A History of Olmec Civilisation

A History of Olmec Civilization.

The first relatively modern awakening to the existance of the Olmecs
was when plantation workers in 1862 came upon hat they thought was
a large, buried, iron kettle. Upon further excavation, and driven by
thoughts of buried treasure, they finally excavated a huge stone carved
head, which turned out to be the first Olmec sculpture to be discovered
in Mexico.

OLMEC ORIGINS.
Who were the Olmecs? What is known about them is that they preceded
the Mayans in Mesoamaerica, and are thought to be the foundation of all
subsequent cultures in that part of the Americas, though there is
evidence of humans going back to 20,000 B.C. There are always
different opinions when it comes to dates but the Olmes are believed to
have originated in around 1250 B.C. and disappeared around 400 B.C. A
common feature with their and later civilisations were that they:-

Followed a 365 day year.
Built pyraminds.
Cultivated corn.
All had similar religious rituals and the same Gods of fertility, war, sky &
nature.

Regarding the thick-lipped Negroid features of those carvings, some
researchers postulate that the Olmecs originally came from Africa, and
indeed their language is very similar to that spoken today in Mali. Details
of facial scaring & lines on Olmec statues also bear similarities to tribal
marks found among the Yoruba peoples of West Africa.

OLMEC LANDS.
Their range of influence extended from the Tuxtlas mountains in the
west, to Contalpa in the eastern Mexican lowlands, around the Gulf of
Mexico area. The three largest Olmec cities were:-

La Venta in Tabasco (the eastern sector), dominated the rich
coastal estuaries, including the cocao, rubber & salt trade.

San Lorenzo Tenochtitlan in Veracruz was at the center of the Olmec
civilization, and an important political/religious center, which controlled
the vast flood plains of the Coatzacoalco basin and river trade routes.
The first drainage system in Mesoamerica was discovered there, consisting
of channeled blocks of stone set into the earth, covered with slabs. Their
region is also famous for the colossal basalt carved heads, weighing
20-40 tons each.

Laguna de los Cerros, also in Veracruz, to the West, controlled
the important basalt mines/mountains, important for the manufacture of
Metates (stones for grinding food), & monuments.

OLMEC ART.
The Olmecs must have had a high regard for art as many cave paintings
& huge stone scullptures have been found, along with jade artefacts &
statues. Typical Olmec art featured jaguars, thick-lipped soldiers and
goatee-bearded men and often a combination of jaguar and children. As
they believed themselves to be descendants of the Jaguar, the animal
was held in very high esteem, often featuring in religious ceremonies.

Some of these huge carved stone heads have been found up to 100km
away from the source of stone, leaving researchers still wondering
exactly how they managed to transport such massive pieces those
distances., though the most likelyest explanation must be that they
floated them on barges down the extensive network of rivers.

WORK & PLAY.
Rubber was first exloited by the Olmecs and various carvings show ball
games where the ball could be deflected off elbows, hips, knees and
head, though using the hands was considered an illegal move. Initially,
the Olmecs in the swampy tropical heartland lived a hunter-gatherer
lifestyle, later spreading to outlying areas and developing agriculture and
distinct political & economic hierarchies as wealth and commerce with
outside people grew.

RELIGION Olmec religion featured mainly worship of the Jaguar and Werejaguars
(children with Jaguar features), though snake worship was popular too.
They believed that the Jaguar was very closely associated with a person's
spirit and that should the Jaguar die, the person would also die.

In common with all religions, to maintain their position in society the
Olmec ruling elite needed to make the people believe either that they
were Gods or that they were associated with The Gods (Gods of Fire,
Water, Earth & Sun were the popular deities).

Their religion, symbolic language and archtictural systems seemed strong
& popular enough to have lasted through to the Zapotecs, Teotihuacans
and Mayan peoples, until everything changed with the Spanish
conquests of Hernandez Cortez and Spanish/Portugese influence. That
of the Catholic Church was especially instrumental in destroying the old
Gods and bringing a new one that eventually spread throughout the
whole of South America.

Some might argue that Catholicism brought about changes for good
and others point to the great poverty of the majority of predominantly
Catholic South America.

Whatever your opinions, I will just leave you with this thought:-

"Religion is regarded by the common people as true,
by the wise as false, and by rulers as convenient."

Seneca the Younger. (3 B.C.-65 A.D.)

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