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The Olmecs (/ ˈ ɒ l m ɛ k s, ˈ oʊ l-/) or Olmec were the earliest known major Mesoamerican civilization, flourishing in the modern-day Mexican states of Veracruz and Tabasco from roughly 1200 to 400 BCE during Mesoamerica's formative period.
La Venta is a pre-Columbian archaeological site of the Olmec civilization located in the present-day Mexican state of Tabasco. Some of the artifacts have been moved to the museum "Parque - Museo de La Venta" , which is in nearby Villahermosa , the capital of Tabasco.
A sherd from Chiapa de Corzo dated to 300 BCE was held to be the oldest instance of that writing system yet discovered, [26] but more recently, it has been suggested that early Isthmian writing at Chiapa de Corzo even pre-dates the Epi-Olmec culture. [27] In a 1997 paper, John Justeson and Terrence Kaufman put forward a decipherment of Epi-Olmec.
The earliest evidence for Olmec culture is found at nearby El Manatí, a sacrificial bog with artifacts dating to 1600 BCE or earlier. Sedentary agriculturalists had lived in the area for centuries before San Lorenzo developed into a regional center. [2] San Lorenzo was the first Olmec site that demonstrates state level complexity.
Pre-Olmec cultures had flourished in the area since about 2500 BCE, but by 1600-1500 BCE early Olmec culture had emerged centered around the San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán site near the coast in southeast Veracruz. [3] They were the first Mesoamerican civilization and laid many of the foundations for the civilizations that followed. [4]
Scholars generally acknowledge six cradles of civilization: Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, Ancient India and Ancient China are believed to be the earliest in Afro-Eurasia (previously called the Old World), [6] [7] while the Caral–Supe civilization of coastal Peru and the Olmec civilization of Mexico are believed to be the earliest in the ...
The Olmec colossal heads are stone representations of human heads sculpted from large basalt boulders. They range in height from 1.17 to 3.4 metres (3.8 to 11.2 ft). The heads date from at least 900 BC and are a distinctive feature of the Olmec civilization of ancient Mesoamerica. [1]
By 300 BCE, this culture was eclipsed by other emerging cultures in Mesoamerica. [4] The Olmec heartland where the Olmecs reigned from 1400 - 400 BCE. The "Olmec heartland" is an area in the Gulf lowlands that is generally considered the birthplace of the Olmec culture. This area is characterized by swampy lowlands punctuated by low hills ...