Jaredites and Olmec - the same?
Jaredites and Olmec
by Douglas K. Christensen
Jaredites and NephiteJaredites and Nephitelived in the same general
area).
One of the important concepts that we
need to understand about the Jaredites and
the Nephites is that both were destroyed in a
civil war, and they were also destroyed at
exactly the same place. Ether 15:11 reads,
“And it came to pass that the army of
Coriantumr did pitch their tents by the hill
Ramah; and it was that same hill where my
father Mormon did hide up the records unto
the Lord, which were sacred.
Moroni is talking, and he tells us that the
hill Ramah, where the Jaredites were
destroyed, is exactly the same hill where
Mormon and Moroni were in the last battle of
the Nephites. And so the requirements for the
Nephites need to be in the same area as the
Jaredites, unless you want to postulate that
one or the other of those cultures traveled
thousands of miles to duke out their last
battle. Basically, we have to have the same
geographical requirements for the Jaredites as
we have for the Nephites, at least the same
general area.
2. Does this area have remaining cultural
traits and/or a written history, as described
in the Book of Mormon?
We also need to look at whatever area
we are postulating and ask if it has any
remaining cultural traits and a written history,
as described in the Book of Mormon.
3. Does the known archaeology of this area point
to a true civilization as described in the Book of
Mormon?
4. Are we looking at the correct time periods?
It is very important, as Latter-day Saints,
when we are talking with people who are
conversant with the earth’s chronology, that
we don’t talk about things that obviously
happened at different time periods, like
tectonic plate movement. Geology deals with
very different time periods than we are dealing
with here.
What clues does the Book of Mormon
give us for locating the Jaredites?
1. 344-day journey from the Great Tower in the
Old World to the New World (Ether 6:11)
2. Jaredites were a large people (Ether 15:26)
3. Jaredite civilization was in the “North Country”
(Ether 1:1)
4. Jaredites lived near a land of many waters
called Ripliancum (Ether 15:8)
5. Jaredites had a true civilization from about
1500 to 300 B.C.
6. Jaredites self-destructed in a major civil war
near a large hill called Ramah (Ether 15:11).
There are four commonly proposed
locations for the Jaredites.
1. All of North and South America, which comes
from Mormon apocryphal tradition
2. South America Cordillera
3 North American Eastern Woodlands or the
Great Lakes area
4. Mesoamerica
So what I would like to do is take a look
at each of these areas and see if they fit
1. Let’s discuss the theory that it is all
North and South America. It is 6,500 miles in
length.
Status During Jaredite Times (2000 to 300
B.C.)
Archaeology: No evidence of dense or even sparse
population covering this vast area.
Written history: The only written history is found
in Mesoamerica during this time period.
Scriptures: Accounts of Jaredite last battles portray
millions of people, but all in one relatively small area
(Ether 14 & 15)
Let’s take a look at the South American
Cordillera. The Cordillera consists primarily of
the west coasts of Peru and Chile. There was
a civilization that grew up primarily around
ocean fishing and farming on the plateaus
2. South American Cordillera
during Jaredite Times
Called “The Initial Period” by Archaeologists (1800 to
400 B.C.), the time period that would correspond to
the Jaredites.
Archaeology: Religious ceremonial centers and
large mounds were constructed until about 500 B.C.
when building came to an abrupt end. Use of
irrigation agriculture and ceramic pottery began about
1500 B.C. Population sizes were moderate, mostly
centered around irrigation canals and the coast.
Political organization was primarily kinship (tribal).
Tools were primarily stone. Very little evidence of
large scale warfare.
Written history: No evidence of literacy anytime
prior to Spanish conquest. Accounting, records,
plans, etc. were recorded by using knots in rope.
Scriptures: The geography requirements of the Book
of Mormon cannot be made to fit anywhere on the
South American Cordillera.
I am not going to go through the Book of
Mormon geography requirements in detail.
Most of you know what those are: a sea east,
a sea west, a narrow strip of wilderness, and
so on and so forth. The South American
Cordillera only has a sea west.
3. Eastern Woodlands
This time period, which is called by archaeologists the
Late Archaic Period, is 3200 to 1000 B.C.
You had three cultures that were living in
that general area. Yesterday, in our
discussion about minerals, you saw that there
were copper deposits in the Great Lakes area.
These deposits contributed to the old Copper
Culture, the Shield Archaic Culture north of
there, and the Laurentian culture. Southeast
of here were cultures, such as the mound
builders, but they are a little bit later on.
So let’s take a look at the characteristics
of the Eastern Woodlands during the same
time period as the Jaredites.
Archaeology: Three cultures resided in this area:
Shield Archaic, Laurentian and the Old Copper
Culture. They were primarily hunter-gathers living in
small extended family units. Very little evidence of
warfare or social government. Tools were lithic
(stone) and primitive. Some evidence of trade; there
was a little but not a lot.
Written history: No evidence of literacy.
Scriptures: No scriptures point specifically to this
area. However, many Latter-day Saints point us to
this direction because of early Mormon folklore that
placed the Hill Cumorah here.
Joseph Smith never did call the hill in
New York the Hill Cumorah. Others did that.
He never stopped them. He directed our
attention to Mesoamerica.
____
The south American Cordillera consists primarily
of the west coasts of Peru and Chile.
I am not going to go through the Book of
Mormon geography requirements in detail.
