Untold History of the Olmec Civilization

The Olmec and Untold
American History

Olmec Head / San Lorenzo Monument 3

(Also known as Colossal Head 3)

Tenochtitlan 1200-900 BCE.

The Olmec and Untold

American History
CLICK TO VIEW THE VIDEO

Olmec 1

Olmec
The Olmec were the first major civilization in Mexico. They lived in
the tropical lowlands of south-central Mexico, in the modern-day states
of Veracruz and Tabasco.
The Olmec flourished during Mesoamerica's Formative period, dating
roughly from as early as 1500 BCE to about 400 BCE. Pre-Olmec
cultures had flourished in the area since about 2500 BCE, but by
1600-1500 BCE Early Olmec culture had emerged centered around the
San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán site near the coast in southeast Veracruz.[1]
They were the first Mesoamerican civilization and laid many of the
Olmec Head No. 3 from San Lorenzo
foundations for the civilizations that followed.[2] Among other "firsts", Tenochtitlan 1200-900 BCE.
the Olmec appeared to practice ritual bloodletting and played the
Mesoamerican ballgame, hallmarks of nearly all subsequent
Mesoamerican societies.

The most familiar aspect of the Olmecs is their artwork, particularly
the aptly named "colossal heads".[3] The Olmec civilization was first
defined through artifacts which collectors purchased on the
pre-Columbian art market in the late 19th century and early 20th
century. Olmec artworks are considered among ancient America's most
striking.[4]

"The Wrestler", an Olmec era statuette, 1200 –
800 BCE.

Olmec Jadeite Mask 1000-600 BCE

The Olmec and Untold American History RBG Library 09-20-2012

Olmec 2

Overview
The "Olmec heartland" is an
archaeological term used to describe an
area in the Gulf lowlands that is
generally considered the birthplace of
the Olmec culture. This area is
characterized by swampy lowlands
punctuated by low hills, ridges, and
volcanoes. The Tuxtlas Mountains rise
sharply in the north, along the Gulf of
Mexico's Bay of Campeche. Here the
Olmec constructed permanent
city-temple complexes at San Lorenzo
Tenochtitlán, La Venta, Tres Zapotes,
and Laguna de los Cerros. In this
region, the first Mesoamerican The Olmec heartland where the Olmec reigned from 1400 - 400 BCE.
civilization emerged and reigned from
c. 1400–400 BCE.[5]

Origins
The beginnings of Olmec civilization have traditionally been placed between 1400 and 1200 BCE. Recent finds of
Olmec remains ritually deposited at El Manati shrine (near San Lorenzo) moved this back to "at least" 1600-1500
BCE.[6] It seems that the Olmec had their roots in early farming cultures of Tabasco, which began between 5100
BCE and 4600 BCE. These shared the same basic food crops and technologies of the later Olmec civilization.[7]
What is today called Olmec first appeared fully within the city of San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán, where distinctive
Olmec features occurred around 1400 BCE. The rise of civilization was assisted by the local ecology of well-watered
alluvial soil, as well as by the transportation network provided by the Coatzacoalcos River basin. This environment
may be compared to that of other ancient centers of civilization: the Nile, Indus, and Yellow River valleys, and
Mesopotamia. This highly productive environment encouraged a densely concentrated population, which in turn
triggered the rise of an elite class.[8] The elite class created the demand for the production of the symbolic and
sophisticated luxury artifacts that define Olmec culture.[9] Many of these luxury artifacts were made from materials
such as jade, obsidian and magnetite, which came from distant locations and suggest that early Olmec elites had
access to an extensive trading network in Mesoamerica. The source of the most valued jade, for example, is found in
the Motagua River valley in eastern Guatemala,[10] and Olmec obsidian has been traced to sources in the Guatemala
highlands, such as El Chayal and San Martín Jilotepeque, or in Puebla,[11] distances ranging from 200 to 400 km
away (120–250 miles away), respectively.[12]


Olmec 3

La Venta
The first Olmec center, San Lorenzo, was all but
abandoned around 900 BCE at about the same time that
La Venta rose to prominence.[13] A wholesale
destruction of many San Lorenzo monuments also
occurred circa 950 BCE, which may indicate an
internal uprising or, less likely, an invasion.[14] The
latest thinking, however, is that environmental changes
may have been responsible for this shift in Olmec
centers, with certain important rivers changing
course.[15]

In any case, following the decline of San Lorenzo, La
Venta became the most prominent Olmec center, Great pyramid in La Venta, Tabasco.
lasting from 900 BCE until its abandonment around
400 BCE.[16] La Venta sustained the Olmec cultural traditions, but with spectacular displays of power and wealth.
The Great Pyramid was the largest Mesoamerican structure of its time. Even today, after 2500 years of erosion, it
rises 34 metres (112 ft) above the naturally flat landscape.[17] Buried deep within La Venta, lay opulent,
labor-intensive "offerings" – 1000 tons of smooth serpentine blocks, large mosaic pavements, and at least 48
separate deposits of polished jade celts, pottery, figurines, and hematite mirrors.[18]

Decline
Scholars have not determined the cause of the eventual extinction of the Olmec culture. Between 400 and 350 BCE,
the population in the eastern half of the Olmec heartland dropped precipitously, and the area was sparsely inhabited
until the 19th century.[19] This depopulation was likely the result of "very serious environmental changes that
rendered the region unsuited for large groups of farmers", in particular changes to the riverine environment that the
Olmec depended upon for agriculture, hunting and gathering, and transportation. Archaeologists propose that these
changes were triggered by tectonic upheavals or subsidence, or the silting up of rivers due to agricultural
practices.[20]
One theory for the considerable population drop during the Terminal Formative period is suggested by Santley and
colleagues (Santley et al. 1997) who propose shifts in settlement location [relocation] due to volcanism instead of
extinction. Volcanic eruptions during the Early, Late and Terminal Formative periods would have blanketed the
[21]
lands and forced the Olmec to move their settlements.
Whatever the cause, within a few hundred years of the abandonment of the last Olmec cities, successor cultures
became firmly established. The Tres Zapotes site, on the western edge of the Olmec heartland, continued to be
occupied well past 400 BCE, but without the hallmarks of the Olmec culture. This post-Olmec culture, often labeled
Epi-Olmec, has features similar to those found at Izapa, some 330 miles (550 km) to the southeast.[22]


Olmec 4

Art
The Olmec culture was first defined as an art style, and
this continues to be the hallmark of the culture.[23]
Wrought in a large number of media – jade, clay,
basalt, and greenstone among others – much Olmec art,
such as The Wrestler, is surprisingly naturalistic. Other
art expresses fantastic anthropomorphic creatures, often
highly stylized, using an iconography reflective of a
religious meaning.[24] Common motifs include
downturned mouths and a cleft head, both of which are
seen in representations of were-jaguars.[23]

In addition to making human and human-like subjects,
Olmec artisans were adept at animal portrayals, for
example, the fish vessel to the right or the bird vessel in
the gallery below.
While Olmec figurines are found abundantly in sites
throughout the Formative Period, the stone monuments
such as the colossal heads are the most recognizable
feature of Olmec culture.[25] These monuments can be
divided into four classes:[26] Fish Vessel, 12th–9th century BCE.
Height: 6.5 inches (16.5 cm).
• Colossal heads;
• Rectangular "altars" (more likely thrones) such as Altar 5 shown below;
• Free-standing in-the-round sculpture, such as the twins from El Azuzul or San Martin Pajapan Monument 1; and
• Stelae, such as La Venta Monument 19 above. The stelae form was generally introduced later than the colossal
heads, altars, or free-standing sculptures. Over time, the stelae changed from simple representation of figures,
such as Monument 19 or La Venta Stela 1, toward representations of historical events, particularly acts
legitimizing rulers. This trend would culminate in post-Olmec monuments such as La Mojarra Stela 1, which
combines images of rulers with script and calendar dates.[27]

Colossal heads
The most recognized aspect of the Olmec civilization are the enormous helmeted heads.[28] As no known
pre-Columbian text explains them, these impressive monuments have been the subject of much speculation.


Olmec 5

Once theorized to be ballplayers, it is now generally
accepted that these heads are portraits of rulers, perhaps
dressed as ballplayers.[29] Infused with individuality, no
two heads are alike and the helmet-like headdresses are
adorned with distinctive elements, suggesting personal or
group symbols.[30]

Seventeen colossal heads have been unearthed to date.[31]

Olmec white ware "hollow baby" figurine - probably produced
in southern Puebla.

