African Presence in Early America

Rating:
Summary: Needs More Debates.
Review: I found this book and the subject interesting when I first read it,which is why I first gave it four stars. After reading it I eventually came across critics of this book. They did raise some interesting and obvious counters to many of Van Sertima's claims,such as,why didn't Van Sertima seriously consider that the Olmec heads were probably the faces of Indians in Mexico and not those of Egyptian/Nubians?

Do the Olmec heads look African at first glance? Yes, but when compared to the faces of Mexican area Indians,there's also a similarity between them and the Olmecs stone heads. Also, Van Sertima uses the seven braids on the back of one of the Olmec heads as proof of their Africanism,but you will have a hard time finding an ancient Egyptian or Nubian match for this. Most paintings and sculptures of Egyptians and Nubians show them with full headed braid styles,and not with just seven braids. So far no Olmecs heads have been found with a full headed braid style like the Egyptians and Nubians.

As far as Alexander Von Wuthenau's collection of terra cottas potraying African faces. I've read that Von Wuthenau's terra cottas have been declared fakes by pre-Colombian experts because they weren't excuvated from any controlled archeological sites. So I guess that baically means that no one is exactly sure where in Mexico Alexander Von Wuthenau got his terra cotta figures. I'd be interested in hearing Van Sertima's response to the Von Wuthenau collection being declared fakes. These and other counters to Van Sertiam's claims are why I feel this topic definitly needs to be debated more.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting Pictures.
Review: I would recommend this book primarily because it has even more pictures besides the Olmec heads, of other stone and terra cotta heads that are very African looking found in Latin America. These pictures alone will make you think that Van Sertima is on to something with this subject.