Learn about the Olmec Civilizations: one of the oldest prehispanic civilizations, referred to as the mother culture of Mesoamerica. The Olmecs inhabited the tropic coastal plain of modern Mexico’s Gulf coast, occupied now by the states of Veracruz and Tabasco, between 1300 and 400 B.C. It is believed that the Olmecs were among the first to develop a calendar and a writing system.
 They are also famous for the heavy carved stone heads which are believed to be carvings of their rulers’ faces. La Venta Parque at Villahermosa, the capital of Tabasco State, is a great place to see the enormous heads. Other sites include San Lorenzo and Tres Zapotes in Veracruz, as well as the Temple of the Feathered Serpent at Teotihuacan.
The earliest civilization in Central America and possibly the earliest civilization in the Americas was the Olmec civilization which arose sometime between 1200 and 1000 BC. They originally lived in the Gulf Coast region of southern Mexico, but soon expanded into Guatemala.
Olmec society was very simple. It was essentially divided into two groups: the elite group lived in the small urban centers and the common people lived in the rural areas. The Olmecs were overwhelmingly an agricultural people. The elite lived off of the agriculture of the common people, but they probably didn't rule over the agricultural populations. Instead, they carried out religious ceremonies centered in the towns and carried out commercial trade in luxury and artistic items.
Olmec history originated at its base within San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán, where distinctively Olmec features begin to emerge before 1200 BCE. The rise of civilization here was probably assisted by the local ecology of well watered rich alluvial soil, encouraging high maize production. This ecology may be compared to that of other ancient centers of civilization: the Nile, Indus, and Yellow River valleys, and Mesopotamia.
It is thought that the dense population concentration at San Lorenzo encouraged the rise of an elite class that eventually ensured Olmec dominance and provided the social basis for the production of the symbolic and sophisticated luxury artifacts that define Olmec culture.
The Olmec helmeted heads, have been the subject of much speculation. Once theorized to be ballplayers, it is now generally accepted that these heads are portraits of rulers. |