Site Count Designations

San Lorenzo 10 Colossal Heads 1 through 10

La Venta 4 Monuments 1 through 4

Tres Zapotes 2 Monuments A & Q

Rancho la Cobata 1 Monument 1

The heads range in size from the Rancho La Cobata head, at 3.4 m high, to the pair at Tres Zapotes, at 1.47 m.
Scholars calculate that the largest heads weigh between 25 and 55 short tons (50 t).[32]
The heads were carved from single blocks or boulders of volcanic basalt, found in the Tuxtlas Mountains. The Tres
Zapotes heads, for example, were sculpted from basalt found at the summit of Cerro el Vigía, at the western end of
the Tuxtlas. The San Lorenzo and La Venta heads, on the other hand, were likely carved from the basalt of Cerro
Cintepec, on the southeastern side,[33] perhaps at the nearby Llano del Jicaro workshop, and dragged or floated to
their final destination dozens of miles away.[34] It has been estimated that moving a colossal head required the efforts
of 1,500 people for three to four months.[12]


Olmec 6

Some of the heads, and many other monuments, have
been variously mutilated, buried and disinterred,
reset in new locations and/or reburied. Some
monuments, and at least two heads, were recycled or
recarved, but it is not known whether this was simply
due to the scarcity of stone or whether these actions
had ritual or other connotations. Scholars believe that
some mutilation had significance beyond mere
destruction, but some scholars still do not rule out
internal conflicts or, less likely, invasion as a
factor.[35]

The flat-faced, thick-lipped characteristics of the
heads have caused some debate due to their
resemblance to some African facial characteristics.
Based on this comparison, some writers have said
that the Olmecs were Africans who had emigrated to
the New World.[36] But, the vast majority of
archeologists and other Mesoamerican scholars reject
claims of pre-Columbian contacts with Africa.[37]
Explanations for the facial features of the colossal
heads include the possibility that the heads were
carved in this manner due to the shallow space "Olmec-style" face mask in jade
allowed on the basalt boulders. Others note that in
addition to the broad noses and thick lips, the eyes of the heads have the Asian epicanthic fold, and that all these
characteristics can still be found in modern Mesoamerican Indians. For instance, in the 1940s the artist/art historian
Miguel Covarrubias published a series of photos of Olmec artworks and of the faces of modern Mexican Indians
with very similar facial characteristics.[38] The African origin hypothesis assumes that Olmec carving was intended
to be realistic, an assumption that is hard to justify given the full corpus of representation in Olmec carving.[39] Ivan
van Sertima claimed that the seven braids on the Tres Zapotes head was an Ethiopian hair style but he offered no
evidence that this was an Ethiopian hair style at the appropriate time. The Egyptologist Frank Yurco has said that the
Olmec braids do not resemble contemporary Egyptian or Nubian braids.[40]

Richard Diehl wrote "There can be no doubt that the heads depict the American Indian physical type still seen on the
streets of Soteapan, Acayucan, and other towns in the region."[41]

Jade face masks
Another type of artifact is much smaller; hardstone carvings in jade of a face in a mask form. Curators and scholars
refer to "Olmec-style" face masks but, to date, no example has been recovered in an archaeologically controlled
Olmec context. They have been recovered from sites of other cultures, including one deliberately deposited in the
ceremonial precinct of Tenochtitlan (Mexico City). The mask would presumably have been about 2,000 years old
when the Aztec buried it, suggesting such masks were valued and collected as Roman antiquities were in Europe.[42]


Olmec 7

Beyond the heartland
Olmec-style artifacts, designs,
figurines, monuments and iconography
have been found in the archaeological
records of sites hundreds of kilometres
outside the Olmec heartland. These
sites include:[43]

• Tlatilco and Tlapacoya, major
centers of the Tlatilco culture in the
Valley of Mexico, where artifacts
include hollow baby-face motif
figurines and Olmec designs on
ceramics.
• Chalcatzingo, in Valley of Morelos,
which features Olmec-style
monumental art and rock art with The major Formative Period (Pre-Classic Era) sites in present-day Mexico which show
Olmec-style figures. Olmec influences in the archaeological record.

• Teopantecuanitlan, in Guerrero,
which features Olmec-style monumental art as well as city plans with distinctive Olmec features.
Other sites showing probable Olmec influence include San Bartolo, Takalik Abaj and La Democracia in Guatemala
and Zazacatla in Morelos. The Juxtlahuaca and Oxtotitlan cave paintings feature Olmec designs and motifs.[44]
Many theories have been advanced to account for the occurrence of Olmec influence far outside the heartland,
including long-range trade by Olmec merchants, Olmec colonization of other regions, Olmec artisans travelling to
other cities, conscious imitation of Olmec artistic styles by developing towns – some even suggest the prospect of
Olmec military domination or that the Olmec iconography was actually developed outside the heartland.[45]
The generally accepted, but by no means unanimous, interpretation is that the Olmec-style artifacts, in all sizes,
became associated with elite status and were adopted by non-Olmec Formative Period chieftains in an effort to
bolster their status.[46]

Notable innovations
In addition to their influence with contemporaneous Mesoamerican cultures, as the first civilization in Mesoamerica,
the Olmecs are credited, or speculatively credited, with many "firsts", including the bloodletting and perhaps human
sacrifice, writing and epigraphy, and the invention of zero and the Mesoamerican calendar, and the Mesoamerican
ballgame, as well as perhaps the compass.[47] Some researchers, including artist and art historian Miguel
Covarrubias, even postulate that the Olmecs formulated the forerunners of many of the later Mesoamerican
deities.[48]


Olmec 8

Bloodletting and sacrifice speculations
Although the archeological record does
not include explicit representation of
Olmec bloodletting[49], researchers
have found other evidence that the
Olmec ritually practiced it. For
example, numerous natural and
ceramic stingray spikes and maguey
thorns have been found at Olmec
sites,[50] and certain artifacts have been
identified as bloodletters.[51]

The argument that the Olmec instituted
human sacrifice is significantly more
speculative. No Olmec or
Olmec-influenced sacrificial artifacts
have yet been discovered; no Olmec or
Altar 5 from La Venta. The inert were-jaguar baby held by the central figure is seen by
Olmec-influenced artwork
some as an indication of child sacrifice. In contrast, its sides show bas-reliefs of humans
unambiguously shows sacrificial holding quite lively were-jaguar babies.
victims (as do the danzante figures of
Monte Albán) or scenes of human sacrifice (such as can be seen in the famous ballcourt mural from El Tajin).[52]

At the El Manatí site, disarticulated skulls and femurs, as well as the complete skeletons of newborn or unborn
children, have been discovered amidst the other offerings, leading to speculation concerning infant sacrifice.
Scholars have not determined how the infants met their deaths.[53] Some authors have associated infant sacrifice with
Olmec ritual art showing limp were-jaguar babies, most famously in La Venta's Altar 5 (on the right) or Las Limas
figure.[54] Any definitive answer requires further findings.

Writing
The Olmec may have been the first civilization in the Western Hemisphere to develop a writing system. Symbols
found in 2002 and 2006 date to 650 BCE[55] and 900 BCE[56] respectively, preceding the oldest Zapotec writing
dated to about 500 BCE.[57][58]
The 2002 find at the San Andrés site shows a bird, speech scrolls, and glyphs that are similar to the later Mayan
hieroglyphs.[59] Known as the Cascajal Block, and dated between 1100 BCE and 900 BCE, the 2006 find from a site
near San Lorenzo shows a set of 62 symbols, 28 of which are unique, carved on a serpentine block. A large number
of prominent archaeologists have hailed this find as the "earliest pre-Columbian writing".[60] Others are skeptical
because of the stone's singularity, the fact that it had been removed from any archaeological context, and because it
bears no apparent resemblance to any other Mesoamerican writing system.[61]
There are also well-documented later hieroglyphs known as "Epi-Olmec", and while there are some who believe that
Epi-Olmec may represent a transitional script between an earlier Olmec writing system and Mayan writing, the
matter remains unsettled.


