The Olmecs were the first Mesoamerican civilization that inhabited modern day southern Mexico from about 1200 BCE to 400 BCE. While they were not the first people in Mesoamerica, they were the first real civilization. This civilization was highly advanced in its architechture, technology, art, and religion. and socially due to its strategic trade. Its advanced society had many technologies that were appealing to other civilizations that wished to obtain those goods and ideas through trade. The Olmecs also had a rich supply of natural resources that allowed for them to have lots of building and trading materials. The Olmecs influenced many neighboring civilizations culturally and socially due to its strategic trade. This is demonstrated by the …show more content…
fact that the Olmecs were named the “mother of culture” because of their extensive trade. As a result of this trade, similar gods have been found all around meso-america. Another aspect that made its way around to other civilizations was the Olmecs art which have been discovered in other cultures. If the sculptures were not directly made by them, distinct Olmec traits were found in the civilizations artwork. This rich cultured and advanced society provided a foundation for the later peoples of Mesoamerica. During the early Mesoamerican societies, the people did not have long distance trade routes, they would trade with nearby clans which limited their supplies and availability of resources. The Olmecs were the first to develop a long distance trading network in Mesoamerica which allowed for them to spread their ideas and culture and also receive a wider range of goods. It was the Olmecs huge success in their booming trade network that earned them the nickname of the “mother of culture.” They had access to many natural resources which allowed for them to have an abundance of supplies for sculpting, building, and trading them to other civilizations for goods that they lacked in return. Some of the goods that the Olmecs would trade included pottery, sculptures, celts, basalt, rubber, and shells. Rubber was obtained by tapping into rubber trees. The Olmecs are believed to be the first to tap rubber trees to create rubber items. Rivers in the Olmec civilization allowed for easy transportation to distant or nearby places, which increased their rate of trade greatly. The Olmec’s trading network stretched north and south of them, which included places like Honduras and Mexico City. The name “mother of culture” was a very fitting name for this early Mesoamerican civilization. The Olmecs were a very religious civilization, that was polytheistic like many other early civilizations.
They based their gods off of nature and only a few are known of today. Not much is known about them, but we do know that some of the main ones highlighted rain, earth, maize, and the most famous, a jaguar spirit. Although we do not know the names of these gods and possibly godesses, it is believed that they were represented by animals that were at the top of the food chain to represent power. This may also mean that the Olmec leaders might have taken on the persona of the animal spirits to display their power. Throughout many neighboring civilizations, similar gods and concepts are found in them. Another aspect that has been found in other cultures, is the Olmecs symbols for god's. One example of this is that the worshiped and believed in four dwarves that held up the sky. The dwarves that are believed to possibly represent the four cardinal directions, and many other Olmec gods were used in other Mesoamerican cultures and religions.It is also believed that the Olmecs also included human sacrifice in their religion which is later seen in the Aztec and Mayan religous culture. Other input to the Mayan and Aztec religion from the Olmec, are the use of the jaguar, many gods, and temple mounds. This integration of religious gods into other cultures, created blended and influenced cultures throughout …show more content…
Mesoamerica Art was a huge part of Olmec society and culture.
They sculpted large stone heads, ballcourts, and pyramids. To create these massive sculptures, the Olmecs used primarily stone and clay to build and sculpt. They got their clay from large clay deposits from their nearby rivers. One Olmec site is called La Venta, and it contains a hundred foot clay mound that is believed to be either a tomb of a great leader or that it was used for religious purposes. Another famous Olmec site is San Lorenzo, and it is the oldest site. San Lorenzo has many large stone structures built by the Olmecs that includes temples, columns, altars, heads, and monuments. The Olmecs are most well known for their giant stone heads made from basalt. These large heads are believed to represent great leaders of their society. The Olmecs were able to transport their massive stone for sculpting and their finished products up to 60 kilometers. It is thought that they transported the stone on rafts down rivers. This created an easy way for the Olmecs to trade their valued artwork and supplies for artwork. Because of this, trade increased and it also increased their influence on other civilizations
culture. The Olmec’s influence on Mesoamerica was gained through trade. This not only helped the Olmecs in growing their society economically and through resources, but it also helped the other civilizations with their culture and their knowledge of new methods and beliefs. Influence on other civilizations cultures allowed for them to advance faster and help Mesoamerican civilizations develop their society one step closer to our modern day society.