Most of you know what those are: a sea east,
a sea west, a narrow strip of wilderness, and
so on and so forth. The South American
Cordillera only has a sea west.
3. Eastern Woodlands
This time period, which is called by archaeologists the
Late Archaic Period, is 3200 to 1000 B.C.
You had three cultures that were living in
that general area. Yesterday, in our
discussion about minerals, you saw that there
were copper deposits in the Great Lakes area.
These deposits contributed to the old Copper
Culture, the Shield Archaic Culture north of
there, and the Laurentian culture. Southeast
of here were cultures, such as the mound
builders, but they are a little bit later on.
So let’s take a look at the characteristics
of the Eastern Woodlands during the same
time period as the Jaredites.
Archaeology: Three cultures resided in this area:
Shield Archaic, Laurentian and the Old Copper
Culture. They were primarily hunter-gathers living in
small extended family units. Very little evidence of
warfare or social government. Tools were lithic
(stone) and primitive. Some evidence of trade; there
was a little but not a lot.
Written history: No evidence of literacy.
Scriptures: No scriptures point specifically to this
area. However, many Latter-day Saints point us to
this direction because of early Mormon folklore that
placed the Hill Cumorah here.
Joseph Smith never did call the hill in
New York the Hill Cumorah. Others did that.
He never stopped them. He directed our
attention to Mesoamerica.
4. The Mexico Gulf Coast would be the
fourth possible area, so let’s take a look at
that. This is the map. The Olmec region you
will see if right in the Gulf of Mexico there.
Here is another map. You can see the
Olmec heartland is right in the Gulf of Mexico
area. This is the Veracruz and Tabasco areas.
Also, there is quite a bit of evidence of Olmecs
in the Izapa area, specifically Monte Albán,
and you can see those areas there south of
the Gulf of Mexico.
Archaeologists refer to this time period
as pre-Classic, early pre-Classic, or Olmec
period, and it goes for about 3,000 years,
from 3000 to 500 B.C. Really, prior to 1500
B.C., it is mostly prehistory. Most
archaeologists date the Olmec time period
beginning in 1500 B.C.
First of all, pottery was used extensively.
The Olmecs had many, many art styles and
were by far the most advanced culture in the
hemisphere.
There is evidence of extensive, organized
trade with trade routes not only through the
entire region in the Gulf of Mexico but trade
routes that may have extended as far south as
South America and as far north as here in this
area. They traded exotic goods as well as
staples.
Their food sources were the most
sophisticated on the continent. They used slash
and burn farming, and annual flooding near
rivers. They had the most varied diet in the
hemisphere, including corn, beans, squash,
pumpkins, fish, deer, turkey, and pig.
Archaeologists refer to the political
structure of the Olmec as “dynastic family
lineages of rulers who identified with deity,
and they ruled over the common people.” We
know of 21 colossal heads, nine of them
huge, the others smaller, and they may
represent some of these dynastic rulers. The
Olmec culture, and this is very important to
understand, did not go through formative
stages. As you read history you will see that
most cultures go through a trend line, and
they will gradually become more affluent, and
their art style will change gradually. This is not
the case with the Olmec. Prior to about 1500
B.C., there seems to be a very sudden change,
and all these things that we are talking about,
such as their art style, pottery, and so on,
came on relatively quickly.
The implications of that you can draw for
yourself. Mine is that there was an intrusive
society that came into the Olmec, regions and
they may or may not have been our Jaredites.
The Olmecs were certainly there before the
Jaredites came.
In art, there is an extensive use of jade
jewelry and statuary use of wood, basalt, and
jade.
They were highly advanced in the use of
mathematics, astronomy, and calendars.
They used the bar-dot system for recording
time. [Displays rock carving] This is the first
evidence in this hemisphere of the bar-dot
system. We used to live in Vernal, Utah and in
our backyard, we had some petroglyphs with
bars and dots on them. Now, whether they
came out of Mesoamerica or not, I don’t know.
Here are some other examples of Olmec
art. For their writing, you can see the glyphs
on the upper left-hand side there. They
feature both hieroglyphic and syllabic content.
Many of the statues had to do with
royalty and centered around royal persons, so
it is obvious that this culture had a lot of
reverence for royal persons.
Population: Large population clusters
lived in three major cities and several smaller ones
surrounded by villages.
Tools: Primarily made of obsidian,
including knives, awls, engravers, saws, scrapers,
smoothers, wedges, needles, polishers, and, yes, they
even made mirrors out of obsidian.
Warfare: Much evidence
of extensive warfare and conquest, particularly during
the later Olmec period (800 to 300 B.C.). There is
evidence of almost nonstop civil war.
If you read the Book of Ether, what are you
reading about? Nonstop civil war.
Building: Ceremonial centers
with pyramids and platforms often aligned on a
north-south axis (as is the case with La Venta), a
magnificent art style, huge amounts of earth were
moved for these mounds and other buildings that they
built, the most advanced culture in the Americas.
Their religion has been described by
archaeologists as “temple hierarchical” with
secret ceremonies and animal sacrifice.
There is evidence of shamanism mixed with or
perhaps opposed to communal ceremonies.
So we had two things going on here. We
had a very religious community, and we also
had mixed in with that a shamanistic
community. Again, read the Book of Ether.
That’s exactly what we find.
