Ivan gladstone van sertima 26 january 1935 25 may 2009 was a guyanese born associate professor of africana studies at rutgers university in the united states he was best known for his olmec alternative origin speculations a brand of pre columbian contact theory which he proposed in his book they came before columbus 1976 while his olmec theory has spread widely in african . They came before columbus reveals a compelling dramatic and superbly detailed documentation of the presence and legacy of africans in ancient america examining navigation and shipbuilding cultural analogies between native americans and africans the transportation of plants animals and textiles between the continents and the diaries journals and oral accounts of the explorers . The pre columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history of the americas before the appearance of significant european influences on the american continent spanning the time of the original settlement in the upper paleolithic period to european colonization during the early modern period while the phrase pre columbian era literally refers only to the time preceding . They came before columbus the african presence amazoncom they came before columbus the african presence in ancient america journal of african civilizations ivan van sertima on amazoncom free shipping ivan van sertima wikipedia the free encyclopedia ivan gladstone van sertima 26 january 1935 25 may 2009 was a