Meso-American religion involves a variety of beliefs and rituals of the people of Central America and Mexico before the arrival of the Spanish in the 1500s C.E. The beliefs of the ancient Meso-American religious traditions were focused around an annual calendar that had an accompanying ritual cycle. This calendar was associated with various Meso-American deities, often representing different aspects of the cosmos including a creator god, a god of war, a sun god, a fire god, etc. Various beliefs were practiced by the ancient Meso-American peoples that included diverse forms and levels of the afterlife, with each containing its own deity. Religious rituals and practices were typically governed by priests that had been educated in astronomy and genealogy. These priests were often adorned with jewels, ornaments of many colors, exquisite jewels and many had dual roles as diviners. Using idols was common in Meso-American religion and they were usually depicted in the form of animals or having animals as a part of them. Several of these ancient traditions included rituals of sacrifice to the gods, even human sacrifice.
They had at least 128 gods, including but not limited to the divine beings of “rain, fire, water, corn, the sky, and the sun.” They were honored in numerous ways: ceremonies and festivals, dances and feasts, and by having humans sacrificed to them. (Background Essay) Read those last few words again. As said in the popular children’s show Sesame Street, “one of these things is not like the other”. The integration of human sacrifice into Aztec culture was not nearly as subtle as written above, though: The most important Aztec deity in their whole religion, Huitzilopochtli, was the sun god. According to Aztec creation myths, Huitzilopochtli required a great deal of power to raise the sun every morning and keep the night from overpowering day for too long. This strength was drawn from regular consumption of human blood and hearts. This in turn caused the Aztecs to strongly believe in needing to give these things to him. According to the Aztecs, sacrificing people to Huitzilopochtli was the ideal way to provide him with these
The Aztec believed that they were the chosen people by the gods. They were also polytheistic. They too had many gods. They sacrificed humans to please the gods.
Most notably in Mesoamerica are the colossal Olmec heads. These heads are carved of basalt, weigh about ten tons and are between six and ten feet tall. What makes them notable is that the nearest source of basalt for the Olmecs was 60 miles away in the Tuxtla Mountains. In Peru, South America, the Nasca culture drew over 800 miles of complex lines on the top of the Nasca Plain. The creators of these networks made these lines by removing the dark top layer of stones to expose the light clay and calcite layer below. Art historians are unsure what these lines were for or even how these ancient peoples could create such seemingly perfect straight lines for such a distance. In the North American cultures, burial and effigy mounds were very common. The Serpent Mound in modern day Ohio was created by the Mississippian Culture, also well known for Monk’s Mound in Illinois. Unlike Monk’s Mound however, Serpent Mound was not for burial nor religious practices. Therefor the purpose for this mound is unknown, though some have hypothesized that the curves of the mound could be replicating the path of Halley’s Comet in
The Aztec Civilization covered most of present day Mexico. It was made up of marauding bands of warriors who migrated from the north. The God of Sun and War for the Aztecs was Huitzilpochtli.
Mexican civilization is very much affected due its contact. with France, New Orleans of the USA.”Design, style and gastronomy are expressions that show the vibe of Yucatan, sentiment relevance more than its personal kingdom.”(4).
The ancient Aztecs, who most likely originated as a nomadic tribe in northern Mexico, arrived in Mesoamerica at approximately the beginning of the 13th century. For a long time, the nomads wandered the land of Mexica, countlessly resettling into new areas in a constant search for land that was fertile and that they could call their own. Before the founding of their capital city of Tenochtitlan in 1325, the Aztecs had to work for various cities and small empires that were more powerful than them in order to gain military experience and come out as the dominant force in central Mexico. Through developing an intricate social, political, religious and commercial organization, it was by the 15th century that the empire brought many of the region’s city-states under their control.
The greatness of the society may never be fully comprehended due to a lack of historical evidence, but the small amount of historical documents that remain paint an impressive picture of the Toltecs. Their use of beautiful architecture, great artwork, and the unique configuration of their city leaves many wishing that more was known about the culture of the ancient civilization. Perhaps the Toltec legacy can be found in how highly both the Mayan and Aztec civilizations praised them. Their influence can be found in the grandeur of both the Mayan and the Aztecan societies as both have attributed the advancement of their religion, art, writing, medicine, and metallurgy to the obscure Toltecan civilization. Only time will tell if more will be discovered about the mysterious civilization that is the
The Aztec religion was a polytheistic religion and was a combination of many beliefs and practices of other Mesoamerican cultures and religion.Religion was very important to the Aztec and they had temples for the Gods they worshipped.They worshipped this Gods Huitzilopochtli is the God of war, Quetzalcoatl is the feathered serpent and is the God of morning and evening, Tonatiuh is the sun God, and Patecatl is the God of healing and fertility.The Aztec
Architecture, like many things, can also be made for the use of or inspired by the symbols people believe in. Therefore, art and architecture in Ancient Mesoamerica can be stated to be made for the use of religious symbols. Making architecture and art forms takes effort, dedication, and patience. Architecture can take years to make, as was s...
