They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. It is generally thought that these are portraits of Olmec rulers. Here's what you need to know about the Olmecs of Mexico and their colossal heads. Seventeen colossal heads have been unearthed in the Olmec area, four of them at La Venta, officially named Monuments 1 through 4. [51] By 1500 BCE early Olmec sculptors mastered the human form. The 17 heads were found across three sites in Mexico: La Venta, Tres Zapotes, and San Lorenzo. The Olmec were the first major civilization in Mexico. [95] While the Olmec were not the first in Mesoamerica to organize long-distance exchanges of goods, the Olmec period saw a significant expansion in interregional trade routes, more variety in material goods exchanged and a greater diversity in the sources from which the base materials were obtained. The Olmecs ( / lmks, ol -/) were the earliest known major Mesoamerican civilization. See also Mesoamerican civilization. [13], What is today called Olmec first appeared fully within San Lorenzo Tenochtitln, where distinctive Olmec features occurred around 1400BCE. Void Discovered in Great Pyramid; Is Mainstream Egyptology Still Credible? They go on to downplay the possibility of a strong central government. The spread of this vocabulary particular to their culture accompanied the diffusion of other Olmec cultural and artistic traits that appears in the archaeological record of other Mesoamerican societies. [108][109], Partly because the Olmecs developed the first Mesoamerican civilization, and partly because little is known of them compared to, for example, the Maya or Aztec, a number of Olmec alternative origin speculations have been put forth. The Olmec civilization, which thrived along Mexico's Gulf Coast from about 1200 to 400 B.C., was the first major Mesoamerican culture. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. For example, San Lorenzo Colossal Head 7 was originally a throne and has a deep indentation on one side and Altar 5 from La Venta seems to have been abandoned in the middle of such a conversion. The Nahuatl (Aztec) name for these people, Olmecatl, or Olmec in the modern corruption, means rubber people or people of the rubber country. That term was chosen because the Olmecs extracted latex from Panama rubber trees (Castilla elastica) growing in the region and mixed it with the juice of a local vine (Ipomoea alba, moonflower) to create rubber. The Bosnian Pyramid; Hoax or National Treasure? [36] As no known pre-Columbian text explains them, these impressive monuments have been the subject of much speculation. If there is a topic youd like to learn more about, please let us know. The heads were each carved from a single basalt boulder which in some cases were transported 100 km or more to their final destination, presumably using huge balsa river rafts wherever possible and log rollers on land. Olmec Heads Planned Manufacturing. They didnt have much marked social inequalities, so those people gathered and organized themselves, then made these huge constructions. [72] Others are skeptical because of the stone's singularity, the fact that it had been removed from any archaeological context, and because it bears no apparent resemblance to any other Mesoamerican writing system.[73]. Olmecs were the first inhabitants of the Americas to settle in towns and cities with monumental architecture. Olmec-style artifacts tend to appear earlier in some parts of Guerrero than in the Veracruz-Tabasco area. San Lorenzo, located in the Veracruz state, was possibly the first true Mesoamerican city and the major center for Olmec politics, religion, and commerce from 1200-400 BC. Remove Ads. We use cookies and similar technologies to run this website and help us make recommendations for you. Located about 40 kilometres (25mi) south of Mexico City, Zazacatla covered about 2.5 square kilometres (1sqmi) between 800 and 500BCE.