Olmec 9

Mesoamerican Long Count calendar and invention of the zero concept
The Long Count calendar used by many subsequent
Mesoamerican civilizations, as well as the concept of
zero, may have been devised by the Olmecs. Because
the six artifacts with the earliest Long Count calendar
dates were all discovered outside the immediate Maya
homeland, it is likely that this calendar predated the
Maya and was possibly the invention of the Olmecs.
Indeed, three of these six artifacts were found within
the Olmec heartland. But an argument against an
Olmec origin is the fact that the Olmec civilization had
ended by the 4th century BCE, several centuries before
the earliest known Long Count date artifact.[63]

The Long Count calendar required the use of zero as a
place-holder within its vigesimal (base-20) positional
numeral system. A shell glyph – – was used as a
zero symbol for these Long Count dates, the second
oldest of which, on Stela C at Tres Zapotes, has a date
of 32 BCE. This is one of the earliest uses of the zero
concept in history.[64]

The back of Stela C from Tres Zapotes
Mesoamerican ballgame This is the second oldest Long Count date yet discovered. The
numerals 7.16.6.16.18 translate to September 3, 32 BCE (Julian).
The Olmec, whose name means "rubber people" in the
The glyphs surrounding the date are one of the few surviving
Nahuatl language of the Aztecs,[65] are strong examples of Epi-Olmec script.
[62]

candidates for originating the Mesoamerican ballgame
so prevalent among later cultures of the region and
used for recreational and religious purposes.[66] A
dozen rubber balls dating to 1600 BCE or earlier have
been found in El Manatí, an Olmec sacrificial bog 10
kilometres (6.2 mi) east of San Lorenzo
Tenochtitlan.[67] These balls predate the earliest
ballcourt yet discovered at Paso de la Amada, circa
1400 BCE, although there is no certainty that they were
used in the ballgame.[68]

Daily life
Olmec tomb at La Venta Park, Villahermosa, Tabasco.
Ethnicity and language
While the actual ethno-linguistic affiliation of the Olmec remains unknown, various hypotheses have been put
forward. For example, in 1968 Michael D. Coe speculated that the Olmec were Mayan predecessors.[69]
In 1976, linguists Lyle Campbell and Terrence Kaufman published a paper in which they argued a core number of
loanwords had apparently spread from a Mixe–Zoquean language into many other Mesoamerican languages.[70]
Campbell and Kaufman proposed that the presence of these core loanwords indicated that the Olmec – generally
regarded as the first "highly civilized" Mesoamerican society – spoke a language ancestral to Mixe–Zoquean. The


Olmec 10

spread of this vocabulary particular to their culture accompanied the diffusion of other Olmec cultural and artistic
traits that appears in the archaeological record of other Mesoamerican societies.
Mixe–Zoque specialist Søren Wichmann first critiqued this theory on the basis that most of the Mixe–Zoquean loans
seemed to originate from the Zoquean branch of the family only. This implied the loanword transmission occurred in
the period after the two branches of the language family split, placing the time of the borrowings outside of the
Olmec period.[71] However new evidence has pushed back the proposed date for the split of Mixean and Zoquean
languages to a period within the Olmec era.[72] Based on this dating, the architectural and archaeological patterns and
the particulars of the vocabulary loaned to other Mesoamerican languages from Mixe–Zoquean, Wichmann now
suggests that the Olmecs of San Lorenzo spoke proto-Mixe and the Olmecs of La Venta spoke proto-Zoque.[72]
At least the fact that the Mixe–Zoquean languages still are, and are historically known to have been, spoken in an
area corresponding roughly to the Olmec heartland, leads most scholars to assume that the Olmec spoke one or more
Mixe–Zoquean languages.[73]

Religion and mythology
Olmec religious activities were performed by a
combination of rulers, full-time priests, and shamans.
The rulers seem to have been the most important
religious figures, with their links to the Olmec deities
or supernaturals providing legitimacy for their rule.[74]
There is also considerable evidence for shamans in the
Olmec archaeological record, particularly in the
so-called "transformation figures".[75]

As Olmec mythology has left no documents
comparable to the Popul Vuh from Maya mythology,
any exposition of Olmec mythology must be based on
interpretations of surviving monumental and portable
art (such as the Las Limas figure at right), and
comparisons with other Mesoamerican mythologies.
Olmec art shows that such deities as the Feathered
Serpent and a rain supernatural were already in the
Mesoamerican pantheon in Olmec times.[76]

Social and political organization
Little is directly known about the societal or political Las Limas Monument 1, considered an important realisation of
structure of Olmec society. Although it is assumed by Olmec mythology. The youth holds a were-jaguar infant, while four
most researchers that the colossal heads and several iconic supernaturals are incised on the youth's shoulders and knees.

other sculptures represent rulers, nothing has been
found like the Maya stelae (see drawing) which name specific rulers and provide the dates of their rule.[77]
Instead, archaeologists relied on the data that they had, such as large- and small-scale site surveys. These provided
evidence of considerable centralization within the Olmec region, first at San Lorenzo and then at La


Olmec 11

Venta – no other Olmec sites come close to these in
terms of area or in the quantity and quality of
architecture and sculpture.[78]
This evidence of geographic and demographic
centralization leads archaeologists to propose that
Olmec society itself was hierarchical, concentrated first
at San Lorenzo and then at La Venta, with an elite that
was able to use their control over materials such as
water and monumental stone to exert command and
legitimize their regime.[79]

Nonetheless, Olmec society is thought to lack many of
the institutions of later civilizations, such as a standing
army or priestly caste.[80] And there is no evidence that
San Lorenzo or La Venta controlled, even during their
heyday, all of the Olmec heartland.[81] There is some
doubt, for example, that La Venta controlled even
Arroyo Sonso, only some 35 kilometres (22 mi)
away.[82] Studies of the Tuxtla Mountain settlements,
some 60 kilometres (37 mi) away, indicate that this
area was composed of more or less egalitarian
communities outside the control of lowland centers.[83] Olmec Chief or King. Relief from La Venta Archeological Site in
Tabasco.

Trade
The wide diffusion of Olmec artifacts and "Olmecoid" iconography throughout much of Mesoamerica indicates the
existence of extensive long-distance trade networks. Exotic, prestigious and high-value materials such as greenstone
and marine shell were moved in significant quantities across large distances. While the Olmec were not the first in
Mesoamerica to organize long-distance exchanges of goods, the Olmec period saw a significant expansion in
interregional trade routes, more variety in material goods exchanged and a greater diversity in the sources from
which the base materials were obtained.

Village life and diet
Despite their size and deliberate urban design, which was copied by other centers,[84] San Lorenzo and La Venta
were largely ceremonial centers, and the majority of the Olmec lived in villages similar to present-day villages and
hamlets in Tabasco and Veracruz.[85]
These villages were located on higher ground and consisted of several scattered houses. A modest temple may have
been associated with the larger villages. The individual dwellings would consist of a house, an associated lean-to,
and one or more storage pits (similar in function to a root cellar). A nearby garden was used for medicinal and
cooking herbs and for smaller crops such as the domesticated sunflower. Fruit trees, such as avocado or cacao, were
likely available nearby.
Although the river banks were used to plant crops between flooding periods, the Olmecs also likely practiced
swidden (or slash-and-burn) agriculture to clear the forests and shrubs, and to provide new fields once the old fields
were exhausted.[86] Fields were located outside the village, and were used for maize, beans, squash, manioc, sweet
potato, as well as cotton. Based on archaeological studies of two villages in the Tuxtlas Mountains, it is known that
maize cultivation became increasingly important to the Olmec over time, although the diet remained fairly
[87]
diverse.


Olmec 12

The fruits and vegetables were supplemented with fish, turtle, snake, and mollusks from the nearby rivers, and crabs
and shellfish in the coastal areas. Birds were available as food sources, as were game including peccary, opossum,
raccoon, rabbit, and in particular, deer.[88] Despite the wide range of hunting and fishing available, midden surveys
in San Lorenzo have found that the domesticated dog was the single most plentiful source of animal protein.[89]

History of archaeological research
Olmec culture was unknown to historians until the mid-19th
century. In 1869 the Mexican antiquarian traveller José
Melgar y Serrano published a description of the first Olmec
monument to have been found in situ. This monument – the
colossal head now labelled Tres Zapotes Monument A – had
been discovered in the late 1850s by a farm worker clearing
forested land on a hacienda in Veracruz. Hearing about the
curious find while travelling through the region, Melgar y
Serrano first visited the site in 1862 to see for himself and
complete the partially exposed sculpture's excavation. His
description of the object, published several years later after
further visits to the site, represents the earliest documented
report of an artifact of what is now known as the Olmec
culture.[91]

In the latter half of the 19th century, Olmec artifacts such as
the Kunz Axe (right) came to light and were subsequently
recognized as belonging to a unique artistic tradition.
Frans Blom and Oliver La Farge made the first detailed
descriptions of La Venta and San Martin Pajapan Monument
1 during their 1925 expedition. However, at this time most
archaeologists assumed the Olmec were contemporaneous
with the Maya – even Blom and La Farge were, in their own
words, "inclined to ascribe them to the Maya culture".[92] The jade Kunz Axe, first described by George Kunz in 1890.
Although shaped like an axe head, with an edge along the
Matthew Stirling of the Smithsonian Institution conducted bottom, it is unlikely that this artifact was used except in ritual
the first detailed scientific excavations of Olmec sites in the settings. At a height of 11 in (28 cm), it is one of the largest
[90]
jade objects ever found in Mesoamerica.
1930s and 1940s. Stirling, along with art historian Miguel
Covarrubias, became convinced that the Olmec predated
most other known Mesoamerican civilizations.[93]
In counterpoint to Stirling, Covarrubias, and Alfonso Caso, however, Mayanists J. Eric Thompson and Sylvanus
Morley argued for Classic-era dates for the Olmec artifacts. The question of Olmec chronology came to a head at a
1942 Tuxtla Gutierrez conference, where Alfonso Caso declared that the Olmecs were the "mother culture" ("cultura
madre") of Mesoamerica.[94]
Shortly after the conference, radiocarbon dating proved the antiquity of the Olmec civilization, although the "mother
culture" question generates much debate even 60 years later.[95]


