(2.1 meters) wide, and weighs about 25.3 tons. The largest head at the San Lorenzo is 9.3 ft. Each was also carefully carved with a distinctive headdress. They differ from one another in facial characteristics and size. The colossal heads represented rulers or elites. Ten amazing colossal heads were discovered there. San Lorenzo had vast influence and political power in Mesoamerica. The Olmecs achieved this feat by using carved stone pipes with lids. It had a very elaborate drainage system that may have helped its success. The first major city of the Olmec civilization was San Lorenzo, with a population of at least 15,000. Several large cities have been attributed to them, including San Lorenzo, La Venta, Tres Zapotes, Las Limas, and Laguna de los Cerros. The Olmecs inhabited the area around the Gulf Coast of Mexico, now the modern states of Tabasco and Veracruz. Olmec, Maya, and Aztec writing and calendar systems. The first calendar in long count format was discovered in the Olmec region of Tres Zapotes on the lower half of Stela C. The Olmecs are the earliest known civilization in the Americas to have used mathematics and had the concept of zero. Although archaeologists know that these Yugitos were involved in the Mesoamerican ball games, it is uncertain how they were used. Mesoamerican Ball Game and Equipment (Author provided)Įvidence is not solely based upon Olmec influence at the oldest known ball courts, but also from several rubber balls discovered at a sacrificial bog called El Manati. It’s how the Aztec tribes described the Olmecs and makes sense as they are the best candidates for inventing the first ball games. Another first was the use of chocolate, which was their preferred drink.
They were the first known people to use a writing system in the Americas. They developed the first monumental architecture and first signs of city planning. The Olmec had several firsts in the Americas. Developing independently is rare and when it happens the culture is known as ‘pristine’. Most cultures develop with outside influences by engaging in activities such as trade and immigration. It appears the Olmec culture developed alone. (Author provided) The Olmec Culture was Unique Does the Cascajal Block provide evidence of a written language of the Olmecs?.The mysterious civilization of the Olmecs.One of the first (and most famous) researchers to study the Olmec was Matthew Stirling. The first archaeological investigations of the Olmecs didn’t begin until more than 75 years after the initial discovery of a colossal head. The heads were shaped with percussion, hammerstones, and abrasives. These stones were very large and it is unknown how they moved them to their final resting places. The Olmec gathered basalt from boulders located in the Sierra de los Tuxtlas. The most recognizable artifacts created by the Olmecs are 17 colossal basalt heads that have been discovered across four different sites. There are many theories about the downfall of the Olmec civilization such as catastrophic climate change, illness, volcanism, and overpopulation. Some say the start was around 1500 BC, but the more popular timeline puts the beginning of the Olmec at roughly 1200 BC and the decline of the culture sometime near 400 BC.
There are differing opinions regarding the Olmec timeline. The Olmecs were a full-fledged civilization because they were more organized and socially advanced than their predecessors. There were small villages and groups of people in the area in which the Olmec developed but these societies are referred to as Pre-Olmec. The Olmecs were the first true Mesoamerican civilization.