Many Mysteries Lie in the Olmec Civilization

872 Words2 Pages

The Olmec Civilization
The Olmec civilization: Starting from 1400 B.C to an abrupt end to 300 B.C. Many mysteries lie in the Olmec civilization and seem to never be recovered. But, there is a small portion of evidence supporting the existence of a civilization. The history of the civilization this is really broken up. They lived in the tropical lowlands in Mexico known today as Veracruz and Tabasco. They were known as “the rubber people” because they were known for their discovery on natural rubber. They started out like most civilizations: mostly hunting and the only thing they farmed was corn, beans and squash. Later on, they cultivate many more plants. The time of the Olmecs will be divided into four different ages: The Pre-Olmec, the Initial Olmec, the Intermediate Olmec, and the Terminal Olmec. All of which have their unique achievements and will describe their tradition.
The Pre -Olmec (1750-1400 B.C.E) which took place about before the Olmec civilization even began. At this time, it was mostly agriculturists that were known for their ceramics. In these areas, their small villages were on levees. These levees were built low and were broad. Stone bowls from this time may give evidence of stoneworking tradition. Their main resource use was of their highland’s obsidian. Also at this time, they started making long distanced trades.
The Initial Olmec (1400-1000 B.C.E) which is the start of this civilization is when the the first raised fields were built. The Olmec area had a very poor are to do agriculture in, causing problems. These were ridges that were built on swampy terrain which were separated by the channels of water. This was a way to make the plants irrigated. The next great site, San Lorenzo, was built. This place i...

... middle of paper ...

...ec artifacts actually represents a shared belief in local areas, not traded or spread by a lot. Since the Olmec artifacts are different in different areas, each area had it’s own Olmec-like beliefs. So that would mean they didn’t come from just one source, rather developed with other civilizations similar to them. So we would have look at each civilization as one independent belief rather than it all coming from one source. In fact, many civilizations were very different from other parts of mesoamerica.
The Olmec civilization was one of the first civilizations to come before anyone else. They are very little known for their writing or culture. There are many theories out there that can not be confirmed. The timeline seems very broken up and short to really know enough of the olmecs. There are questions to be answered like what they might’ve looked like and such.

Open Document