#2528 - Cassie Coppersmith

Episode of The Joe Rogan Experience · July 21, 2026 · 2 h 40 min

Joe Rogan and researcher Cassie Coppersmith discuss anomalous ancient artifacts and sites in China, India, Cambodia and Egypt and argue the conventional archaeological timeline is wrong.

Summary

Independent researcher Cassie Coppersmith joined Joe Rogan to discuss what she views as evidence of a lost, technologically sophisticated ancient civilization. She began with Liangzhu culture jade cong tubes and bi discs, which she argued look machined and were inherited rather than made by the culture credited with them, comparing them to Egyptian hard stone vases. The pair then discussed the Kailasa Temple, lathe-turned pillars at Hoysala and Kopeshwar temples in India, and the Gommateshwara (Bahubali) statue, which Coppersmith said looks machined despite its accepted date of about 980 AD.

A recurring theme was criticism of academic archaeology. Rogan argued that institutional ego and career pressures suppress alternative theories, citing the Clovis-first controversy, Göbekli Tepe and Robert Schoch's water-erosion argument for the Sphinx. Coppersmith argued that sites are often dated from royal inscriptions that record dedications rather than construction, and described Cambodia's 2012 LiDAR discoveries, the West Baray reservoir, and wood dates at Bakong as reasons to question Angkor's chronology. She speculated that the Cambodian water systems served a purpose beyond rice farming.

The conversation also covered elongated skulls and trepanation, giants in myth, the Book of Enoch and Goliath, Filippo Biondi's claim of a second buried Sphinx, Shiva lingams as possible energy devices, and the spiritual energy of ancient sites. Coppersmith described a four-day wilderness fast after leaving corporate work, and Rogan discussed life extension, loneliness, and his visit to Eleusis. They closed with dragons in myth, a T. rex skeleton auction, ancient spear points Coppersmith found on her Nebraska family farm, and the Younger Dryas impact hypothesis. Both predicted that AI and remote sensing would transform understanding of ancient history.

Chapters

0:03
Liangzhu jade artifacts
Coppersmith describes precise nephrite jade cong tubes and bi discs from the Liangzhu culture and how she came to study ancient sites.
13:38
Kailasa and lathe-turned pillars
The pair discuss the Kailasa Temple and apparently machined lathe-turned pillars at Hoysala and Kopeshwar temples dated by inscriptions.
27:03
Academic gatekeeping and the timeline
Rogan criticizes academic archaeology via Clovis-first, Göbekli Tepe and the Sphinx water erosion hypothesis.
34:27
Elongated skulls, trepanation and giants
They examine images of elongated skulls, discuss trepanation, artifact theft, giant lore and the limits of the fossil record.
56:03
Cambodia, Angkor Wat and LiDAR
Coppersmith details the 2012 LiDAR discoveries, the West Baray, carbon dating at Bakong, and her theory of kings claiming older structures.
1:16:40
The Bahubali statue
Coppersmith presents the 60-foot granite Gommateshwara statue and argues its crude inscriptions contrast with its machined appearance.
1:27:29
Jain myth and Shiva lingams
Discussion of Jain cosmic cycles, giant Shiva lingams as possible energy devices, and non-mechanical paths of technology.
1:35:27
Biondi's second Sphinx and AI
They discuss Filippo Biondi's scans suggesting a second Sphinx and how AI and remote sensing could reshape the field.
1:43:37
Energy of sites and a vision quest
Coppersmith describes the felt energy of ancient sites, astronomical alignments, and her four-day wilderness fast.
1:52:24
Long-lived kings, Enoch and longevity
They discuss ancient king lists, the Book of Enoch and Goliath, life extension, loneliness, psychedelics and Eleusis.
2:18:03
Dragons and dinosaurs
Rogan and Coppersmith discuss dragon myths, serpents as guardians, and a T. rex skeleton for sale.
2:25:18
Spear points and the Younger Dryas
Coppersmith shows ancient spear points from her family farm and they discuss the Ice Age, Younger Dryas impact, and messages encoded in stone.

Key points

What was said, by whom, with the exact words. Timestamps jump to the moment.

