Scholar of African Civilizations and Pre-Columbian Contact Theories
Dr. Ivan Gladstone Van Sertima (1935–2009) was a Guyanese-born British scholar, author, and associate professor of Africana Studies at Rutgers University. Best known for his controversial book They Came Before Columbus (1976), Van Sertima proposed that Africans had contact with and influenced Mesoamerican civilizations, particularly the Olmec, long before Christopher Columbus’s arrival in the Americas. While his work gained popularity in the African American community, it was largely dismissed by mainstream scholars, who criticized it as pseudohistory and Afrocentric pseudoarchaeology.
Born in Kitty Village, Guyana, Van Sertima completed his early education there before moving to London to study at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). He graduated with honors in African languages and literature in 1969. Before his academic career, Van Sertima worked as a journalist and broadcaster, producing content for Caribbean and African audiences. In 1970, he immigrated to the United States, where he pursued graduate studies at Rutgers University, earning a master’s degree in 1977. He joined the faculty at Rutgers in 1979, teaching in the Department of Africana Studies.
They Came Before Columbus
Van Sertima’s most famous work, They Came Before Columbus, argues that African explorers, particularly from Mali, reached the Americas and influenced Mesoamerican cultures. The book highlights similarities between African and Olmec art, such as the colossal stone heads, which Van Sertima claimed had African features. He also pointed to the presence of African plants, like bottle gourds, in pre-Columbian America as evidence of transatlantic contact. However, his theories were criticized for relying on speculative interpretations and lacking credible archaeological evidence. Scholars argued that the Olmec heads and other artifacts were stylized representations of indigenous peoples, not Africans.
In addition to They Came Before Columbus, Van Sertima authored and edited numerous works on African history and contributions to global civilizations. He founded the Journal of African Civilizations in 1979, which became a platform for exploring African achievements in science, art, and culture. His essays, such as “The Lost Sciences of Africa,” highlighted early African advancements in fields like metallurgy, astronomy, and mathematics. Van Sertima also co-edited volumes like African Presence in Early Asia and Blacks in Science: Ancient and Modern, which sought to document the widespread influence of African peoples across history.
The Golden Age of the Moor
Golden Age of the Moor, edited by Dr. Ivan Van Sertima, is a scholarly work that explores the significant contributions of the Moors to European civilization, particularly during the medieval period. The book is a collection of essays that delve into the history, culture, and influence of the Moors, a term often used to describe the Muslim inhabitants of North Africa who conquered and ruled parts of the Iberian Peninsula (modern-day Spain and Portugal) from the 8th to the 15th centuries. It highlights their advancements in science, medicine, architecture, and philosophy, which had a profound impact on the Renaissance and the broader development of Western civilization. The work also challenges Eurocentric narratives by emphasizing the African roots of the Moors and their role as a bridge between African, Islamic, and European cultures.
The book further examines the legacy of the Moors beyond their political and military achievements, focusing on their intellectual and cultural contributions. It discusses how their preservation and expansion of classical knowledge, along with innovations in fields like mathematics, astronomy, and agriculture, helped shape the modern world. Additionally, Golden Age of the Moor addresses the racial and cultural identity of the Moors, countering historical misconceptions and stereotypes. By presenting a nuanced and well-researched perspective, Dr. Van Sertima and the contributing authors aim to restore the Moors to their rightful place in history as pivotal figures in the development of global civilization. This work is a key text in the study of African and Islamic contributions to world history.
Academic Controversy
Though his work has been well received within the greater Afro Indigenous academic community, Dr. Van Sertima’s theories faced significant mainstream academic pushback. Critics accused him of misrepresenting evidence and diminishing the achievements of indigenous Mesoamerican cultures. In 1997, a detailed rebuttal in Current Anthropology dismissed his claims as unfounded, noting the lack of genuine African artifacts in controlled archaeological excavations in the Americas. Despite this, Van Sertima’s work resonated with many in the African diaspora, earning him the Clarence L. Holte Literary Prize in 1981 and induction into the Rutgers African-American Alumni Hall of Fame in 2004.
Legacy
Dr. Van Sertima retired from Rutgers in 2006 and passed away on May 25, 2009. His widow, Jacqueline Van Sertima, pledged to continue publishing the Journal of African Civilizations and to release a collection of his poetry. Although his theories remain controversial, Dr. Van Sertima’s efforts to highlight African contributions to world history have left a lasting impact, inspiring further research and dialogue about the African diaspora.
