00:00.00 kinkella Hello and welcome to the pseudo archeology podcast episode 136 and I am your host Dr Andrew Kinkella and tonight Augustus Lay plan jo who is this world's most interesting. Psudoarchaeologist. 00:24.20 kinkella All right welcome back. My friends and family and close relatives and people I don't know um I'm recording again after midnight and I'm not laying it on the line. 00:38.66 kinkella I'm just recording after midnight because of course I'm late last minute again I mean do you ever just really want to do better and then you just don't. And you just keep trying and half of you is like why do I bother and then the other half you really thinks like you really think you're gonna be successful. You know I'm like you know I'm going to record earlier this time like I totally am I'm goingnna I have an idea like I know what I'm going to do more or less and I'm just gonna. I'm gonna get this done and then I totally didn't god man all right? So a bit Augustus Li hung on John never had problems like this or actually I bet maybe did I don't know. Anyway, who is this guy. Why have a victim all right? So this is kind of tracking on that track I've been on recently of just kind of classic old guys in pseudo archeology. You know, um I mean we did brusseur de bo bor. 01:49.71 kinkella Little while back you know, um in that in that vein I'd like to do this guy. This is this isn't this is an interesting cat. Um his full name Augustus Henry julian le plan Jean and I know yet again do I even have to say it. How come everyone in Pseudo Archeology has a terrible name. So now this one I want to track him a little in terms of the years when he does certain things and his age because he's born in 1825 and he dies in 198 so he actually he's actually you do the math. He's eighty three years old when he dies and this guy is experiencing a lot of change I mean think of what the world is like and when he's a very young boy in like the 1830 s I mean the 1830 s man that's like. Way before the civil war right? and then he makes it all the way past the turn of the century into until he dies in 198. That's ah, that's a big change in terms of just what the world was like now this guy. He's kind of he's he's american and british too. He's kind of a mixy matchy of those he at the end of his life. He does spend time in New York um but he even though hey is he british is he is he american you know. 03:21.40 kinkella He's a citizen of the world augustus le clochon he's one of those dudes he he he's almost like the forest Gump of pseudo archeologists he like finds himself in these very important moments finding very interesting things. Very famous things. And of course it's ultimately all for not kind of all right? So starting off with this guy's story he when he's 19 so this is going to be what if he's born. Eighteen Twenty five thirty five forty five eighteen forty four when he's 19 this guy sails from England I believe to South America right gets about sails to South America and is shipwrecked the guy is shipwrecked 19 year old shipwrecked off the coast of chile and then does he go straight home now. He hangs out in Chile. He lives in Val Peraiso and whenever I hear the name Val Peraio by the way you guys is a city right in South America of course I always think of the sting song Val Peraiso anyone sting song Val Peraio it's all like depressing and stuff. Although I heard val perriso is like a pretty nice town friend of mine I think had traveled there at 1 point anyway, he just hangs out in val valprazo for a couple years and in his his latest teens his early 20 s and he basically becomes a college teacher I think he teaches math. 04:53.37 kinkella Some of the sciences this kind of thing right? and so it's like hey I'm in my early 20 s and I'm now living in Val Peraiso as like a college teacher was pretty crazy then so he does that for several years and then in eighteen forty nine he sails up to San Francisco now purveyors of California history Eighteen Forty Nine is the gold rush. So this guy at that point. What's at plus 4 years or so he's like 24 24 years old the dude experiences the California Gold Rush firsthand right in San Francisco and he actually does the smart thing which is instead of searching for gold like panning for gold. He becomes a surveyor. And he actually surveys the town of Marysville which is in Northern California it's in it's in the gold country but it's kind of um, those you who know California it's kind of in the central valley in the northern part of the central valley in in that. 06:00.30 kinkella I'm guessing. It's right where the central valley gets a little bit hilly I've I've been in that area before and I I think I've even had a relative or 2 who've lived in Marysville actually Marysville is quite a small town even by today's standards I think it's like 12000 people or something like that. But ah Augustus. Lelogne Jean is the one who surveys the town originally in fifty one I just think that's awesome I mean already the guy is what 26 years old he's been in a shipwreck. He's lived in South America for several years as like a college teacher. He's experienced the gold rush. And he surveyed the master plans for a town in California I mean dude ah say what we want later when of course you guys know me I'm going to make fun of this guy but that's pretty you got to give the guy credit that's that's awesome what a life dude. Already 26 years old and when he does his surveying. He gets paid with like land deeds for more land and so he's able to then sell that land off and then gets a lot of money right? So as a young person. He also is getting. To be fairly well off now you would think just there. It's like ok end of story. No friends beginning of story moves back to england right in his later twenty s and he just totally gets into photography. 07:33.99 kinkella Now we got to think this is the 1850 s right photography is in like its infancy right? think of those you know those like civil war photos and this is pre-civil war the glass plates and the early early. Black and white stuff. Um, still can be quite good quality. You know for the time but early stuff and he goes way down the rabbit hole in photography. He really kind of becomes a photography. You know this training that he does in England. For a couple years. He really kind of becomes a travel photographer and think of the equipment that that guy's got to carry to be a travel photographer in like eighteen fifty five you know this is serious boxes of stuff and tripods and you know the. Stuff that goes poo for any kind of lighting I don't even know if they even did lighting at that time most of his stuff are exteriors but that's a major situation so during that time Wayne did photography starts taking his travel his ah sort of. Travel photography situation to all kinds of places he goes to Mexico he goes to like China goes to Australia and then from Australia out into the pacific I mean the dude is a world traveler now even more and he's in he's only in his thirty s right? He's barely. 09:07.64 kinkella Touching 30 and eighteen fifty five so damn dude good for you augustus le plan Jean um, and he's honing his craft right? He's he's getting better and better at taking photos in faraway places. So. 09:26.52 kinkella At this time. In the early 18 sixty s he moves back to South America again this time he's in Peru and then he really starts focusing on archeology. So he's going to be taking photographs. Being a travel photographer but now focusing on archaeological sites and he does a bunch of stuff in in Peru I believe he works in Peru at this time for the better part of 8 years I could be a little off on that one but the story of Augustus. Ah, le clone jean is definitely one of long term travel. The guy goes kind of place to place and stays a very long time but in Peru he's looking at like the tijuaku culture and you can still what's cool. You guys is you can still like Google and find a bunch of these images really. Really nice, right? And of course for archeologists some of these images are doubly valuable because he may have taken photos of things that have been looted are no longer there or are in much better shape than than they are now right? He's taken these things in like the 18. 10:41.13 kinkella 60 s fifty s and sixty s so that's what one hundred and fifty years there can be a lot of weathering on these various stone structures in one hundred and fifty years so these photos can be very precious. So again I mean. I've told you this really awesome story. He sounds like a really cool guy. Um I think I would love to meet him how can I possibly why? why am I putting him on the pseudo archeology podcast like dude let this guy go in peace. Well. 11:17.69 kinkella When we come back, We'll talk about some of his influences.