Cassie Coppersmith
Coppersmith argues that Liangzhu jade artifacts appear machined and too precise for the tools archaeologists credit.
“they just look machined. They look way too precise for the tools that they say built them”
Listen from 0:44 · Liangzhu culture
Cassie Coppersmith
Coppersmith believes the carving on the King of Jade cong was scratched over an older, higher-quality relief carving.
“I do believe that it was scratched over the top of an original, very interesting, high-relief carving that you see in a lot of other artifacts”
Listen from 7:54 · Liangzhu culture
Cassie Coppersmith
Coppersmith contends that lathe marks on Indian temple pillars constitute strong evidence of ancient machining.
“So I do think we have strong evidence for machining in ancient history”
Listen from 16:27 · Hoysala architecture
Cassie Coppersmith
Coppersmith argues that Cambodian inscriptions record dedications rather than construction, so archaeologists overreach in attributing temples to kings.
“the archaeologists make a fairly big jump between what the kings actually wrote and saying, well, this king must have built this”
Listen from 22:51 · Angkor Wat
Cassie Coppersmith
Coppersmith believes the oldest megalithic structures predate a flood more than 12,000 years ago.
“I personally believe that it's pre-flood. So, more than 12,000 years ago”
Listen from 23:13
Joe Rogan
Rogan argues that academic hierarchy makes deviating from the accepted archaeological narrative career-ending.
“And to deviate from the narrative is devastating for your career”
Listen from 28:53
Cassie Coppersmith
Coppersmith notes that the dating of Göbekli Tepe has not prompted archaeologists to redate other sites.
“don't you find it interesting that the dating of Gobekli Tepe has not opened the door to redating other sites around the world?”
Listen from 30:48 · Göbekli Tepe
Joe Rogan
Rogan argues that rainfall erosion on the Sphinx implies it is at least 9,000 years old.
“Well, thousands of years of rainfall means, at the very least, the Sphinx is 9,000 years old”
Listen from 31:55 · Sphinx water erosion hypothesis
Joe Rogan
Rogan asserts that certain elongated skulls cannot be explained by head-binding and represent a different kind of skull.
“This is not a physical anomaly. This is a completely different skull”
Listen from 45:02 · Elongated skulls
Linked moment · 50:44Skip to 50:44 using a listen link in the info box.
Cassie Coppersmith
Coppersmith holds that worldwide giant lore reflects memory of real events rather than myth.
“I don't believe that that's imaginary. And I don't believe it's myths. I think that it's remembering”
Listen from 50:44
Cassie Coppersmith
Coppersmith speculates that Angkor's vast reservoir and channel systems were built to treat or structure water rather than merely for rice farming.
“I personally think it had something to do with how they were treating the water”
Listen from 1:07:48 · Angkor Wat
Cassie Coppersmith
Coppersmith cites wood in repaired sections of the Bakong pyramid dating older than the pyramid's accepted date as a problem for the official chronology.
“The wood samples in the repaired sections of Bakong are from the 600s”
Listen from 1:15:16 · Angkor Wat
Cassie Coppersmith
Coppersmith argues that the Bahubali statue in India appears machined.
“But in my mind, this thing is clearly machined. It's absolutely perfect”
Listen from 1:17:36 · Gommateshwara statue
Cassie Coppersmith
Coppersmith theorizes that Khmer kings first claimed pre-existing pyramids and temples, making the finest structures in Cambodia the oldest.
“So all of the coolest stuff in Cambodia is the oldest”
Listen from 1:22:02 · Angkor Wat
Cassie Coppersmith
Coppersmith says Biondi's second Sphinx claim could be easily tested by excavating the sand pile over the site.
“you just need to move this sand out of the way and dig down and you can prove whether it's there or not”
Listen from 1:38:15 · Great Sphinx of Giza
Cassie Coppersmith
Coppersmith predicts AI combined with LiDAR and other scanning could fundamentally change the debate about ancient history within about five years.
“I think you could fundamentally change this discussion in the next five years just using AI and different kinds of technology”
Listen from 1:41:57 · Lidar in archaeology
Joe Rogan
Rogan believes technology to significantly extend human lifespan will arrive within their lifetimes.
“they're actively working on technology that's going to allow that to happen in our lifetime”
Listen from 1:58:41 · Life extension
Cassie Coppersmith
Coppersmith believes that if the Younger Dryas occurred as she thinks, North America would have been largely wiped clean of ancient structures.
“North America would have been just almost wiped clean”
Listen from 2:15:48 · Younger Dryas impact hypothesis
Cassie Coppersmith
Coppersmith observes that the Bible is unusual among ancient traditions in portraying the serpent as evil rather than as a guardian.
“So it's one of the only traditions in the ancient world where it's suggested that the serpent is evil”
Listen from 2:20:50

People

In the conversation

Joe RoganAmerican comedian and host of The Joe Rogan Experience
Cassie CoppersmithIndependent researcher of ancient civilizations and host of the Secrets in Stone channel

Discussed

Graham HancockBritish writer on alternative history and lost civilizations
Robert SchochGeologist known for redating the Sphinx and solar catastrophe research
Ben van KerkwykCreator of the UnchartedX YouTube channel on ancient technology
Filippo BiondiItalian researcher using synthetic aperture radar to scan beneath Egyptian sites
Randall CarlsonResearcher of catastrophic flood and Younger Dryas impact theories
Brian MurareskuAuthor of The Immortality Key on psychedelics in ancient ritual
Jimmy CorsettiYouTuber covering alternative ancient history
Anna Paulina LunaU.S. Representative who signed the letter requesting release of UAP videos
Ramesses IIEgyptian pharaoh cited for inscribing his name on existing monuments

Topics

#2558 - Tyler Engle
The Joe Rogan Experience · Sep 24, 2026 · 2 h 30 min
Joe Rogan and researcher-musician Tyler Engle discuss Noah's Ark scans, megalithic stonework, Egyptian texts, and Engle's theory of ancient temples as resonant energy and consciousness technology.

From the publisher

Cassie Coppersmith is an independent researcher studying ancient civilizations and archaeological mysteries, and host of the “Secrets in Stone” podcast.www.youtube.com/@CassieCoppersmith Perplexity: Download the app or ask Perplexity anything at https://pplx.ai/rogan. Get 30% off + 2 free gifts at https://ARMRA.com/rogan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Summary, chapters and key points were generated from the episode transcript on September 30, 2026. Quotes are checked word for word against the transcript.

Categories: History·Social Sciences·Spirituality