Olmec 13

Etymology
The name "Olmec" means "rubber people" in Nahuatl, the language of the Aztec, and was the Aztec name for the
people who lived in the Gulf Lowlands in the 15th and 16th centuries, some 2000 years after the Olmec culture died
out. The term "rubber people" refers to the ancient practice, spanning from ancient Olmecs to Aztecs, of extracting
latex from Castilla elastica, a rubber tree in the area. The juice of a local vine, Ipomoea alba, was then mixed with
this latex to create rubber as early as 1600 BCE.[96]
Early modern explorers and archaeologists, however, mistakenly applied the name "Olmec" to the rediscovered ruins
and artifacts in the heartland decades before it was understood that these were not created by people the Aztecs knew
as the "Olmec", but rather a culture that was 2000 years older. Despite the mistaken identity, the name has stuck.[97]
It is not known what name the ancient Olmec used for themselves; some later Mesoamerican accounts seem to refer
to the ancient Olmec as "Tamoanchan".[98] A contemporary term sometimes used to describe the Olmec culture is
tenocelome, meaning "mouth of the jaguar".[99]

Alternative origin speculations
In part because the Olmecs developed the first Mesoamerican civilization and in part because little is known of the
Olmecs (relative, for example, to the Maya or Aztec), a number of Olmec alternative origin speculations have been
put forth. Although several of these speculations, particularly the theory that the Olmecs were of African origin
popularized by Ivan van Sertima's book They Came Before Columbus, have become well-known within popular
culture, they are not considered credible by the vast majority of Mesoamerican researchers.[100]

Gallery

Olmec colossal Monument 1, One of the "twins" Bird Vessel, Three celts, Olmec
head monument San Lorenzo from El Azuzul 12th–9th century Olmec ritual were-jaguar
Tenochtitlan BCE objects.

Olmec style Olmec jade mask. Olmec-style Olmec Baby Colossal Head Olmec-style bas
bottle, painting from Figure relief "El Rey"
reputedly the Juxtlahuaca 1200-900 from
from Las cave. BCE Chalcatzingo
Bocas, 1100 -
800 BCE


Olmec 14

Footnotes
[1] Diehl, Richard A. (2004). The Olmecs : America's First Civilization. London: Thames and Hudson. pp. 9–25. ISBN 0-500-28503-9.
[2] See Pool, p. 2. Although there is wide agreement that the Olmec culture helped lay the foundations for the civilizations that followed, there is
disagreement over the extent of the Olmec contributions, and even a proper definition of the Olmec "culture". See Olmec influences on
Mesoamerican cultures for a deeper treatment of this question.
[3] See, as one example, Diehl, p. 11.
[4] See Diehl, p. 108 for the "ancient America" superlatives. The artist and archaeologist Miguel Covarrubias (1957) p. 50 says that Olmec pieces
are among the world's masterpieces.
[5] Dates from Pool, p. 1. Diehl gives a slightly earlier date of 1500 BCE (p. 9), but the same end-date. Any dates for the start of the Olmec
civilization or culture are problematic as its rise was a gradual process, most Olmec dates are based on radiocarbon dating (see e.g. Diehl, p.
10), which is only accurate within a given range (e.g. ±90 years in the case of early El Manati layers), and much is to be learned concerning
early Gulf lowland settlements.
[6] Richard A Diehl, 2004, The Olmecs - America's First Civilization London: Thames & Hudson, pp.25,27.
[7] Diehl, 2004: 23-24.
[8] Beck, Roger B.; Linda Black, Larry S. Krieger, Phillip C. Naylor, Dahia Ibo Shabaka, (1999). World History: Patterns of Interaction.
Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell. ISBN 0-395-87274-X.
[9] Pool, pp. 26–27, provides a great overview of this theory, and says: "The generation of food surpluses is necessary for the development of
social and political hierarchies and there is no doubt that high agricultural productivity, combined with the natural abundance of aquatic foods
in the Gulf lowlands supported their growth."
[10] Pool, p. 151.
[11] Diehl, p. 132, or Pool, p. 150.
[12] Pool, p. 103.
[13] Diehl, p. 9.
[14] Coe (1967), p. 72. Alternatively, the mutilation of these monuments may be unrelated to the decline and abandonment of San Lorenzo.
Some researchers believe that the mutilation had ritualistic aspects, particularly since most mutilated monuments were reburied in a row.
[15] Pool, p. 135. Diehl, pp. 58-59 and p. 82.
[16] Diehl, p. 9. Pool gives dates 1000 BCE – 400 BCE for La Venta.
[17] Pool, p. 157.
[18] Pool, p. 161-162.
[19] Diehl, p. 82. Nagy, p. 270, however, is more circumspect, stating that in the Grijalva river delta, on the eastern edge of the heartland, "the
local population had significantly declined in apparent population density ... A low-density Late Preclassic and Early Classic occupation . . .
may have existed; however, it remains invisible."
[20] Quote and analysis from Diehl, p. 82, echoed in other works such as Pool.
[21] Vanderwarker (2006) p. 50-51
[22] Coe (2002), p. 88.
[23] Coe (2002), p. 62.
[24] Coe (2002), p. 88 and others.
[25] Pool, p. 105.
[26] Pool, p. 106. Diehl, p. 109-115.
[27] Pool, p. 106-108 & 176.
[28] Diehl, p. 111.
[29] Pool, p. 118; Diehl, p. 112. Coe (2002), p. 69: "They wear headgear rather like American football helmets which probably served as
protection in both war and in the ceremonial game played…throughout Mesoamerica."
[30] Grove, p. 55.
[31] Pool, p. 107.
[32] In particular, Williams and Heizer (p. 29) calculated the weight of San Lorenzo Colossal Head 1 at 25.3 short tons, or 23 tonnes. See Scarre.
p. 271-274 for the "55 tonnes" weight.
[33] See Williams and Heizer for more detail.
[34] Scarre. Pool, p. 129.
[35] Diehl, p. 119.
[36] Wiercinski, A. (1972). "Inter-and Intrapopulational Racial Differentiation of Tlatilco, Cerro de Las Mesas, Teothuacan, Monte Alban and
Yucatan Maya," XXXlX Congreso Intern. de Americanistas, Lima 1970, Vol. 1, 231-252.
[37] Karl Taube, for one, says "There simply is no material evidence of any Pre-Hispanic contact between the Old World and Mesoamerica
before the arrival of the Spanish in the sixteenth century.", p. 17. Davis, N. Voyagers to the New World, University of New Mexico Press,
1979 ISBN 0-8263-0880-5 Williams, S. Fantastic Archaeology, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1991 ISBN 0-8122-1312-2 Feder, K.L.
Frauds, Myths, and Mysteries. Science and Pseudoscience in Archaeology 3rd ed., Trade Mayfield ISBN 0-7674-0459-9
[38] Mexico South, Covarrubias, 1946
[39] Ortiz de Montellano, et. al. 1997, pp. 217