Jaguar men. There is evidence in the
Olmec culture of what scholars called the
jaguar men, and here are three examples of
these men. They interpret these to be a
combination of jaguar and men, and we heard
yesterday and again today about the role of
the jaguar in the Mayan culture. You can see
that it started here in the Olmec culture.
Some theories have shown that maybe this is
a serpent rather than a jaguar, and if so, these
might be some of the early representations of
the role of a serpent being a sacred animal. It
is possibly jaguar and serpent. We don’t really
know. There is a lot of work to be done in this
area, but I bring this up just to show you how
this is the mother culture that contributed
highly to later cultures.
Now let’s talk about what the Book of
Mormon requires and compare that with what
we find among the Olmecs from an
archaeological point of view. The Book of
Mormon requires that the following
parameters must exist:
We have to have a true civilization during the correct
time period (approximately 2000 to approximately
300 B.C.)
We have to have evidence of a written language.
We have to have evidence of large urban centers.
The land must be surrounded by seas.
It must have elaborate calendar systems.
Geographical landmarks such as: narrow neck of land
by the sea which divides the land north from the land
south.
Prominent hill (Ramah/Cumorah) with evidences of
ancient battles.
Anthropological traditions
that point to the culture.
First of all, what is a true civilization?
It is economically stratified, it has large
urban centers, it has a division of labor, which
means that not everyone is farming for
subsistence or food. We have leisure time to
do things such as art. We have extensive
trade, we have interstate relations, and we
have a centralized government.
Did the Jaredites have a true civilization according to
those definitions?
Here is a map [displays map] showing
the Papaloapan Water Basin It is a huge
water basin that we propose to be the waters
of Ripliancum. The waters of Ripliancum are
mentioned in Ether 15:8.
Written history. A written history of the Olmec
themselves comes from large
stone carved heads and carved stelae.
21 stone heads have been uncovered to
date, some weighing up to 20 tons. They were
carved out of basalt, and they were floated, at
least the theory is, from the Tuxtla Mountains
down into the La Venta area, which would be a
feat to accomplish today. They all show signs
of purposeful mutilation and battle. If they
represent kings who were conquered, those
heads may have been hauled off to the
conquering city, but they all show evidence of
being mutilated. Scholars agree that there
was constant warfare and probably civil war
between families.
Here are some of these stone heads, and
I know you have seen pictures of these.
[Displays artifact] This is an Olmec glyph that
is called Tres Zapotes.
[Displays another artifact] This is a
decapitated and defaced Olmec monument
that is typical of many that we have seen. It
has the ravages of extreme hatred in civil
wars. They seem to indicate the story of the
Olmecs.
This stela from La Venta (monument 12)
may tell the story of the ancestors of the
Olmec or perhaps the Jaredites. Here in this
glyph, there is a large sea monster attempting
to destroy a royal person, but to no avail. The
people are facing east, the direction from
whence they came. Compare this story to
Ether 6:10, “no monster of the sea could
break them, neither whale that could mar
them . . . .” It is at least a possibility.
Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxochitl (1578-
1650). Considered by many to be the
“Josephus” of Mexico, amassed a great library
of records concerning the antiquities of preconquest
Mexico. He was born of Mayan
royalty and also Spanish royalty. His works
were published about 200 years before the
publishing of the Book of Mormon. He said he
had in his possession the ancient histories
handed down for many generations, plus he
had collected all the stories from old men.
Bringing together archaeology,
written history, and the scriptures.
Limhi Expedition 121 B.C.
Mosiah 8:7: 43 men were sent from the
land of Nephi to find the land of Zarahemla.
Mosiah 8:8: They came to a land of many
waters.
They discovered the remains of a
destroyed civilization. They initially thought it
was Zarahemla and that all of their relatives
had been killed. Then they realized later that
it wasn’t the case. They had discovered the
remains of an entirely different group of
people. Archaeology testifies to the remains
of an advanced civilization that was destroyed
through civil war about 300 B.C.
They lived in the North Country
Ether 1:1: Moroni referred to the place where the
Jaredites were destroyed as “this north country.”
Ixtlilxochitl called the area where the first people
lived “the Northern parts” of the land.
The ancient ruins of the Olmecs are located along
the Northern coast of Veracruz. Their last battle at
the hill Ramah would have been in the North Country.
They came from the tower.
Moroni wrote that Jared and his brother and their
families came from the Great Tower (Ether 1).
Ixtlilxochitl wrote that the first settlers came across
the ocean from the Great Tower.
Ixtlilxochitl confirms the Book of Mormon.
The great journey from the Tower of Babel
Book of Mormon: “And now I, Moroni, proceed to
give an account of those ancient inhabitants who were
destroyed by the hand of the Lord upon the face of
this north country.”
Ixtlilxochitl: “The first settlers populated a major
part of the land, and . . . more particularly, that which
lived along the northern part. They were destroyed
. . . and their civilization came to end.”
Book of Mormon: “And I take mine account from
the twenty and four plates which were found by the
people of Limhi, which is called the Book of Ether”
(Ether 1:1).
Ixtlilxochitl: “. . . of a truth, I have that ancient
history in my hand, and I know the language of the
[people] because I was raised with them, and I know
all the old men and the [stories] of this land. It has
cost me hard study and work, and I always speak the
truth on everything I have written.”