[55]. Not of the people themselves, but the 8-ton sculptures of heads they buried underground. Many of the stones are difficult to place in their original context as they were not necessarily found in the positions the Olmecs had originally put them. Miller identifies Colossal Head 5, for example, as a second-millenium BCE ruler of San Lorenzo. These heads are very similar to the San Lorenzo heads but display a regional variance in that they are wider and more squat in appearance. [49], Richard Diehl wrote "There can be no doubt that the heads depict the American Indian physical type still seen on the streets of Soteapan, Acayucan, and other towns in the region. In Guatemala, sites showing probable Olmec influence include San Bartolo, Takalik Abaj and La Democracia. What is an Olmec head? [45] But the vast majority of archaeologists and other Mesoamerican scholars reject claims of pre-Columbian contacts with Africa. in a certain erawhich no one can reckonwhich no one can remember[where] there was a government for a long time". Following a progressive development in Soconusco, they occupied the tropical lowlands of the modern-day Mexican states of Veracruz and Tabasco. [23] La Venta sustained the Olmec cultural traditions with spectacular displays of power and wealth. For example, the words for "incense", "cacao", "corn", many names of various fruits, "nagual/shaman", "tobacco", "adobe", "ladder", "rubber", "corn granary", "squash/gourd", and "paper" in many Mesoamerican languages seem to have been borrowed from an ancient MixeZoquean language. Was There A Cover Up of the Dead Sea Scrolls Interpretation? Sarah Appleton, National Geographic Society. World History Encyclopedia. It is generally thought that these are portraits of Olmec rulers. [65] Some authors have associated infant sacrifice with Olmec ritual art showing limp werejaguar babies, most famously in La Venta's Altar 5 (on the right) or Las Limas figure. In The . We found nearly 500 ceremonial complexes, which look like Aguada Fnix, although they are not as big. (2005) hint that Olmec iconography was first developed in the, See for example Reilly; Stevens (2007); Rose (2007). It could also be that they were even damaged in order to neutralize the dead ruler's power. Serra Puche et al., p. 36, who argue that "While Olmec art sometimes represents leaders, priests, and possibly soldiers, it is difficult to imagine that such institutions as the army, priest caste, or administrative-political groups were already fully developed by Olmec times." These heads were in a slightly irregular row, facing north. See Grove (1976) or Ortiz de Montellano (1997). Pool, p. 295. They are credited with being the first civilization to develop in Mesoamerica, with the Olmec heartland being one of the six cradles of civilization. [10], The Olmec heartland is the area in the Gulf lowlands where it expanded after early development in Soconusco, Veracruz. "Mesoamerican Long Count calendar & invention of the zero concept" section cited to Diehl, p. 186. Research at these and other sites has led to the following insights. Whatever the purpose of the heads, they were left underground for 3,000 years until the first head was re-discovered in 1871 CE, with the most recent excavation in 1994 CE. Every decision we make is inspired by our vision to empower a community of individuals to come together to build a more conscious world. [5] The Nahuatl word for the Olmecs was lmcatl [olmekat] (singular) or lmcah [olmeka] (plural). Discussion of Olmec culture (15 mins), Portal:Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Population history of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Painting in the Americas before European colonization, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Olmecs&oldid=1161775041, Short description is different from Wikidata, Pages using multiple image with auto scaled images, Articles needing additional references from December 2018, All articles needing additional references, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 4.0. Home Education & Learning Fun Facts 27 Olmec Heads Facts FOR AGES 3 YEARS TO 18 YEARS 27 Olmec Heads Facts For The Budding Archaeologist In You Written by Kidadl Team on 17 April 2022 ; Updated on 8 September 2022 8 mins to read Get Inspiration For Education! THE OLMECS. Is Ezekiel's Vision of the Wheel Evidence of UFOs in the Bible? Stirling, along with art historian Miguel Covarrubias, became convinced that the Olmec predated most other known Mesoamerican civilizations. Maize and other crops were a later addition to their foodstuffs. [38] This can be determined by wooden Olmec sculptures discovered in the swampy bogs of El Manati. The earliest community that practiced a mixture of farming as well as foraging methods like hunting and fishing was known as the Olmec, in modern-day Mexico. [105], In