Ancient Apocalypse: The Americas (Netflix)

Graham Hancock has returned to challenge conventional historical narratives with the second season of “Ancient Apocalypse: The Americas.” The show, which has garnered favorable ratings with a 7.2/10 on IMDb and 73% on Rotten Tomatoes, continues Hancock’s thirty-year investigation into what he believes was a lost civilization that vanished around 12,800 years ago. According to Hancock, this advanced society disappeared during a cataclysmic event known as the Younger Dryas, leaving behind only traces of their knowledge in the cultures that followed. The second season focuses on evidence found throughout the western hemisphere, from the Amazon rainforest to tiny Polynesian islands, to the southwestern United States.

Deep in the Amazon, researchers have made a striking discovery: over 40,000 shards of pottery that bear remarkable similarities to Greek artifacts from 2,000-3,000 years ago. This finding challenges the traditional view that Amazonian peoples were simply hunter-gatherers before European contact. The pottery fragments share not only similar geometric patterns with Greek art but also comparable imagery, raising intriguing questions about how two cultures, separated by the Atlantic Ocean, could have developed such similar artistic techniques during the same period.

The pottery isn’t the only evidence suggesting an advanced civilization in the Amazon. As sections of rainforest were cleared for farming, researchers discovered enormous geoglyphs carved into the land – massive circles, squares, and connecting lines that form intentional patterns. Modern radar technology has revealed even more of these geometric shapes hidden beneath the forest canopy. The scale and precision of these geoglyphs suggest the work of a sophisticated society rather than the nomadic groups traditionally associated with the region. Even more fascinating is the theory that portions of the Amazon itself might have been intentionally cultivated. The region’s unique black soil, and the strategic placement of useful plant species suggest the possibility that parts of the rainforest were carefully designed as a vast garden of food and medicinal resources.

One of Hancock’s most compelling arguments for a lost civilization centers on the universal presence of flood narratives across cultures. Ancient Amazonian stories tell of a leader who guided their people to mountain peaks to escape rising waters. This story bears striking similarities to flood myths found worldwide, including tales of the Apkallu of Mesopotamia, Quetzalcoatl of the Yucatan, Osiris of Egypt, and Viracocha of Peru. Each of these figures arrives by sea to teach agriculture and law to their respective civilizations after a great cataclysm. In Polynesian mythology, Hotu Matu’a sent seven followers to find new lands when their homeland of Hiva was threatened by rising waters. Hancock suggests these recurring narratives might preserve the memory of actual events experienced by an ancestral civilization.

The investigation takes viewers to Rapa Nui (Easter Island), home to the famous Moai statues. These monuments, with their distinctive features carved to represent specific individuals, share intriguing similarities with ancient statues found thousands of miles away, such as the Urfa Man in Turkey and the carved pillars at Göbekli Tepe, which date back 11,600 years. The Moai’s long ears and nails symbolize high status, and their hands are positioned over their stomachs in a pose remarkably similar to these distant counterparts. While the platforms supporting the Moai have been dated to around 900 years ago, coinciding with Polynesian settlement, Hancock raises the possibility that the statues themselves might be much older. Is it possible that the statues were already present when the Polynesians arrived, and they updated the platforms to host the ancient Moai? In the same way that other structures were moved and re-erected like the four tetrarchs of St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice (moved 900 years later from Constantinople), or the Renaissance fountain in Rome’s Pantheon that sits on an ancient Egyptian obelisk. The statues could have reasonably been adopted by the Polynesians. The massive bodies of the Moai that are underground are evident of and older timeline due to the sedimentation deposits that have covered the bodies and absence of clear proof that they were intentionally buried. Supporting this theory of earlier settlement further, the carbon dating of banana plants on the island suggests human presence as far back as 3,000 years ago, long before Polynesian arrival.

In Peru, Hancock explores the temples of Cusco and the connection between ancient civilizations and shamanic practices. Many cultures throughout the Americas used plant-based substances like ayahuasca, which means “vine of souls,” to communicate with ancestors, deities, and nature. This spiritual practice represents another common thread linking various ancient cultures all over the world.

The journey continues to New Mexico’s White Sands, where recently discovered human footprints have forced archaeologists to reconsider the timeline of human presence in North America. Seeds found within one footprint have been dated to 23,000 years ago, far earlier than previously accepted dates for human arrival in the region. Even when excluding the seed dating, the depth and location of the footprints provide compelling evidence for human presence well before 10,000 years ago.

Perhaps the most intriguing site in New Mexico is Pueblo Bonito (“beautiful town”) in Chaco Canyon. Initially thought to be a large residential complex, the structure’s true purpose appears to have been ceremonial. The discovery of artifacts from California and Southern Mexico suggests it served as a pilgrimage site, much like a North American Mecca. The building’s distinctive circular kivas with central roof openings reflect Pueblo origin myths about ancestors emerging from underground worlds, possibly preserving ancient memories of surviving catastrophic events by seeking shelter below ground. Nearby structures demonstrate precise astronomical alignments, including two carved tock formations that mark the “still moon” phenomenon every 18.6 years – a sophisticated astronomical understanding that goes far beyond agricultural necessity.

Throughout the Americas, Hancock finds evidence of advanced mathematical and astronomical knowledge. The Maya civilization, in particular, developed sophisticated systems for tracking celestial events. Their calendar system, using three calendars, could map cosmic cycles with remarkable precision and marks a significant change event around 3000 BC, coinciding with the height of Egyptian and Greek civilizations. Remember when we thought the Mayan calendar marked the end of the world as the year 2012? This is incorrect. The calendars mark signifigant dates of change like the rise or fall of civilization, which according to researchers and Mayan calender specialists marks the next period of change to be between the year 2000-2080. Are they onto something? Sadly, much of this knowledge was lost during European colonization, making it difficult to fully understand the extent of their astronomical and mathematical achievements.

“Ancient Apocalypse: The Americas” presents compelling evidence for sophisticated ancient cultures across the continent while raising profound questions about human civilization’s true history. As technology advances and new discoveries emerge, the possibility of uncovering more evidence about our ancient past grows. The six-episode series on Netflix offers viewers a fascinating journey through time, showcasing spectacular ancient sites while challenging conventional historical narratives.

The questions still remain: Who was the first Quetzalcoatl? Who experienced the first flood story? How far back do advanced civilizations go? And what ancient knowledge was lost to time?