Book of Mormon: “Jared came forth with his
brother and their families, with some others and their
families, from the great tower, and the time the Lord
confounded the language of the people . . . (Ether 1:2).
Ixtlilxochitl: They built a [tower], very high and
strong . . . to protect themselves from the destruction
of the world. As time [occurred] their language
became confounded, such that they did not
understand one another and they were scattered to all
parts of the world.”
Book of Mormon: “And it came to pass that the
Lord God caused that there should be a furious wind
blown upon the face of the waters, towards the
Promised Land; and thus they were tossed upon the
waves of the sea before the wind . . . . And thus they
were driven forth; and no monster of the sea could
mar them . . . and the did land upon the shore of the
Promised Land” (Ether 6:5, 10, 12).
Ixtlilxochitl: “They came to this land, having first
crossed many lands and waters, living in caves and
passing great tribulations. Upon their arrival here,
they discovered that it was good and fertile land.”
Some critics argue that Ixtlilxochitl wrote that
from what he knew of Old Testament history.
BMAF 2004 Fall Conference 82
Jaredites = Olmecs?
Doug Christensen
Doug Christensen founded the Alma Success Academy (now called FUNDET) in Guatemala. He has
joined Richard Hauck, Bruce Warren, and Garth Norman on numerous archaeological field trips to
Mesoamerica. He has been a tour guide in Mesoamerica and Peru. Doug has an MBA from the University
of Utah. He served an LDS mission in England in 1961 and has served as a bishop and a high councilor.
He is currently an adult institute instructor of Book of Mormon curriculum. He is the father of eight
children and 20 grandchildren.
In 1941, Matthew Sterling and other
archaeologists made the case for an ancient
Mesoamerican culture that predated the
Mayans. The culture was given the name
Olmec, which simply means rubber men. It is
a modern name; it certainly wasn’t what they
called themselves. Ever since the Olmec have
been talked about in scientific circles, Book of
Mormon students have always asked
themselves the question, “Could this be our
friends, the Jaredites?” They noticed that the
Olmec are the mother culture, if you will, of
Mesoamerica.
In presentations yesterday, and today,
we learned how the influence of the Olmecs
moved both north and south. In the Book of
Mormon, we see that the Jaredites were the
mother culture of the Nephites. In fact,
Mormon and Moroni are both Jaredite names,
so you can see that this mother culture, the
Jaredites, had a tremendous influence clear
through until the end of Book of Mormon
times. What I would like to do for a few
minutes this morning is to just talk about what
connections there may or may not have been.
You draw your conclusions on your own as to
whether the Jaredites and the Olmecs are the
same.
First of all, let’s talk about what criteria
we are going to have to have to locate the
Jaredites. Most of the references I am going
to give you are found in the 15th Chapter of
Ether, so if you have your Book of Mormon,
you might want to pull that out.
1. Does this area fit the geographical requirements
set forth in the Book of Mormon? (Ether 15:11,
Jaredites and Nephites lived in the same general
area).
One of the important concepts that we
need to understand about the Jaredites and
the Nephites is that both were destroyed in a
civil war, and they were also destroyed at
exactly the same place. Ether 15:11 reads,
“And it came to pass that the army of
Coriantumr did pitch their tents by the hill
Ramah; and it was that same hill where my
father Mormon did hide up the records unto
the Lord, which were sacred.
Moroni is talking, and he tells us that the
hill Ramah, where the Jaredites were
destroyed, is exactly the same hill where
Mormon and Moroni were in the last battle of
the Nephites. And so the requirements for the
Nephites need to be in the same area as the
Jaredites, unless you want to postulate that
one or the other of those cultures traveled
thousands of miles to duke out their last
battle. Basically, we have to have the same
geographical requirements for the Jaredites as
we have for the Nephites, at least the same
general area.
BMAF 2004 Fall Conference 83
2. Does this area have remaining cultural
traits and/or a written history, as described
in the Book of Mormon?
We also need to look at whatever area
we are postulating and ask if it has any
remaining cultural traits and a written history,
as described in the Book of Mormon.
3. Does the known archaeology of this area point
to a true civilization as described in the Book of
Mormon?
4. Are we looking at the correct time periods?
It is very important, as Latter-day Saints,
when we are talking with people who are
conversant with the earth’s chronology, that
we don’t talk about things that obviously
happened at different time periods, like
tectonic plate movement. Geology deals with
very different time periods than we are dealing
with here.
What clues does the Book of Mormon
give us for locating the Jaredites?
1. 344-day journey from the Great Tower in the
Old World to the New World (Ether 6:11)
2. Jaredites were a large people (Ether 15:26)
3. Jaredite civilization was in the “North Country”
(Ether 1:1)
4. Jaredites lived near a land of many waters
called Ripliancum (Ether 15:8)
5. Jaredites had a true civilization from about
1500 to 300 B.C.
6. Jaredites self-destructed in a major civil war
near a large hill called Ramah (Ether 15:11).
There are four commonly proposed
locations for the Jaredites.
1. All of North and South America, which comes
from Mormon apocryphal tradition
2. South America Cordillera
3 North American Eastern Woodlands or the
Great Lakes area
4. Mesoamerica
So what I would like to do is take a look
at each of these areas and see if they fit
1. Let’s discuss the theory that it is all
North and South America. It is 6,500 miles in
length.
Status During Jaredite Times (2000 to 300
B.C.)