Olmec 15

[40] Haslip-Viera, Gabriel: Bernard Ortiz de Montellano; Warren Barbour Source "Robbing Native American Cultures: Van Sertima's
Afrocentricity and the Olmecs," Current Anthropology, Vol. 38, No. 3, (Tun., 1997), pp. 419-441
[41] Diehl, Richard A. (2004). The Olmecs : America's First Civilization. London: Thames and Hudson. p. 112. ISBN 0-500-28503-9.
[42] "University of East Anglia collections" (http:/ / artworld. uea. ac. uk/ cms/ index. php?q=node/ 873), Artworld
[43] See Pool, p. 179-242; Diehl, p. 126-151.
[44] For example, Diehl, p. 170 or Pool, p. 54.
[45] Flannery et al. (2005) hint that Olmec iconography was first developed in the Tlatilco culture.
[46] See for example Reilly; Stevens (2007); Rose (2007). For a full discussion, see Olmec influences on Mesoamerican cultures.
[47] See Carlson for details of the compass.
[48] Covarrubias, p. 27.
[49] Taube (2004), p. 122.
[50] As one example, see Joyce et al., "Olmec Bloodletting: An Iconographic Study".
[51] See Taube (2004), p. 122.
[52] Pool, p. 139.
[53] Ortiz et al., p. 249.
[54] Pool, p. 116. Joralemon (1996), p. 218.
[55] See Pohl et al. (2002).
[56] "Writing May Be Oldest in Western Hemisphere." (http:/ / www. nytimes. com/ 2006/ 09/ 15/ science/ 15writing. html). New York Times.
2006-09-15. . Retrieved 2008-03-30. "A stone slab bearing 3,000-year-old writing previously unknown to scholars has been found in the
Mexican state of Veracruz, and archaeologists say it is an example of the oldest script ever discovered in the Americas."
[57] "'Oldest' New World writing found" (http:/ / news. bbc. co. uk/ 2/ hi/ science/ nature/ 5347080. stm). BBC. 2006-09-14. . Retrieved
2008-03-30. "Ancient civilisations in Mexico developed a writing system as early as 900 BC, new evidence suggests."
[58] "Oldest Writing in the New World" (http:/ / www. sciencemag. org/ cgi/ content/ abstract/ 313/ 5793/ 1610). Science. . Retrieved
2008-03-30. "A block with a hitherto unknown system of writing has been found in the Olmec heartland of Veracruz, Mexico. Stylistic and
other dating of the block places it in the early first millennium before the common era, the oldest writing in the New World, with features that
firmly assign this pivotal development to the Olmec civilization of Mesoamerica."
[59] Pohl et al. (2002).
[60] Skidmore. These prominent proponents include Michael D. Coe, Richard A. Diehl, Karl Taube, and Stephen D. Houston.
[61] Bruhns, et al.
[62] Diehl, p. 184.
[63] "Mesoamerican Long Count calendar & invention of the zero concept" section cited to Diehl, p. 186.
[64] Haughton, p. 153. The earliest recovered Long Count dated is from Monument 1 in the Maya site El Baúl, Guatemala, bearing a date of 37
BCE.
[65] Coe (1968) p. 42
[66] Miller and Taube (1993) p. 42. Pool, p. 295.
[67] Ortiz C.
[68] See Filloy Nadal, p. 27, who says "If they [the balls] were used in the ballgame, we would be looking at the earliest evidence of this
practice".
[69] Coe (1968) p. 121.
[70] Campbell & Kaufman (1976), pp. 80–89. For example, the words for "incense", "cacao", "corn", many names of various fruits,
"nagual/shaman", "tobacco", "adobe", "ladder", "rubber", "corn granary", "squash/gourd", and "paper" in many Mesoamerican languages seem
to have been borrowed from an ancient Mixe–Zoquean language.
[71] Wichmann (1995).
[72] Wichmann, Beliaev & Davletshin, in press (Sept 2008).
[73] See Pool, p. 6, or Diehl, p. 85.
[74] Diehl, p. 106. See also J. E. Clark, , p. 343, who says "much of the art of La Venta appears to have been dedicated to rulers who dressed as
gods, or to the gods themselves".
[75] Diehl, p. 106.
[76] Diehl, p. 103-104.
[77] See, for example, Cyphers (1996), p. 156.
[78] See Santley, et al., p.4, for a discussion of Mesoamerican centralization and decentralization. See Cyphers (1999) for a discussion of the
meaning of monument placement.
[79] See Cyphers (1999) for a more detailed discussion.
[80] Serra Puche et al., p. 36, who argue that "While Olmec art sometimes represents leaders, priests, and possibly soldiers, it is difficult to
imagine that such institutions as the army, priest caste, or administrative-political groups were already fully developed by Olmec times." They
go on to downplay the possibility of a strong central government.
[81] Pool, p. 20.
[82] Pool, p. 164.
[83] Pool, p. 175.


Olmec 16

[84] "Chiapa de Corzo Archaeological Project" (http:/ / chiapadecorzo. byu. edu/ ). Brigham Young University. . Retrieved 2012-03-18.
[85] Except where otherwise (foot)noted, this Village life and diet section is referenced to Diehl (2004), Davies, and Pope et al.
[86] Pohl.
[87] VanDerwarker, p. 195, and Lawler, Archaeology (2007), p. 23, quoting VanDerwarker.
[88] VanDerwarker, p. 141-144.
[89] Davies, p. 39.
[90] Benson (1996) p. 263.
[91] See translated excerpt from Melgar y Serrano's original 1869 report, reprinted in Adams (1991), p.56. See also Pool (2007), pp.1,35 and
Stirling (1968), p.8.
[92] Quoted in Coe (1968), p. 40.
[93] Coe (1968), p. 42-50.
[94] "Esta gran cultura, que encontramos en niveles antiguos, es sin duda madre de otras culturas, como la maya, la teotihuacana, la zapoteca, la
de El Tajín, y otras” ("This great culture, which we encounter in ancient levels, is without a doubt mother of other cultures, like the Maya, the
Teotihuacana, the Zapotec, that of El Tajin, and others".) Caso (1942), p. 46.
[95] Coe (1968), p. 50.
[96] Rubber Processing (http:/ / web. mit. edu/ org/ m/ materialculture/ www/ rubberprocessing. html), MIT.
[97] Diehl, p. 14.
[98] Coe (2002) refers to an old Nahuatl poem cited by Miguel Leon-Portilla which itself refers to a land called "Tamoanchan":

in a certain era
which no one can reckon
which no one can remember
[where] there was a government for a long time".
Coe interprets Tamoanchan as a Mayan language word meaning 'Land of Rain or Mist' (p. 61).
[99] The term "tenocelome" is used as early as 1967 by George Kubler in American Anthropologist, v.69, p.404.
[100] See Grove (1976) or Ortiz de Montellano (1997).

References
Adams, Richard E.W. (1991). Prehistoric Mesoamerica (Revised ed.). Norman: University of Oklahoma
Press. ISBN 0-8061-2304-4. OCLC 22593466.
Benson, Elizabeth P. (1996). "110. Votive Axe". In Elizabeth P. Benson and Beatriz de la Fuente (eds.). Olmec
Art of Ancient Mexico (To accompany an exhibition at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, June 30 to
Oct. 20, 1996 ed.). Washington D.C.: National Gallery of Art. pp. 262–263. ISBN 0-89468-250-4.
OCLC 34357584.
Bruhns, Karen O.; Nancy L. Kelker, Ma. del Carmen Rodríguez Martínez, Ponciano Ortíz Ceballos, Michael
D. Coe, Richard A. Diehl, Stephen D. Houston, Karl A. Taube, and Alfredo Delgado Calderón (March 2007).
"Did the Olmec Know How to Write?" (http:/ / www. sciencemag. org/ cgi/ content/ citation/ 315/ 5817/
1365b). Science (Washington, D.C.: American Association for the Advancement of Science) 315 (5817):
1365–1366. doi:10.1126/science.315.5817.1365b. ISSN 0036-8075. OCLC 206052590. PMID 17347426.
Campbell, Lyle; and Terrence Kaufman (1976). "A Linguistic Look at the Olmec". American Antiquity
(Menasha, WI: Society for American Archaeology) 41 (1): 80–89. doi:10.2307/279044. ISSN 0002-7316.
JSTOR 279044. OCLC 1479302.
Carlson, John B. (1975) “Lodestone Compass: Chinese or Olmec Primacy? Multidisciplinary Analysis of an
Olmec Hematite Artifact from San Lorenzo, Veracruz, Mexico”, Science, New Series, Vol. 189, No. 4205
(Sep. 5, 1975), pp. 753-760 (753).
Clark, John E. (2001). "Gulf Lowlands: South Region". In Susan Toby Evans and David L. Webster (eds.).
Archaeology of Ancient Mexico and Central America: an Encyclopedia. New York: Garland Publishing.
pp. 340–344. ISBN 0-8153-0887-6. OCLC 45313588.
Coe, Michael D. (1967). "San Lorenzo and the Olmec Civilization" (http:/ / www. doaks. org/ publications/
doaks_online_publications/ olmec. html). In Elizabeth P. Benson (ed.) (PDF online reproduction). Dumbarton
Oaks Conference on the Olmec, October 28th and 29th, 1967. Washington D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research