counterpoint to Stirling, Covarrubias, and Alfonso Caso, however, Mayanists J. Eric Thompson and Sylvanus Morley argued for Classic-era dates for the Olmec artifacts. [40], The heads range in size from the Rancho La Cobata head, at 3.4m (11ft) high, to the pair at Tres Zapotes, at 1.47m (4ft 10in). [88], Instead, archaeologists relied on the data that they had, such as large- and small-scale site surveys. Because all of the heads have different facial features, they could be portraits of the rulers, as scholar M.E. The most important sector of this site is known as the ridge and is where the nobility and priests probably lived. The heads of Easter Island, Mt. Between 400 and 350BCE, the population in the eastern half of the Olmec heartland dropped precipitously, and the area was sparsely inhabited until the 19th century. Interestingly, the four heads from La Venta were perhaps originally positioned with such a purpose in mind so that they stood as guardians to the sacred precinct of the city. The Olmec people are believed to have occupied a large part of modern-day Southern Mexico. [86], As Olmec mythology has left no documents comparable to the Popol Vuh from Maya mythology, any exposition of Olmec mythology must be based on interpretations of surviving monumental and portable art (such as the Seor de Las Limas statue at the Xalapa Museum), and comparisons with other Mesoamerican mythologies. Diehl, p. 106. The principal source of this heavy stone was Cerro Cintepec in the Tuxtla Mountains. Study Shows Giza Pyramid Concentrates Energy Within its Chambers, Ancient Solar Storm Backs Theory of Lost Civilization's Cataclysm, This Conspiracy Claims the Smithsonian Destroys Giant Skeletons. The Olmec culture was first defined as an art style, and this continues to be the hallmark of the culture. Help us and translate this article into another language! Ortz C., Ponciano; Rodrguez, Mara del Carmen. It was the largest and the most striking city in Mesoamerica during that period. This area is characterized by swampy lowlands punctuated by low hills, ridges, and volcanoes. Retrieved from https://www.worldhistory.org/article/672/olmec-colossal-stone-heads/. In most cases, the head is half the total volume of the figure. The Olmec created massive monuments, including colossal stone heads, thrones, stela (upright slabs), and statues. This word is composed of the two words lli [oli], meaning "natural rubber", and mcatl [mekat], meaning "people". They thrived along Mexico's Gulf coast, mainly in the present-day states of Veracruz and Tabasco, from about 1200 to 400 B.C., although there were pre-Olmec societies before that and post-Olmec (or Epi-Olmec) societies afterward. [93] Studies of the Sierra de los Tuxtlas settlements, some 60km (35mi) away, indicate that this area was composed of more or less egalitarian communities outside the control of lowland centers.[94]. Although several of these speculations, particularly the theory that the Olmecs were of African origin popularized by Ivan Van Sertima's book They Came Before Columbus, have become well known within popular culture, they are not considered credible by the vast majority of Mesoamerican researchers and scientists, who discard them as pop-culture pseudo-science. See also J. E. Clark, p. 343, who says "much of the art of La Venta appears to have been dedicated to rulers who dressed as gods, or to the gods themselves". Please support World History Encyclopedia. World History Encyclopedia is a non-profit organization. [90], Nonetheless, Olmec society is thought to lack many of the institutions of later civilizations, such as a standing army or priestly caste. [53] Olmec arts are strongly tied to the Olmec religion, which prominently featured jaguars. [27], One theory for the considerable population drop during the Terminal Formative period is suggested by Santley and colleagues (Santley et al. "Inter-and Intrapopulational Racial Differentiation of Tlatilco, Cerro de Las Mesas, Teothuacan, Monte Alban and Yucatan Maya,", Haslip-Viera, Gabriel: Bernard Ortiz de Montellano; Warren Barbour Source "Robbing Native American Cultures: Van Sertima's Afrocentricity and the Olmecs,". Mark is a full-time author, researcher, historian, and editor. Once theorized to be ballplayers, it is now generally accepted that these heads are portraits of rulers, perhaps dressed as ballplayers. Heads found at La Venta all faced the Atlantic, with the largest flattened so as to also function as an altar. Jade is a particularly precious material, and it was used as a mark of rank by the ruling classes. [106], Shortly after the conference, radiocarbon dating proved the antiquity of the Olmec civilization, although the "mother culture" question generated considerable debate even 60 years later.