Olmec Civilization

                           OLMEC CIVILIZTION

The mysterious Olmec civilization prospered in Pre-Classical Mesoamerica from 1200 BC to 400 BC.The Olmec people established a civilization in the area we know today as southern Mexico. The ancient Olmec civilization is now considered to be one of the earliest great civilizations in Mesoamerica. This civilization came and went long before the Aztec empire was even thought of, and yet they left their mark on the peoples of Mexico and beyond, and developed a complex culture which is echoed today, probably in ways we don't yet even realize.It is generally considered the forerunner of all subsequent Mesoamerican cultures such as the Maya and Aztecs.

            

Many historians consider the Olmec civilization the “mother culture” of Mesoamerica. The concept of the Olmecs as a mother culture was first formally raised by Alfonso Caso at a 1942 conference on the "Olmec problem" in Tuxtla Gutiérrez where he argued that the Olmec were the "culture  Madre" of Mesoamerica. A mother culture is a way of life that strongly influences later cultures.

They lived in villages near rivers and also fished for food. The Olmec were very good at farming. The land in this region was very fertile and food supply was steady. The Olmecs probably also practiced swidden (or slash-and-burn) agriculture to clear the forests and shrubs, and to provide new fields once the old fields were exhausted.

                                                           They also were good at making pottery and weaving. The Olmec played a game called “pok-a-tok” where, you must shoot a rubber ball through a stone ring without using your hands or feet. Huge ball courts built by the Olmec suggest that the game was popular with spectators. 

The most striking legacy of the Olmec civilization must be the colossal stone heads they produced. These were carved in basalt and all display unique facial features so that they may be considered portraits of actual rulers. The heads can be nearly 3 m high and 8 tons in weight. The fact that these giant sculptures depict only the head may be explained by the belief in Mesoamerican culture that it was the head alone which bore the soul.   Often made around cave entrances they most typically depict seated rulers, as for example at Oxtotitlan, where a figure wears a green bird suit and at Chalcatzingo where another ruler sits on her throne surrounded by a maize landscape.

The Olmec were one of the first civilizations to develop large ceremonial complexes, carve bas-reliefs and statues in the round, and create huge stone mosaics. The Olmec had a 260-day ritual cycle (calendar) which was still used by other Mesoamerican civilizations when the Europeans arrived. The calendar included the zero concepts; it was one of the earliest uses of the zero concepts in history.  The Olmec used an early form of glyph writing to record events, dates, and to tell stories. Glyphs are pictures that represent words.

  It is believed that the Olmec did not focus on warfare and conquest, but instead, influenced other cultures mainly through trade.They mainly traded for luxury items such as precious stones such as greenstone and marine shell were moved in significant quantities across large distances.Knowledge and ideas were also exchanged at these trade centers.

  The Olmec worshiped several gods (fire god, corn god) but their main god was the jaguar god. They believed that the jaguar god brought rain. Pyramids built in the center of their cities were probably used for religious reasons.

Civilization thrived until approximately 800 B.C. when the capital, San Lorenzo, fell due to a "natural catastrophe." Scientists believe that the city was abandoned; the most probable cause was the river that was very important to their survival changed course due to shifts in the earth's tectonic plates. Then most of the Olmec just blended into other societies.