Olmec 17

Library and Collection; Trustees for Harvard University. pp. 41–72. OCLC 52523439.
Coe, Michael D. (1968). America's First Civilization: Discovering the Olmec. New York: The Smithsonian
Library.
Coe, Michael D.; with Rex Koontz (2002). Mexico: from the Olmecs to the Aztecs (5th edition, revised and
enlarged ed.). London and New York: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-28346-X. OCLC 50131575.
Covarrubias, Miguel (1977) [1946]. "Olmec Art or the Art of La Venta". In Alana Cordy-Collins and Jean
Stern (eds.). Pre-Columbian Art History: Selected Readings. Robert Pirazzini (trans.) (Reprint of original
paper ed.). Palo Alto, CA: Peek Publications. pp. 1–34. ISBN 0-917962-41-9. OCLC 3843930.
Covarrubias, Miguel (1957). Indian Art of Mexico and Central America (Color plates and line drawings by the
author ed.). New York: Alfred A. Knopf. OCLC 171974.
Cyphers, Ann (1996). "2. San Lorenzo Monument 4 - Colossal Head". In Elizabeth P. Benson and Beatriz de
la Fuente (eds.). Olmec Art of Ancient Mexico (To accompany an exhibition at the National Gallery of Art,
Washington, June 30 to Oct. 20, 1996 ed.). Washington D.C.: National Gallery of Art. pp. 156.
ISBN 0-89468-250-4. OCLC 34357584.
Cyphers, Ann (1999). "From Stone to Symbols: Olmec Art in Social Context at San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán"
(http://www.doaks.org/Social/social07.pdf). In David C. Grove and Rosemary A. Joyce (eds.) (PDF online
e-text reproduction). Social patterns in pre-classic Mesoamerica: a symposium at Dumbarton Oaks, 9 and 10
October 1993. Washington D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection and Trustees for Harvard
University. pp. 155–181. ISBN 0-88402-252-8. OCLC 39229716.
Davies, Nigel (1982). The Ancient Kingdoms of Mexico. Pelican Books series. Harmondsworth, England:
Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-022232-4. OCLC 11212208.
Diehl, Richard (2004). The Olmecs: America's First Civilization. Ancient peoples and places series. London:
Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-02119-8. OCLC 56746987.
Filloy Nadal, Laura (2001). "Rubber and Rubber Balls in Mesoamerica". In E. Michael Whittington (ed.). The
Sport of Life and Death: The Mesoamerican Ballgame (Published in conjunction with an exhibition of the
same name organized by the Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, NC. ed.). New York: Thames & Hudson.
pp. 20–31. ISBN 0-500-05108-9. OCLC 49029226.
Flannery, Kent V.; Andrew K. Balkansky, Gary M. Feinman, David C. Grove, Joyce Marcus, Elsa M.
Redmond, Robert G. Reynolds, Robert J. Sharer, Charles S. Spencer, and Jason Yaeger (August 2005).
"Implications of new petrographic analysis for the Olmec "mother culture" model" (http:/ / www. pnas. org/
cgi/ content/ full/ 102/ 32/ 11219) (online reproduction). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
(Washington, D.C.: National Academy of Sciences) 102 (32): 11219–11223. doi:10.1073/pnas.0505116102.
ISSN 0027-8424. OCLC 209632728. PMC 1183595. PMID 16061797. Retrieved 2007-03-27.
Grove, David C. (September 1976). "Olmec Origins and Transpacific Diffusion: Reply to Meggers" (JSTOR
reproduction). American Anthropologist, New Series (Arlington, VA: American Anthropological Association
and affiliated societies) 78 (3): 634–637. doi:10.1525/aa.1976.78.3.02a00120. ISSN 0002-7294.
JSTOR 674425. OCLC 1479294.
Grove, David C. (1981). "Olmec monuments: Mutilation as a Clue to Meaning". In Elizabeth P. Benson (ed.).
The Olmec and their Neighbors: Essays in Memory of Matthew W. Stirling. Michael D. Coe and David C.
Grove (organizers). Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection; Trustees for
Harvard University. pp. 49–68. ISBN 0-88402-098-3. OCLC 7416377.
Guimarães, A.P. (June 2004). "Mexico and the early history of magnetism" (http:/ / redalyc. uaemex. mx/
redalyc/ src/ inicio/ ArtPdfRed. jsp?iCve=57063107) (PDF online reproduction). Revista Mexicana de Física
(Mexico D.F.: Sociedad Mexicana de Física) 50 (Enseñanza 1): 51–53. ISSN 0035-001X. OCLC 107737016.
Retrieved 2008-09-09.


Olmec 18

Haughton, Brian (2007). Hidden History. New Page Books. ISBN 978-1-56414-897-1.
Joralemon, Peter David (1996) "[Catalogue #]53. Figure Seated on a Throne with Infant on Lap", in Olmec Art
of Ancient Mexico, eds. E. P. Benson and B. de la Fuente, National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., ISBN
0-89468-250-4, pp. 218.
Joyce, Rosemary A.; Richard Edging, Karl Lorenz, and Susan D. Gillespie (1991). "Olmec Bloodletting: An
Iconographic Study" (http:/ / www. mesoweb. com/ pari/ publications/ RT08/ Bloodletting. pdf). In Virginia
M. Fields (volume ed) (PDF; reprinted online by PARI [2003]). Sixth Palenque Roundtable, 1986. Palenque
Round Table series, vol. 8. Sixth Palenque Round Table Conference, held June 8–14, 1986, at Palenque,
Chiapas, Mexico, Merle Greene Robertson (series ed.). Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. pp. 143–150.
OCLC 21230103. ISBN 0-8061-2277-3.
Lawler, Andrew (2007). "Beyond the Family Feud". Archaeology 60 (2): 20–25.
Magni, Caterina (1999). Archéologie du Mexique: les Olmèques. Paris: Éditions Artcom’.
ISBN 2-912741-24-6. OCLC 43630189. (French)
Magni, Caterina (2003). Les Olmèques: des origines au mythe. Paris: Éditions du Seuil. ISBN 2-02-054991-3.
OCLC 52385926. (French)
National Science Foundation (2002) Scientists Find Earliest "New World" Writings in Mexico (http:/ / www.
nsf.gov/od/lpa/news/02/pr0297.htm), 2002.
Niederberger Betton, Christine (1987) Paléopaysages et archéologie pré-urbaine du bassin de México. Tomes
I & II published by Centro Francés de Estudios Mexicanos y Centroamericanos, Mexico, D.F. (Resume) (http:/
/www.pitt.edu/~laap/books/ce008.html)
Ortíz C., Ponciano; Rodríguez, María del Carmen (1999) "Olmec Ritual Behavior at El Manatí: A Sacred
Space" (http:/ / www. doaks. org/ Social/ social09. pdf) in Social Patterns in Pre-Classic Mesoamerica, eds.
Grove, D. C.; Joyce, R. A., Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, D.C., p. 225 -
254.
Ortiz de Montellano, Bernard; Gabriel Haslip-Viera, and Warren Barbour (Spring 1997). "They Were NOT
Here before Columbus: Afrocentric Hyperdiffusionism in the 1990s". Ethnohistory (Durham, NC: Duke
University Press, issued by the American Society for Ethnohistory) 44 (2): 199–234. doi:10.2307/483368.
ISSN 0014-1801. JSTOR 483368. OCLC 42388116.
Pohl, Mary; Kevin O. Pope, and Christopher von Nagy (2002). "Olmec Origins of Mesoamerican Writing".
Science 298 (5600): 1984–1987. doi:10.1126/science.1078474. PMID 12471256.
Pohl, Mary " Economic Foundations of Olmec Civilization in the Gulf Coast Lowlands of México (http:/ /
www. famsi. org/ reports/ 99069/ index. html)", Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies,
Inc. (http://www.famsi.org), accessed March 2007.
Pool, Christopher A. (2007). Olmec Archaeology and Early Mesoamerica. Cambridge World Archaeology.
Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-78882-3. OCLC 68965709.
Pope, Kevin; et al. (2001). "Origin and Environmental Setting of Ancient Agriculture in the Lowlands of
Mesoamerica". Science 292 (5520): 1370–1373. doi:10.1126/science.292.5520.1370. PMID 11359011.
Reilly III, F. Kent “Art, Ritual, and Rulership in the Olmec World” in Ancient Civilizations of Mesoamerica: a
Reader, Blackwell Publishing Ltd, p. 369-395.
Rose, Mark (2005) "Olmec People, Olmec Art" (http:/ / www. archaeology. org/ online/ features/ olmec/
index.html), in Archaeology (online), the Archaeological Institute of America, accessed February 2007.
Santley, Robert S.; Michael J. Berman, and Rani T. Alexander (1991). "The Politicization of the
Mesoamerican Ballgame and its Implications for the Interpretation of the Distribution of Ballcourts in Central
Mexico". In Vernon L. Scarborough and David R. Wilcox (eds.). The Mesoamerican Ballgame. Tucson:


