro-science and hydrogical engeneering, and my favorite of all, an exquisite, whimsical visual art which competes imo with any art in this world past or present.
This one was sooooo good and got me through a long flight! His passion and humbleness for the topics really shined, and I loved the respect with which he discussed the Hancock conversation.
These sorts of discussions are fascinating, glad you had him on. I would love to see Richard Dolan on here someday to discuss UAP phenomena with you Lex🛸
time to get Dan Carlin on, if he ever leaves his bunker
He’s already had Dan on
You should get Bart Erhman and Jon McWhorter on sometime
Jon McWorther - The Untold History of English 🙌
@@daphnee1233 Word entomology is very interesting more interesting than most people think 🤷🏼♂️
This is one of the best guest on a podcast literally ever. Super knowledgeable and is able to speak to the common rabble. Fascinating especially as a descendent of the Maya. It actually reminds me of an old school Rogan episode. Politics and the culture war rots brains. I know it’s important to hear everyone out, but it’s exhausting without end… so thanks for this episode.