Ep 616 - The Four Heavens (feat. David Stuart)
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
The Wild, Wild West.
All right, we're live. David Stewart, thank you for coming, man.
What inspired David Stuart to become an archaeologist?
Thanks for having me. I'm pumped, man. I've never met an archaeologist before. Well, yeah, it's a fun job, I got to say. Do you like it? It's a play in the dirt. Absolutely, I love it. When I was a kid, I decided that was what I wanted to do. And I'm really lucky because I can do it as a grown-up. Well, your parents are both archaeologists too. Yeah, my dad and my mom were both archaeologists and worked for National Geographic, the magazine, back in the heyday of all of that. So, you know, they took us on trips, me and my brothers and sister. You know, that's how I got exposed to this stuff was like going to, you know, Mexico and Guatemala, you know, back in the 70s, getting exposed to these fantastic ruins before they were turned into big tourist sites sometimes, right?
And I just caught the bug. I mean, I just wanted to know more about it and seeing what my dad was doing, what my mom was doing. I just wanted to keep on with that.
Nice. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, by the way, too, we have Val with us here today. Josh couldn't make it.
How did David's family background influence his career?
Josh is actually getting, I believe, a colonoscopy. Very important, yeah. Someone's doing some excavating in his butt right now. He's asleep right now, and someone's looking for secrets in his butt, deciphering the text. That's pretty cool, though, man. So, like, you know, and from reading your book, by the way, The Four Heavens, I have it right here. A new history of the HMI, not the old HMI. Not the BS from before.
That's right.
Yeah. But from reading your book, it was like back, I guess, when your dad was doing it. It was kind of amazing. I didn't realize how much of, you know, their history was completely unknown and lost. And I guess there was like little bits and pieces. That kind of struck me about how people were just like, even the people who live there were just like, I don't know, like no one really knew.
And this is still kind of the case in terms of people's awareness, right? So I think it's fair to say it's new in terms of not being out there in the public arena. And certainly in Mexico, right? You know, there are plenty of Maya people around today, but they don't have much of a sense of their own history. And I find that really sad and something that needs to be fixed and corrected. So there's a Spanish edition coming out, you know, and I hope word gets out about this stuff and it gets into the schools and everything. But you're right. When my dad was, you know, an archaeologist and working in Maya ruins, When I was a kid, there was no history, you know? So we've been through this amazing time in the last 50 years where we've kind of gone from zero to 100 in terms of knowing the names of kings and knowing the dynasties and how they all, you know, the kind of Game of Thrones history of all these different kingdoms.
And it's the oldest history anywhere in the Americas, which is pretty mind-boggling.
That's also crazy because, like, you know, You always see stuff and I don't know, I always hear things on like TV and YouTube where it's like some claim they go back to like 60 million, you know, something like crazy. Because I mean, I must have really chapped your ass watching Ancient Aliens back in the day. Did you like that show? You know, I've been asked to be on that show several times.
Really? Yeah.
You wouldn't play ball about the outer space travel or what was the problem?
Well, the thing is, I know from experience that, well, I should say, that show to me is just nonsense. Really? The real human story of these places and the monuments is, I think, the real story that's just as compelling. But, yeah, I mean, I was invited to be on a few of those shows. And what I realized then from a long time ago is that when you get interviewed for a show like that as an expert, quote unquote, of course you have no control over how they're going to edit it or how they're going to display what you say or chop you up or whatever.
That kind of sucks, actually. You spend your whole life trying to be an incredible academic.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–0:05
2
What inspired David Stuart to become an archaeologist?
0:05–1:12
3
How did David's family background influence his career?
1:12–6:16
4
What is the significance of the Mayan civilization's history?
6:16–11:17
5
How has the understanding of Maya history evolved over the years?
11:17–25:55
6
What role did Diego de Landa play in Maya history?
25:55–35:20
7
What are the common misconceptions about Maya sacrifices?
35:20–1:02:20