I went on a Nile cruise on 4th May 1983 and who should I sit next to but Prof Michael Coe and a couple of seats along his wife Sophie. I was a young punk of 19 who was totally obsessed with ancient Egypt and had no idea who this GOD of Mayanist studies was. Now of Course I have so many books by Prof Coe I wish could meet the man himself again.

I love Michael Coe, Thank you for this video!

Hi Ajaw, This isn't from a conference per se. Distinctive Voices is a National Academy of Sciences (includes National Academy of Engeineering and Institute of Medicine) public science lecture series held free 2-3 times per month Sep-May at the Beckman Center in Irvine CA and June - Sept at the Jonsson Center in Woods Hole, MA. This lecture was held in Irvine on Oct 15, 2008

Thank you for uploading this!!!

I'm so fascinated by this subject...Imagine if billions of dollars went into excavation of these places instead for wars...

@MooPotPie define stammering. And I ask that you provide an audio of you saying your argument with editing your voice. I think he was very articulate and went through a thousand years of history in an hour without missing a beat.

@interstellarwonder & Nahuatlatoa: Lighten up guys. He seems to be a stammering old man in a hurry. He said upfront it would take ten hours to tell it all. He also comes off as very humbled by the accomplishments of his subject and certainly gives the Olmec their due respect. As for genocide against the Maya, that is not the matter at hand here. Acknowledgement of the Spanish conquest with its smallpox and Catholic Jihad, does not imply denial of Mayan mistreatment by others…or themselves.

A curious fact in history that many people dont realize is that Saint Francis of Asissi,an angelical friar that many admire and worship for his respect for animal life,founded the franciscan order that when many of its members arrived in America in the 16th century,they forgot of the respect they owed to any living creature and started to destroy,persecute and in many instances tortured or send to the stake many native american indians because of their beleifs.Diego de Landa was one of them

I wasn't anybody in ancient Egypt Sov. However I was a 19 year old member of the Egypt Exploration Society in 1983 who was fortunate to sit next to Michael Coe on a flight to Egypt to join a Swan Hellenic 1000 km Nile cruise and he was on that cruise.

@interstellarwonder He does not contend that the Maya were the only civilized people of the Americas. He contends that they were a city state society in the Americas that were on par with the Aztec and the city of Teotihuacan. He does not talk aboutt the Incas of South America because they are not part of Mesoamerica. His only controversial statement is that the Olmecs were the cradle of MESOAMERICAN culture- which there are some good arguments against.

Very TRUE!

I doubted it. Christian clergy are highly educated and smart individuals. I suspect Landa knew what he was doing: erasing history and knowledge the Maya people. This idea is strange, since it had been exercised in earlier times with great success.

they lasted a lot longer than this country ever will.

about 3 or so

Today the louders are more from mexico to many pieces of history of mayas taking away from Guatemala to Mexico. Because there is not control in the Guatemala borders.

The Maya was just a club started by Chuck Norris.

while they are amazing too see,the Mayas were intelligent people ,and there lots too learn how many trees have too be cut down how many animals are losing there home ,for what science or too make a buck. There is something called Global Warming every tree counts ........how many of these sites are being uncovered ????

Your comment makes perfect sense to me but a Christian would tell you that god created the universe for man and man alone can be saved and has a soul. While Landa was burning, hanging, and, torturing Indians, he believed he was saving souls for eternity. *Either those of his victims or their fellows. With a belief system like a little human misery is nothing when compared with an eternity in heaven or the fires of hell. In their books Landa saw nothing but the 'writings of the devil.'

This man don'y know what his talking about mayas his saying la danta is in mexico la danta is Guatemala also he say el Mirador is almost in Guatemala. El mirador is ubicate in north of Guatemala el peten. according with the elders mayas living in Guatemala the mayas start from their life and building in Belice them they start expending their cities to the south of mexico haven exchange of comercio with the aztecas what mexico are. remember the heart of the mayas start in tikal.

I hate these lectures, they should be flagged as such because some of us like pictures to look at, thats why the bible is no longer on the best seller list. No Pictures!!