Archaeology: No evidence of dense or even sparse
population covering this vast area.
Written history: The only written history is found
in Mesoamerica during this time period.
Scriptures: Accounts of Jaredite last battles portray
millions of people, but all in one relatively small area
(Ether 14 & 15)
Let’s take a look at the South American
Cordillera. The Cordillera consists primarily of
the west coasts of Peru and Chile. There was
a civilization that grew up primarily around
ocean fishing and farming on the plateaus.
_____
Mormon apocryphal tradition from the early days
of the Church believed that the Book of Mormon
occurred the area of both North and South
America.
BMAF 2004 Fall Conference 84
2. South American Cordillera
during Jaredite Times
Called “The Initial Period” by Archaeologists (1800 to
400 B.C.), the time period that would correspond to
the Jaredites.
Archaeology: Religious ceremonial centers and
large mounds were constructed until about 500 B.C.
when building came to an abrupt end. Use of
irrigation agriculture and ceramic pottery began about
1500 B.C. Population sizes were moderate, mostly
centered around irrigation canals and the coast.
Political organization was primarily kinship (tribal).
Tools were primarily stone. Very little evidence of
large scale warfare.
Written history: No evidence of literacy anytime
prior to Spanish conquest. Accounting, records,
plans, etc. were recorded by using knots in rope.
Scriptures: The geography requirements of the Book
of Mormon cannot be made to fit anywhere on the
South American Cordillera.
I am not going to go through the Book of
Mormon geography requirements in detail.
Most of you know what those are: a sea east,
a sea west, a narrow strip of wilderness, and
so on and so forth. The South American
Cordillera only has a sea west.
3. Eastern Woodlands
This time period, which is called by archaeologists the
Late Archaic Period, is 3200 to 1000 B.C.
You had three cultures that were living in
that general area. Yesterday, in our
discussion about minerals, you saw that there
were copper deposits in the Great Lakes area.
These deposits contributed to the old Copper
Culture, the Shield Archaic Culture north of
there, and the Laurentian culture. Southeast
of here were cultures, such as the mound
builders, but they are a little bit later on.
So let’s take a look at the characteristics
of the Eastern Woodlands during the same
time period as the Jaredites.
Archaeology: Three cultures resided in this area:
Shield Archaic, Laurentian and the Old Copper
Culture. They were primarily hunter-gathers living in
small extended family units. Very little evidence of
warfare or social government. Tools were lithic
(stone) and primitive. Some evidence of trade; there
was a little but not a lot.
Written history: No evidence of literacy.
Scriptures: No scriptures point specifically to this
area. However, many Latter-day Saints point us to
this direction because of early Mormon folklore that
placed the Hill Cumorah here.
Joseph Smith never did call the hill in
New York the Hill Cumorah. Others did that.
He never stopped them. He directed our
attention to Mesoamerica.
____
The south American Cordillera consists primarily
of the west coasts of Peru and Chile.
BMAF 2004 Fall Conference 85
4. The Mexico Gulf Coast would be the
fourth possible area, so let’s take a look at
that. This is the map. The Olmec region you
will see if right in the Gulf of Mexico there.
Here is another map. You can see the
Olmec heartland is right in the Gulf of Mexico
area. This is the Veracruz and Tabasco areas.
Also, there is quite a bit of evidence of Olmecs
in the Izapa area, specifically Monte Albán,
and you can see those areas there south of
the Gulf of Mexico.
Archaeologists refer to this time period
as pre-Classic, early pre-Classic, or Olmec
period, and it goes for about 3,000 years,
from 3000 to 500 B.C. Really, prior to 1500
B.C., it is mostly prehistory. Most
archaeologists date the Olmec time period
beginning in 1500 B.C.
First of all, pottery was used extensively.
The Olmecs had many, many art styles and
were by far the most advanced culture in the
hemisphere.
There is evidence of extensive, organized
trade with trade routes not only through the
entire region in the Gulf of Mexico but trade
routes that may have extended as far south as
South America and as far north as here in this
area. They traded exotic goods as well as
staples.
Their food sources were the most
sophisticated on the continent. They used slash
and burn farming, and annual flooding near
rivers. They had the most varied diet in the
hemisphere, including corn, beans, squash,
pumpkins, fish, deer, turkey, and pig.
Archaeologists refer to the political
structure of the Olmec as “dynastic family
lineages of rulers who identified with deity,
and they ruled over the common people.” We
know of 21 colossal heads, nine of them
huge, the others smaller, and they may
represent some of these dynastic rulers. The
Olmec culture, and this is very important to
understand, did not go through formative
stages. As you read history you will see that
most cultures go through a trend line, and
they will gradually become more affluent, and
their art style will change gradually. This is not
the case with the Olmec. During about 1500
B.C., there seems to be a very sudden change,
and all these things that we are talking about,
such as their art style, pottery, and so on,
came on relatively quickly.
The implications of that you can draw for
yourself. Mine is that there was an intrusive
society that came into the Olmec, regions and
they may or may not have been our Jaredites.
The Olmecs were certainly there before the
Jaredites came.
_____
Eastern Woodlands area
BMAF 2004 Fall Conference 86
In art, there is an extensive use of jade
jewelry and statuary use of wood, basalt, and
jade.
They were highly advanced in the use of
mathematics, astronomy, and calendars.