In the mid-fourteenth century, the Aztecs used the method of human sacrifices to uphold fear in their neighbors by using the method year round to please the gods and ensure their survival. According to Aztec legend, the first world was created by a dual god- meaning that it was both a female and male- called Ometeotl. The Aztec pantheon included hundreds of gods, all who originated from Ometeotl himself. The Aztecs also believed that the gods represented forces of nature, such as rain, and also human characteristics (Benson 504). Prior to the current world the Aztecs believed that there were four other worlds, all which ended with a major catastrophe.
The Mayan interpretation of the cosmos included a plethora of gods: some benevolent, others malignant; some unattainable, others close at hand. Defining past, present and future, it concerned itself with death, the afterlife and reincarnation. Itzamna was a Mayan god that represented the earth and sky. This god was there to produce vegitables. The Aztec beliefs were very similar to that of the Mayan civilization. Both societies were very similar in their belief of gods, sacrificing, and wars. The ritual of human sacrifice was infulenced by the Toltec tradition. Praying, sacrifice, speaking in metaphors were all forms of speaking with dieties. The calendar was very accurate, more accurate then the calendars that we follow now. Europeans thought that Mesoamerican people were wild people because they were cannibals, believed in many gods, and "enjoyed sex".
The consistent interaction between Mesoamerican civilizations within the region created a cultural diffusion that allowed Mesoamericans to share a great degree of their cultural practices and knowledge with each other. Church and State are one of the same. They considered the gods to be the everyday rulers of their daily lives and depended on their priests and rulers to ensure that the gods were appeased and didn't destroy the earth or extinguish the essential life sustaining Sun. The Maya religion required a highly complicated method of worship that demanded bloodletting and sacrificial rituals that were often fulfilled by the kings and queens. These efforts were necessary because it was believed to "feed" the gods.
The Olmecs are the earliest known Mesoamerican civilization. Around 1200 B.C. the Olmecs originated as a primitive people living and farming on the shores of Mexico (Stanton 91). Soon, however, they began to build cities such as San Lorenzo, La Venta, and Monte Alban. These “cities” were religious centers where people gathered to worship, and were not populated (Stanton 91). The first of these centers, San Lorenzo, was built c. 1150 B.C., on a flat topped, man-made mountain. It was mysteriously abandoned 200 years later (Stanton 92-93). La Venta, built between 1000 and 600 B.C., sat on an island in a swamp (Stanton 93). Later, around 500 B.C., Monte Alban, which was used as a religious center even after the Olmecs faded, was built on an immense mountain (Stanton 93). The cities were made up of temples and plazas, and decorated by monumental stone heads, which weighed up to 50 tons (Stanton 93)! These heads probably represented their early kings and had distinct helmets (Kingfisher 32). It is incredible how the Olmec people transported the stone from the distant mountains to La Venta, near the shore, without the aid of work animals or carts. It appears that the Olmecs did this grueling work for their gods willingly, as there is no evidence of forced labor (Stanton 93). The Olmecs probably worshipped the jaguar, as it appears so often in their artwork. There are also many e...
The major Mayan gods and goddesses all have common characteristics and, according to “features which they share in large part with the gods of neighboring people of Middle America” (Thompson, 198). One of these characteristics is that Mayan gods and goddesses have “features which they share in large part with the gods of neighboring people of Middle America” (Thompson, 198). The majority of the gods and goddesses take a form that combines animal and human features. For example, rain and earth deities often have characteristics derived from crocodiles and snakes (Thompson, 198). The Mayan deities also have a duality complex in which they could be both benevolent and malevolent, but this duality could also apply to age and sex such as a god or goddess being portrayed as youthful or aged or a masculine god sometimes being portrayed as feminine (Thompson, 199). Worship of animals, such as the Jaguar, was present (Thompson, 200) and numbers were seen as deities as well (Thompson, 239). Each deity corresponds to a number. For example, the sun god is the god of the number four as well and the moon goddess is the goddess of the number one. Inanimate objects had spirits, like animals and numbers, which had the ability to achieve the rank of de...