The Origins of the Maya and Aztecs: A Journey from the Pacific?

Where did the Maya and Aztecs truly come from? For centuries, this question has intrigued historians and scholars alike. One fascinating theory proposed by Charles Étienne Brasseur de Bourbourg, a 19th-century French abbot and pioneering researcher of Mesoamerican cultures, points to a surprising answer: a lost continent in the Pacific Ocean, known as the Land of Mu .

Brasseur’s groundbreaking work in archaeology and ethnography revealed that the Maya remembered their homeland as a vast continent in the Pacific, which eventually sank beneath the ocean’s waters. Although for a long time this was dismissed as legend, modern science has shed new light on this ancient tale.

Satellite imagery has shown that present-day Indonesia and Australia are remnants of a much larger landmass, now known as Sundaland. This submerged continent began to disappear around 14,000 years ago as rising sea levels engulfed its shores.

But how did the Maya, living thousands of miles away in Central America, know about a submerged land on the other side of the world? Was it pure coincidence, or did their ancestors originate from Sundaland? Recent research suggests the latter might be true.

Kenneth M. Olsen, a biologist specializing in plant evolution at Washington University, offers compelling evidence. According to Olsen, pre-Columbian sailors from Sundaland or nearby regions may have reached the Americas long before European explorers.

His proof lies in the humble coconut. Genetic studies reveal that all coconut plants in the Americas trace their origins to India or Sundaland. More importantly, coconuts don’t migrate naturally across vast oceans like other plants do they require human intervention to travel such distances. This strongly implies that Sundaland navigators arrived in Central America and planted coconuts there, long before Columbus set sail.

This theory not only adds a new dimension to our understanding of pre Columbian history but also underscores the advanced maritime capabilities of ancient civilizations. If Brasseur and Olsen are correct, the Maya and Aztec ancestors may have embarked on epic ocean voyages from the once-great Sundaland continent, forging cultural ties across the Pacific. This possibility challenges conventional narratives and invites us to reconsider the origins of two of Mesoamerica’s most advanced civilizations.

The Maya and Aztecs may not only be the inheritors of local traditions but also the descendants of a forgotten world, linked by the currents of the Pacific and the enduring legacy of human exploration.