They used the bar-dot system for recording
time. [Displays rock carving] This is the first
evidence in this hemisphere of the bar-dot
system. We used to live in Vernal, Utah and in
our backyard, we had some petroglyphs with
bars and dots on them. Now, whether they
came out of Mesoamerica or not, I don’t know.
Here are some other examples of Olmec
art. For their writing, you can see the glyphs
on the upper left-hand side there. They
feature both hieroglyphic and syllabic content.
Many of the statues had to do with
royalty and centered around royal persons, so
it is obvious that this culture had a lot of
reverence for royal persons.
Population: Large population clusters
lived in three major cities and several smaller ones
surrounded by villages.
Tools: Primarily made of obsidian,
including knives, awls, engravers, saws, scrapers,
smoothers, wedges, needles, polishers, and, yes, they
even made mirrors out of obsidian.
Warfare: Much evidence
of extensive warfare and conquest, particularly during
the later Olmec period (800 to 300 B.C.). There is
evidence of almost nonstop civil war.
If you read the Book of Ether, what are you
reading about? Nonstop civil war.
Building: Ceremonial centers
with pyramids and platforms often aligned on a
north-south axis (as is the case with La Venta), a
magnificent art style, huge amounts of earth were
moved for these mounds and other buildings that they
built, the most advanced culture in the Americas.
Their religion has been described by
archaeologists as “temple hierarchical” with
secret ceremonies and animal sacrifice.
There is evidence of shamanism mixed with or
perhaps opposed to communal ceremonies.
So we had two things going on here. We
had a very religious community, and we also
had mixed in with that a shamanistic
community. Again, read the Book of Ether.
That’s exactly what we find.
Jaguar men. There is evidence in the
Olmec culture of what scholars called the
jaguar men, and here are three examples of
these men. They interpret these to be a
combination of jaguar and men, and we heard
yesterday and again today about the role of
the jaguar in the Mayan culture. You can see
that it started here in the Olmec culture.
Some theories have shown that maybe this is
a serpent rather than a jaguar, and if so, these
might be some of the early representations of
the role of a serpent being a sacred animal. It
is possibly jaguar and serpent. We don’t really
know. There is a lot of work to be done in this
area, but I bring this up just to show you how
this is the mother culture that contributed
highly to later cultures.
Now let’s talk about what the Book of
Mormon requires and compare that with what
we find among the Olmecs from an
archaeological point of view. The Book of
Mormon requires that the following
parameters must exist:
_____
Preclassic civilizations were located in Mesoamerica.
BMAF 2004 Fall Conference 87
We have to have a true civilization during the correct
time period (approximately 2000 to approximately
300 B.C.)
We have to have evidence of a written language.
We have to have evidence of large urban centers.
The land must be surrounded by seas.
It must have elaborate calendar systems.
Geographical landmarks such as: narrow neck of land
by the sea which divides the land north from the land
south.
Prominent hill (Ramah/Cumorah) with evidences of
ancient battles.
Anthropological traditions
that point to the culture.
First of all, what is a true civilization?
It is economically stratified, it has large
urban centers, it has a division of labor, which
means that not everyone is farming for
subsistence or food. We have leisure time to
do things such as art. We have extensive
trade, we have interstate relations, and we
have a centralized government.
Did the Jaredites have a true civilization according to
those definitions?
Here is a map [displays map] showing
the Papaloapan Water Basin It is a huge
water basin that we propose to be the waters
of Ripliancum. The waters of Ripliancum are
mentioned in Ether 15:8.
Written history. A written history of the Olmec
themselves comes from large
stone carved heads and carved stelae.
21 stone heads have been uncovered to
date, some weighing up to 20 tons. They were
carved out of basalt, and they were floated, at
least the theory is, from the Tuxtla Mountains
down into the La Venta area, which would be a
feat to accomplish today. They all show signs
of purposeful mutilation and battle. If they
represent kings who were conquered, those
heads may have been hauled off to the
conquering city, but they all show evidence of
being mutilated. Scholars agree that there
was constant warfare and probably civil war
between families.
Here are some of these stone heads, and
I know you have seen pictures of these.
[Displays artifact] This is an Olmec glyph that
is called Tres Zapotes.
[Displays another artifact] This is a
decapitated and defaced Olmec monument
that is typical of many that we have seen. It
has the ravages of extreme hatred in civil
wars. They seem to indicate the story of the
Olmecs.
This stela from La Venta (monument 12)
may tell the story of the ancestors of the
Olmec or perhaps the Jaredites. Here in this
glyph, there is a large sea monster attempting
to destroy a royal person, but to no avail. The
people are facing east, the direction from
whence they came. Compare this story to
Ether 6:10, “no monster of the sea could
break them, neither whale that could mar
them . . . .” It is at least a possibility.
Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxochitl (1578-
1650). Considered by many to be the
“Josephus” of Mexico, amassed a great library
of records concerning the antiquities of preconquest
Mexico. He was born of Mayan
_____
Proposed locations of Jaredite cities in the
Mesoamerican region.
BMAF 2004 Fall Conference 88
royalty and also Spanish royalty. His works
were published about 200 years before the
publishing of the Book of Mormon. He said he
had in his possession the ancient histories
handed down for many generations, plus he
had collected all the stories from old men.
Bringing together archaeology,
written history, and the scriptures.
Limhi Expedition 121 B.C.