Olmec 19

University of Arizona Press. pp. 3–24. ISBN 0-8165-1180-2. OCLC 51873028.
Scarre, Chris (1999) The Seventy Wonders of the Ancient World, Thames & Hudson, London, ISBN
978-0-500-05096-5.
Serra Puche, Mari Carmen and Fernan Gonzalez de la Vara, Karina R. Durand V. (1996) "Daily Life in Olmec
Times", in Olmec Art of Ancient Mexico, eds. E. P. Benson and B. de la Fuente, National Gallery of Art,
Washington D.C., ISBN 0-89468-250-4, pp. 262-263.
Skidmore, Joel (2006). "The Cascajal Block: The Earliest Precolumbian Writing" (http:/ / www. mesoweb.
com/reports/cascajal.html) (PDF). Mesoweb Reports & News. Mesoweb. Retrieved 2007-06-20.
Stevenson, Mark (2007) “Olmec-influenced city found in Mexico”, Associated Press, accessed February 8,
2007.
Stirling, Matthew W. (1968). "Early History of the Olmec Problem" (http:/ / www. doaks. org/ publications/
doaks_online_publications/ olmec. html). In Elizabeth P. Benson (ed.) (PDF online reproduction). Dumbarton
Oaks Conference on the Olmec, October 28th and 29th, 1967. Washington D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research
Library and Collection; Trustees for Harvard University. pp. 1–8. OCLC 52523439.
Stoltman, J.B.; et al. (2005). "Petrographic evidence shows that pottery exchange between the Olmec and their
neighbors was two-way". PNAS 102 (32): 11213–11218. doi:10.1073/pnas.0505117102. PMC 1183596.
PMID 16061796.
Taube, Karl (2004) (PDF). Olmec Art at Dumbarton Oaks (http:/ / www. doaks. org/ publications/
doaks_online_publications/ OlmecArt. pdf). Pre-Columbian Art at Dumbarton Oaks, No. 2. Washington, D.C.:
Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection; Trustees of Harvard University. ISBN 0-88402-275-7.
OCLC 56096117.
VanDerwarker, Amber (2006) Farming, Hunting, and Fishing in the Olmec World, University of Texas Press,
ISBN 0-292-70980-3.
von Nagy, Christopher (1997). "The Geoarchaeology of Settlement in the Grijalva Delta". In Barbara L. Stark
and Philip J. Arnold III (eds.). Olmec to Aztec: Settlement Patterns in the Ancient Gulf Lowlands. Tucson:
University of Arizona Press. pp. 253–277. ISBN 0-8165-1689-8. OCLC 36364149.
Wichmann, Søren (1995). The Relationship Among the Mixe–Zoquean Languages of Mexico. Salt Lake City:
University of Utah Press. ISBN 0-87480-487-6.
Wichmann, Søren; Dmitri Beliaev, and Albert Davletshin (September 2008 [in press]). "Posibles correlaciones
lingüísticas y arqueológicas involucrando a los olmecas" (http:/ / email. eva. mpg. de/ ~wichmann/ Olmecs.
pdf) (PDF). Proceedings of the Mesa Redonda Olmeca: Balance y Perspectivas, Museo Nacional de
Antropología, México City, March 10–12, 2005.. Retrieved 2008-09-18. (Spanish)
Wilford, John Noble (March 15, 2005). "Mother Culture, or Only a Sister?" (http:/ / www. nytimes. com/
2005/03/15/science/15olme.html?hp). The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-09-19.
Williams, Howel; and Robert F. Heizer (September 1965). "Sources of Rocks Used in Olmec Monuments"
(http:/ / www. mesoweb. com/ olmec/ publications/ Williams& Heizer1965-OCR. pdf) (PDF online facsimile).
Contributions of the University of California Archaeological Research Facility (Berkeley: University of
California Department of Anthropology) 1 (Sources of Stones Used in Prehistoric Mesoamerican Sites): 1–44.
ISSN 0068-5933. OCLC 1087514.


Olmec 20

External links
• Drawings and photographs of the 17 colossal heads (http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/
olmec-colossal-heads-1.htm)
• Stone Etchings Represent Earliest New World Writing (http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa003&
articleID=000B4706-9551-1509-955183414B7F0000&ref=rss) Scientific American; Ma. del Carmen Rodríguez
Martínez, Ponciano Ortíz Ceballos, Michael D. Coe, Richard A. Diehl, Stephen D. Houston, Karl A. Taube,
Alfredo Delgado Calderón, Oldest Writing in the New World, Science, Vol 313, Sep 15 2006, pp1610–1614.
• BBC audio file. Discussion of Olmec culture (15 mins) (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00qsvj5) A
History of the World in 100 Objects.


Article Sources and Contributors 21

Article Sources and Contributors
Olmec Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=513279930 Contributors: -heartbreaker19-, . JamieHughes, 042austin, 24630, 3idiot, A. Parrot, A8UDI, AVand, Aaronkid895,
Abc10987654321, AbcXyz, Acroterion, Adambro, Adhalanay, Adriano Bonotto, AgadaUrbanit, Agent Smith (The Matrix), Ahoerstemeier, Aim Here, Aitias, Alansohn, Albogjon23, Alex.muller,
Alexanderj, Alexf, AlexiusHoratius, Alfonsobouchot, Amerias, Americanjourna2223, Amy Gibson, Andonic, Andre Engels, Andrea105, Antandrus, Arakunem, Arch dude, ArgentTurquoise,
Attilios, Authenticmaya, AutoFire, Avenged Eightfold, Awakeandalive1, Axeloide, Az1568, BabaisLove, Bakabaka, BanyanTree, Barneca, Ben Standeven, Bender235, Benjamin Trovato,
Bewawolf19, Bill37212, BjörnBergman, Bletch, Bobblewik, Bobo192, Bongwarrior, Boobert21, Brazzy, BrokenSegue, BrownHairedGirl, CCS81, CDThieme, CJLL Wright, Callidior, Calmer
Waters, Calor, Can't sleep, clown will eat me, Capricorn42, CaribDigita, Casper2k3, Catgut, Cbdorsett, Cenarocker88, Centrx, Chairman S., Charles Edward, Chava3e, Chloefalkface,
Choiceisyours67, Chris the speller, Christopher Parham, Circeus, ClovisPt, CommonsDelinker, Connormah, Corndog234, Courcelles, Crnorizec, Crohnie, Crusoe8181, Curps, Cxz111, D
climacus, D. Recorder, DARTH SIDIOUS 2, DMG413, DVD R W, Daniel Case, DanielEng, Dark Tichondrias, DarkAudit, Darsie, Daven200520, Davepape, Deckiller, Deeceevoice, Dekisugi,
Deli nk, Delldot, Der Golem, DerHexer, Discospinster, Dkdopke, Dknadler, Dmitri Yuriev, Docboat, Dongringo, Doorwerth, Dougofborg, Dougweller, Dr. Blofeld, Dreiss2, Drilnoth,
Durestudios, Dustimagic, ESkog, Ecurrious, Edgar181, Editor at Large, Edmason, Edward, Edward321, Eeekster, EfrainZly, Egyptzo, El3mentary, Elendil's Heir, Ellomoto16, Epbr123, Equendil,
Ereza, Ergative rlt, Eric-Wester, Escape Orbit, Et Cum Spiritu Tuo, Evertype, Excirial, Faithlessthewonderboy, Falcon8765, FateClub, FileMaster, Flewis, Fraggle81, Frankie816, Freakofnurture,
Fuzheado, Fæ, Gabrielsimon, Gaia2767spm, Gail, Gaius Cornelius, Gakusha, Gavin the Chosen, Gilgamesh, Gilliam, Glane23, Gldavies, Glenn, Godheval, Gogo Dodo, Gordonrox24, Graham87,
Hadal, Hagerman, Haham hanuka, Hajor, Hamurabbi101, Harksaw, Harland1, Haukurth, Heironymous Rowe, Henrygb, HexaChord, Hillock65, Hipiemie, Hmains, Homunq, Hoopes,
Howabout1, Hulek, Hydrargyrum, Iamontrak, Ibasurik, Ice Kold, Ikanreed, Imaninjapirate, Impure innocence, Imran, Imweird, Ines it, Ineuw, Infoexpert, Infrogmation, Intranetusa, Isaacsurh, It
Is Me Here, J.delanoy, JWB, Ja 62, JaGa, Jab843, JamesBWatson, Jamidwyer, Jan eissfeldt, Jasminectran, Javert, Jclemens, Jcmenal, Jeeny, Jeepday, Jeff G., Jerry Cornelius, Jersey emt, Jfreyre,
Jgardner, Jgramling, Jguk, Jguk 2, Jirka Staffan Aubert, Jkkkkkkk, Jmg38, JoanneB, Joel7687, Johansosa, Johnbod, Jojhutton, Joseph Solis in Australia, Jshadias, Juliancolton, Jwalte04, Jxl180,
Jyril, Kaare, Kaldari, Karpada, Katalaveno, Kateshortforbob, Katieh5584, Killing Vector, Kingpin13, Kingturtle, Kitsunegami, Kman543210, Korath, Kralizec!, KrazyCaley, Ks0stm, Kurtan,
Kuru, Kwabena1041, Kwamikagami, L4dhead911, La Pianista, Lanternlantern, Lawandeconomics1, Lawrencekhoo, Laxguy16, Ld100, Le Anh-Huy, Leaderofearth, Leandrod, LeaveSleaves,
LemonTwinkle, Lencuz, Leuko, Ligulem, Ling.Nut, Look2See1, Lordsutch, Lotje, Lozeldafan, Lycurgus, MER-C, MKoltnow, MONGO, Madhero88, Madman2001, Maimai009, Malcolm
Farmer, Mangoe, Marechal Ney, Mareino, Marek69, Mark Dingemanse, Mark K. Jensen, Mark91, MarshalN20, Marskell, MaskedMan66, Mason.witt, Mathrules180, Maunus, Mav, Mdann52,
Mdebets, Mephistophelian, Mercy11, Merovingian, Mesoamerican, Michael Hardy, Mikenassau, Mikheil 88, Mild Bill Hiccup, Millahnna, Miquonranger03, Modernist, Monobi, Monty845,
Muggwort17, Multirelyt, Mxn, Mygerardromance, N419BH, NJGW, NMChico24, Natalie Erin, NawlinWiki, Nehrams2020, Nekami The Second, Neser, New World Man, Newportm,
Newsaholic, NightMonkey, Nirvana888, Nishkid64, Nixeagle, No Account, Nsaa, Nunquam Dormio, Oaxaca dan, Obsidian, Oda Mari, OllieFury, Olmec98, Olmeca100, Olmeca1000, Olmeque,
Olorin28, OnePt618, Orangemarlin, Orijentolog, Ottar9919, Oxfordwang, Oxymoron83, PL290, Pablo mickily, Parkwells, Paul Barlow, Pb30, Pekinensis, Pernickitysplit, Persian Poet Gal,
Peruvianllama, Peter Isotalo, Petri Krohn, Petter Bøckman, Pgan002, Pgk, PhilKnight, Philip Howard, Philip Trueman, Piano non troppo, Pigman, Pinethicket, Pip2andahalf, Polly, Pontificalibus,
Possum, Prhymeminister, PrincessofLlyr, Prodego, Prolog, Ptcamn, Qwhat5565, Qwyrxian, R'n'B, RJaguar3, Radical Robert, Radon210, Rahk EX, Ramirez72, Rayc, Reddi, Redfarmer,
Redmarkviolinist, Redsquirrel118, ResearchALLwars, Revth, RexNL, Rich jj, Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ), Richfife, Rjwilmsi, Robruiz, Rockerdude716, Rodneypuplampu, Roke, Rokus04,
Ronhjones, Rosemania, RotaryAce, Roy da Vinci, RoyBoy, Roylee, Rrburke, Rsheptak, Rune.welsh, Salmar, Sammy1339, Sceptre, SchfiftyThree, SchuminWeb, ScienceApologist, ScottyBerg,
Scottywong, Seamonkey210, Seishirou Sakurazuka, Selket, Sephirothjms, ShakingSpirit, Sharkface217, Shne492, Shoeofdeath, Silroquen, Simon Burchell, Sinnedit, Sionus, Skarl the Drummer,
Skizzik, Skylark42, Smalljim, Snowolf, Snowolfd4, Sohmc, Soliloquial, Sophaz, Sortan, Spanglej, Speedoswimmer, Speedy988, Splash, Stephenb, Steven J. Anderson, Storkk,
StudiosusTheologiae, Summer Song, Susanjoh, Sven Manguard, THEN WHO WAS PHONE?, Tacubus, Tassedethe, Tbhotch, TeaDrinker, Teles, Terrx, The Dark Peria, The Master of Mayhem,
The Thing That Should Not Be, The wub, Thingg, Thor Dockweiler, Tiddly Tom, Tide rolls, Tiptoety, Tmangray, Tom.Reding, Tommy2010, Tosan, Trusilver, UkPaolo, Ukexpat, Uncle Milty,
Under22Entreprenuer, Unknown Lupus, Useight, VMS Mosaic, Vamber, Varlaam, Vary, Versus22, Vicki Rosenzweig, Vini 175, Vizcarra, Vsmith, Vvven, WBardwin, WJBscribe,
Wandalstouring, Wclark, Weathereye, Wetman, Wewonstate, Why Not A Duck, Wiki Roxor, WikipedianMarlith, Wiljago, Willking1979, Wkboonec, Wvfd14, X!, XJamRastafire, Xp54321,
Xuchilbara, Yamamoto Ichiro, Yunshui, Yvesnimmo, Zacherystaylor, Zachwoo, Zaphnathpaaneah, Zero0000, Zidonuke, ZoeCroydon, Амартүвшин, రవిచంద్ర, 1506 anonymous edits

Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors
File:San Lorenzo Monument 3.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:San_Lorenzo_Monument_3.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Contributors:
FlickreviewR, JLCA, JMCC1, Johnbod
File:The Wrestler (Olmec) by DeLange.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:The_Wrestler_(Olmec)_by_DeLange.jpg License: Attribution Contributors: George and
Audrey DeLange (see delange.org)
File:WLA metmuseum Olmec Jadeite Mask 3.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:WLA_metmuseum_Olmec_Jadeite_Mask_3.jpg License: Creative Commons
Attribution 2.5 Contributors: Wikipedia Loves Art participant " futons_of_rock"
File:Olmec Heartland Overview 4.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Olmec_Heartland_Overview_4.svg License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Contributors:
EOZyo, Julia W, Madman2001, 2 anonymous edits
Image:La Venta Pirámide cara sur.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:La_Venta_Pirámide_cara_sur.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Alfonsobouchot
File:Olmec fish vessel.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Olmec_fish_vessel.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported Contributors:
Bestiasonica, Bibi Saint-Pol, Bohème, Citron, JMCC1, Madman2001, Mmcannis, Sailko, Wmpearl
File:Hollowbaby.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Hollowbaby.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: ·Maunus·ƛ·
File:Olmec mask 802.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Olmec_mask_802.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0,2.5,2.0,1.0 Contributors: Michel
wal
File:Formative Era sites.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Formative_Era_sites.svg License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported Contributors:
EOZyo, Madman2001, Simon Burchell, 1 anonymous edits
File:La Venta Altar 5 (Ruben Charles).jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:La_Venta_Altar_5_(Ruben_Charles).jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution 2.0
Contributors: Ruben Charles, (http://www.rubencharles.com)
File:Estela C de Tres Zapotes.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Estela_C_de_Tres_Zapotes.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Sorry, I dont understand the
original text in japanse
File:Tumba Olmeca.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Tumba_Olmeca.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Contributors: Alfonsobouchot, Apalsola,
FlickreviewR, JLCA, 1 anonymous edits
File:MAYA-g-num-0-inc-v1.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:MAYA-g-num-0-inc-v1.svg License: GNU Free Documentation License Contributors: CJLL Wright
File:Las Limas Monument 1 (O Cadena).jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Las_Limas_Monument_1_(O_Cadena).jpg License: Creative Commons
Attribution-Sharealike 2.0 Contributors: O Cadena (Cadeva)
File:Olmec King.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Olmec_King.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: O.Mustafin
File:Kunz Axe.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Kunz_Axe.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 2.5 Contributors: Daderot, Johnbod,
Madman2001, Simon Burchell, Trijnstel, 1 anonymous edits
Image:Olmec Head from San Lorenzo, Veracruz.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Olmec_Head_from_San_Lorenzo,_Veracruz.jpg License: Creative Commons
Attribution 2.0 Contributors: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rosemania/
Image:Sanlorenzohead6.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Sanlorenzohead6.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: Bibi Saint-Pol, Infrogmation, JLCA, Johnbod
Image:El Azuzul twin.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:El_Azuzul_twin.jpg License: Attribution Contributors: George and Audrey DeLange (see delange.org)
Image:Olmec Bird jug.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Olmec_Bird_jug.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 2.5 Contributors: Madman2001,
Sailko, Wmpearl
Image:Olmec celts from Met.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Olmec_celts_from_Met.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported
Contributors: Madman2001, Simon Burchell, Wmpearl
Image:Jaguarbaby.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Jaguarbaby.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: user:Maunus


Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors 22

Image:Olmec-style_bottle_1.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Olmec-style_bottle_1.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported
Contributors: Madman2001
Image:Olmecmask.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Olmecmask.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: User:Maunus
Image:Juxtlahuaca Ruler (M Lachniet).jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Juxtlahuaca_Ruler_(M_Lachniet).jpg License: Attribution Contributors: Photo by Matt
Lachniet, University of Nevada at Las Vegas
Image:WLA metmuseum Olmec Baby Figure.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:WLA_metmuseum_Olmec_Baby_Figure.jpg License: Creative Commons
Attribution-Sharealike 2.5 Contributors: Wikipedia Loves Art participant " shooting_brooklyn"
File:Mexico.Tab.OlmecHead.01.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Mexico.Tab.OlmecHead.01.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 2.0
Contributors: Hajor, Ies, Infrogmation, Johnbod, MapMaster, Meteor2017, Shakko, Thelmadatter, Vivero, 2 anonymous edits
Image:Chalcatzingo - el rey close.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Chalcatzingo_-_el_rey_close.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0
Contributors: ·Maunus·ƛ·

License
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
//creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/


Untold History of the Olmec Civilization

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Similar to Untold History of the Olmec Civilization

Similar to Untold History of the Olmec Civilization (20)

More from RBG Communiversity

More from RBG Communiversity (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Untold History of the Olmec Civilization