Olmecs: Mesoamerican Civilizations
Last Updated     11/6/2007      11/5/2007     11/4/2007      11/3/2007



One of the earliest civilizations in Middle America.  Called the "Mother Culture."  Lived along the southern coast of the Gulf of Mexico.  The early period sites show simple agricultural society based on hunting and fishing,. The Olmecs eventually established a highly complex level of political government, including public building projects such as pyramids and large platform mounds, agriculture, a writing system, and a characteristic sculptural artistry including enormous stone heads.   Many have argued over whether the Olmecs were of African or Asia descent, because of these facial features

History
5300 BC, Corn grown as crop.
1200 BC - 400 BC,  La Venta
c.1150 BC, Olmecs begin to rise in Sam Lorenzo. About 1000 people.
c. 1000 BC, Olmecs came into being.
c.900 BC, Sam Lorenzo was abandoned
               La Venta became the main city.
               Mounds were replaced by pyramids.
c.700 BC, Founding of Monte Alban the sacred city of the Olmecs.
c.650 BC, first evidence of writing in the New World
c.600 BC, Oaxaca becomes the main center of Olmec culture
c.400 BC, La Venta comes to its end.
100 BC, Olmecs mysteriously disappeared.

Olmec Periods of History
Pre-Olmec: 1750-1500 BC
Early Formative: 1500-1150 BC
Middle Formative: 1150-400 BC

People
Governors: were also priests and warriors
Artisans
Peasants: worked the land, built public works, and fought as soldiers during wars

Accomplishments
Developed planned cities, hieroglyphic writing, and a calendar.
Farmed part of the year.
Built stone cities on top of hills.

Cities
The Olmec cities were constructed around a central raised mound, which was used for religious ceremonies.
3 Major Cities
La Venta in Tabasco
Laguna de los Cerros in Veracruz
San Lorenzo in Tenochtitlan
Olmecs had 45 cities.

Religion
Olmec priests wore jaguar skins, red robes, feathers, and headdresses.
The filed their teeth and put semi-precious stones in them,
Cities acted as religious centers.
Temples had houses for priests, artists, and architects.
There is evidence that the Olmec practiced human sacrifice, including that of infants.
There was a corn god.
There was a rain god.
The Jauguar god was of the underworld.
They believed in an afterlife.
Buried with objects that they may need in their other lives.

Nobles
Nobles tied boards to their children's head.
They wanted to create elongated skulls.
They thought these type of skulls were beautiful.

Common People
Common people lived in villages.
They visited  the cities on market days and festival days.
Houses were made of wood and palm leaves.

Art
Megalithic heads with African facial features have been found.
These are statue heads of individual rulers.
A characteristic motif of Olmec art is a human face with a jaguar mouth.
Finely carved objects of jade and serpentine were created.
Maize (corn) was a common element in the Olmec art.
Other motifs in Olmec art consist of jaguars, serpents and monkeys

Language and Writing
They developed writing for rituals and rulers.
There is a general consensus that the Olmec spoke a language in the Mixe-Zoquean family
Some say the founders of the Olmec civilization were Mande, Manding, Mende  speaking people.
The Mende language is the language of the Mandinka.
This is the same language sp[omken by Cinque from the movie Amistad.
Some scientists say Manding speaking ancestors of the Olmecs came from the Saharan zone of North Africa.
The Olmec writing system is unique. The Signs are similar to the writing used by the Vai people of West Africa.
Olmec is a syllabic writing system used in the Olmec heartland from 900 BC- AD 450.

Food
Corn, beans, and squash were the main food crops. 
Corn had ritual signifiance.
Along with fish, the Olmec would catch turtles for their main source of protein.
The Olmec would also eat dog and turkey.

Architecture
Architecture at San Lorenzo includes both public-ceremonial buildings, elite residences, and the houses of commoners.
Olmec public-ceremonial buildings were mostly earthen platform mounds.
Some of the platform mounds had larger house-like structures built upon them.

Water Systems
A water system consisted of a buried network of stone troughs..
These long U-shaped rectangular blocks of basalt were laid end to end and covered with capstones.
This aqueduct used to provide drinking water to the different areas of the settlement.

Ball Games
The word "Olmec" also refers to the rubber balls used for their ancient ball game.
Archaeologists working at La Venta discovered the remains of a ball court.
Several rubber balls at have been found at the Olmec site of El Manati, near San Lorenzo.
The Olmecs played a type of sacred ball game.
The name of their ball game was the same as their sacred tree: Ulama.
Ulama was known as "The Game of Life and Death."
The game was so sacred that losers were decapitated.

Calendar and Mathematics
Mathematicians and astronomers developed a calendar.
Used a true zwero before Ptolemy.

Bibliography
Winters, C.A. (1984a). Blacks in ancient America.Colorlines, 3(2), 27-28.

Winters, C.A. (1984b). Africans found first American Civilization, African Monitor, 1, 16-18.

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