Mosiah 8:7: 43 men were sent from the
land of Nephi to find the land of Zarahemla.
Mosiah 8:8: They came to a land of many
waters.
They discovered the remains of a
destroyed civilization. They initially thought it
was Zarahemla and that all of their relatives
had been killed. Then they realized later that
it wasn’t the case. They had discovered the
remains of an entirely different group of
people. Archaeology testifies to the remains
of an advanced civilization that was destroyed
through civil war about 300 B.C.
They lived in the North Country
Ether 1:1: Moroni referred to the place where the
Jaredites were destroyed as “this north country.”
Ixtlilxochitl called the area where the first people
lived “the Northern parts” of the land.
The ancient ruins of the Olmecs are located along
the Northern coast of Veracruz. Their last battle at
the hill Ramah would have been in the North Country.
They came from the tower.
Moroni wrote that Jared and his brother and their
families came from the Great Tower (Ether 1).
Ixtlilxochitl wrote that the first settlers came across
the ocean from the Great Tower.
Ixtlilxochitl confirms the Book of Mormon.
The great journey from the Tower of Babel
Book of Mormon: “And now I, Moroni, proceed to
give an account of those ancient inhabitants who were
destroyed by the hand of the Lord upon the face of
this north country.”
Ixtlilxochitl: “The first settlers populated a major
part of the land, and . . . more particularly, that which
lived along the northern part. They were destroyed
. . . and their civilization came to end.”
Book of Mormon: “And I take mine account from
the twenty and four plates which were found by the
people of Limhi, which is called the Book of Ether”
(Ether 1:1).
Ixtlilxochitl: “. . . of a truth, I have that ancient
history in my hand, and I know the language of the
[people] because I was raised with them, and I know
all the old men and the [stories] of this land. It has
cost me hard study and work, and I always speak the
truth on everything I have written.”
Book of Mormon: “Jared came forth with his
brother and their families, with some others and their
families, from the great tower, and the time the Lord
confounded the language of the people . . . (Ether 1:2).
Ixtlilxochitl: They built a [tower], very high and
strong . . . to protect themselves from the destruction
of the world. As time [occurred] their language
became confounded, such that they did not
understand one another and they were scattered to all
parts of the world.”
Book of Mormon: “And it came to pass that the
Lord God caused that there should be a furious wind
blown upon the face of the waters, towards the
Promised Land; and thus they were tossed upon the
waves of the sea before the wind . . . . And thus they
were driven forth; and no monster of the sea could
mar them . . . and the did land upon the shore of the
Promised Land” (Ether 6:5, 10, 12).
Ixtlilxochitl: “They came to this land, having first
crossed many lands and waters, living in caves and
passing great tribulations. Upon their arrival here,
they discovered that it was good and fertile land.”
Some critics argue that Ixtlilxochitl wrote that
from what he knew of Old Testament history.
_____
One of the many large Olmec stone-carved heads.
BMAF 2004 Fall Conference 89
They were a large people
Ether 15:26: “They were a large and mighty people”
Mosiah 8:10: “Their breastplates and weapons were
very large” when the Limhi expedition found them
Ixtlilxochitl called them “Giants.”
The very large stone heads show us that they were
a very large people.
They crossed the Pacific
Ether 6:11: “They were 344 days on the water.” No
one can stay enclosed in a boat for 344 days. They
had to make stops. That route can best be on the
Pacific rather than the Atlantic to provide places to
stop.
Ixtlilxochitl wrote that they crossed a large part of
the world in their journey.
The “sea monster” stelae found in the Olmec
heartland tends to confirm that they came across the
water.
They both had an advanced civilization from
1500 to 300 B.C.
Ether 10:20-28: The Jaredites had a true
civilization as we define it during this time period.
Archaeology demonstrates a true civilization among
the Olmecs during this time period.
Neither the South American Cordillera nor the
Eastern Woodlands of the U.S. qualify as a true
civilization during this time period, particularly North
America.
They were destroyed between 300 to 200 B.C.
Ether 15 and Omni 1:20-22 outline the Jaredite
destruction and indicate that it took place just prior to
the time of King Mosiah (between 200 and 300 B.C.).
Archaeologists date the destruction in the third
century B.C.
Ixtlilxochitl puts it right to the year, 236 B.C.
The City of Lib and La Venta
Ether 10:20-21: They built a great city by the
narrow neck of land and the land southward was a
wilderness where they hunted for game.
La Venta dates to about 1000 B.C. and is located by a
narrow neck of land.
Archaeology shows La Venta had an advanced
population, while areas southward were primitive
hunting grounds.
[Displays map] Here is the area on the
upper left-hand side. San Lorenzo, Tres
Zapotes, and La Venta are the three Olmec
cultural ruins that are most notable. You can
see the place where the sea divides the land.
Down on the other map, is where there
are the primary Olmec archaeological sites.
The proposed Jaredite landing site, would
be south of Izapa, and they would have come
up through Izapa and eventually to the Gulf of
Mexico.
The waters of Ripliancum
Ether 15:8: The waters of Ripliancum are close to
the Hill Cumorah. Ripliancum means “large or to
exceed all”
The Papaloapan Water Basin is near the Hill Vigía
(proposed Ramah/Cumorah) and Olmec heartland.
The Mayan call them Hueyapan, which means “Very
large waters, larger than them all.”
