OLMEC CIVILIZATION SERIES

OLMEC CIVILIZATION SERIES

A series of powerful rulers likely governed the civilization. The wealth created a stratified class structure, with affluent landowners at the top. It’s likely that as the populations grew, land became more and more valuable. The abundance of food allowed the population to flourish. The fertile area allowed the early Olmec society to grow corn and beans so plentifully that it led to agricultural surpluses. Rainfall is plentiful, and the soil is rich. In the lowland regions of modern-day Tabasco and Veracruz, Mexico, the climate is humid. In other words, it is a region where ecological factors combined to create ideal conditions for growing crops. The region where the Olmecs first came to prominence is comparable to the Fertile Crescent of Mesopotamia. Wikimedia CC 3.0Īgriculture powered their initial rise. It refers to their ability to cultivate rubber from the latex of the Panama rubber tree. The name means “rubber people,” or people from the rubber lands. The word “Olmec” is a Nahuatl word from the later Aztec Civilization (1428-1521 CE). One of the biggest mysteries about the Olmec Civilization is what they called themselves. Modern historians credit this culture with innovations such as the first writing system in the western hemisphere, the calendar, the mathematical concept of zero, and the Mesoamerican rubber ball game. Although they virtually disappeared from the historical record, it’s still likely that their cultural traditions survived in later civilizations like the Maya and the Aztecs. Eventually, neighboring cultures absorbed them. The Olmecs flourished for the next 1200 years, spreading throughout southern, western, and central Mexico and present-day Guatemala. Discovery of the first colossal head in 1962. They subsequently became a dominant agricultural and trading power. Known for their colossal stone head sculptures, they first emerged in the Gulf of Mexico near present-day Tabasco and Veracruz in 1600 BCE. The Olmec Civilization is one of the least understood and most mysterious in the ancient world.

Olmec civilization