So let’s just review by taking the parallels
of the Olmec and Jaredite cultures.
• They lived in the North Country.
• They were a large people.
• They came from the great tower.
• The crossed the Pacific Ocean.
• Their high point of civilization was 1500 to 300
B.C.
• They were destroyed by civil war.
• They built a city by the Gulf of Mexico.
So, were the Jaredites the Olmecs? I’m
not going to say one way or the other, but
there are persuasive arguments. My personal
opinion is that there was a culture, a rather
primitive hunter/gatherer culture that was
there prior to our Jaredites joining them. The
Jaredites intruded on their culture
dramatically, and the Jaredites’ influence was
the mother culture of Mesoamerica.
Any questions?
BMAF 2004 Fall Conference 90
[Question from the audience] There
does not seem to be any interactions between
the Olmecs and Mayans.
[Christensen] That is correct. Were you
here yesterday? There was a picture of the
geography shown in the jungles. It is very
easy to get lost in this area. We think of
ourselves with modern maps and everything,
but how could a people living in the
Guatemalan area know that there was a huge
civilization up north?
They did have an interaction in that they
expanded and grew. What I showed you is the
Olmec heartland. That doesn’t mean that
there weren’t Olmecs living in other places.
There are evidences of Olmecs clear down
into Central America and on up into Mexico.
Later on, the Olmec culture, like I said, can be
found as far north as Uah, and south into
South America. We need to remember that
the Book of Mormon is not a story of a culture.
It is a family history, and the most abbreviated
of the family histories is the Book of Ether. So
what we don’t know is vast compared to the
little that we do know.
[Question from the audience] To what do
you attribute the negroid features seen in
early Mesoamerican art?
[Christensen] I don’t know. My personal
opinion is that they are not as much negroid
as they are Mongolian and maybe Chinese;
and as I read the Book of Ether, it would
appear that perhaps Jared and his family went
northward. If they turned west, they would
have made it into Eastern Europe, but I think
they went east into Mongolia. They probably
left from the China Sea, and my opinion --
again, this is all opinion -- they spent many
years during that trip, as you may know, and
may have intermarried with other cultures.
[Question from the audience] In the
August 1980 Ensign, you will find an article
about Parley P. Pratt and William Clayton. They
recorded in their journals that a Native
American band that they found were direct
descendants to the Jaredites and were also
descendants of Canaan. Maybe they were
among the friends of the Jaredites.
[Christensen] There is another thing to
remember too, and that is the diffusionist
idea, which is not popular, as Diane
mentioned, among scientists today but is
becoming more so. One of the slides she put
up had a negroid face there. There are
several of those in Mesoamerica, many of
them ancient, so the concept that people
came from across the sea from Africa and
other places not only cannot be ruled out but
has to be seriously looked at much more than
it has been.
In this culture, is there such a thing as a
true Olmec? Probably not. It is a combination
of people that came down the Bering Strait,
the Jaredites, the negroids, who knows? Is
there such a thing as a pure culture? I don’t
think so.
[Question from the audience] There
does not seem to be any interactions between
the Olmecs and Mayans.
[Christensen] That is correct. Were you
here yesterday? There was a picture of the
geography shown in the jungles. It is very
easy to get lost in this area. We think of
ourselves with modern maps and everything,
but how could a people living in the
Guatemalan area know that there was a huge
civilization up north?
They did have an interaction in that they
expanded and grew. What I showed you is the
Olmec heartland. That doesn’t mean that
there weren’t Olmecs living in other places.
There are evidences of Olmecs clear down
into Central America and on up into Mexico.
Later on, the Olmec culture, like I said, can be
found as far north as Uah, and south into
South America. We need to remember that
the Book of Mormon is not a story of a culture.
It is a family history, and the most abbreviated
of the family histories is the Book of Ether. So
what we don’t know is vast compared to the
little that we do know.
[Question from the audience] To what do
you attribute the negroid features seen in
early Mesoamerican art?
[Christensen] I don’t know. My personal
opinion is that they are not as much negroid
as they are Mongolian and maybe Chinese;
and as I read the Book of Ether, it would
appear that perhaps Jared and his family went
northward. If they turned west, they would
have made it into Eastern Europe, but I think
they went east into Mongolia. They probably
left from the China Sea, and my opinion --
again, this is all opinion -- they spent many
years during that trip, as you may know, and
may have intermarried with other cultures.
[Question from the audience] In the
August 1980 Ensign, you will find an article
about Parley P. Pratt and William Clayton. They
recorded in their journals that a Native
American band that they found were direct
descendants to the Jaredites and were also
descendants of Canaan. Maybe they were
among the friends of the Jaredites.
[Christensen] There is another thing to
remember too, and that is the diffusionist
idea, which is not popular, as Diane
mentioned, among scientists today but is
becoming more so. One of the slides she put
up had a negroid face there. There are
several of those in Mesoamerica, many of
them ancient, so the concept that people
came from across the sea from Africa and
other places not only cannot be ruled out but
has to be seriously looked at much more than
it has been.
In this culture, is there such a thing as a
true Olmec? Probably not. It is a combination
of people that came down the Bering Strait,
the Jaredites, the negroids, who knows? Is
there such a thing as a pure culture? I don’t
think so.
Copyright 2005, Book of Mormon Archaeological Forum, a non-profit organization. Salt Lake City, Utah.