[107]. Is The London Hammer An Ancient, Out of Place Artifact? But an argument against an Olmec origin is the fact that the Olmec civilization had ended by the 4th centuryBCE, several centuries before the earliest known Long Count date artifact. San Lorenzo, about 56 kilometers (35 miles) south of the Gulf of Mexico in the modern Mexican state of Veracruz, was at its height around 1150 to 900 C.E. The Olmec society lasted from about 1600 BCE to around 350 BCE, when environmental factors made their villages unlivable. 1997), who propose the relocation of settlements due to volcanism, instead of extinction. See translated excerpt from Melgar y Serrano's original 1869 report, reprinted in Adams (1991), p. 56. It has a huge artificial plateau which has a perfect, rectangular shape measuring 1.4 km long and 400m wide, which represents the largest construction in the entire Maya history. [38] Before radiocarbon dating could tell the exact age of Olmec pieces, archaeologists and art historians noticed the unique "Olmec-style" in a variety of artifacts. World History Encyclopedia, 21 Mar 2014. Other theories suggest perhaps the figures were famous ball-court players, with the reasoning that the flattened noses and grimaces on the faces of the heads reflected the highly aggressive sport. "Olmec Colossal Stone Heads." A shell glyph was used as a zero symbol for these Long Count dates, the second oldest of which, on Stela C at Tres Zapotes, has a date of 32BCE. Other art expresses fantastic anthropomorphic creatures, often highly stylized, using an iconography reflective of a religious meaning. [4], The name "Olmec" means "rubber people" in Nahuatl, the language of the Nahuas, and was the Aztec Empire term for the people who lived in the Gulf Lowlands in the 15th and 16th centuries, some 2000 years after the Olmec culture died out. [69][70], The 2002 find at the San Andrs site shows a bird, speech scrolls, and glyphs that are similar to the later Maya script. Are These Out of Place Artifacts Evidence of Ancient Alien Technology? [53], Ornamental mask; 10th century BCE; serpentine; height: 9.2cm, width: 7.9cm, depth: 3.2cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City), Mask; 10th6th century BCE; jadeite; height: 17.1cm, width: 16.5cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art, Mask; c. 900-500 BCE; jadeite; Dallas Museum of Art (Dallas, Texas, US), Mask with cinnabar "tattoos"; c. 900-300 BCE; jadeite with cinnabar; Minneapolis Institute of Art (Minneapolis, US). This monument the colossal head now labelled Tres Zapotes Monument A had been discovered in the late 1850s by a farm worker clearing forested land on a hacienda in Veracruz. The role of the Olmec in Mesoamerican society is a matter of hot debate between archaeologists and anthropologists. The term "Rubber People" refers to the ancient practice, spanning from ancient Olmecs to Aztecs, of extracting latex from Castilla elastica, a rubber tree in the area. Many theories have been advanced to account for the occurrence of Olmec influence far outside the heartland, including long-range trade by Olmec merchants, Olmec colonization of other regions, Olmec artisans travelling to other cities, conscious imitation of Olmec artistic styles by developing towns some even suggest the prospect of Olmec military domination or that the Olmec iconography was actually developed outside the heartland. Teotihuacn: City of the Gods or Ancient Spaceport? There are several Olmec sites thought to be important centers of activity, of which San Lorenzo and La Venta are the most significant. They lived in the tropical lowlands of south-central Mexico, in the present-day states of Veracruz and Tabasco, and had their center in the city of La Venta. Current location, Carlos Pellicer Regional Museum of Anthropology. Any dates for the start of the Olmec civilization or culture are problematic as its rise was a gradual process. Those people probably did not have too many hierarchical organizations, they most likely did not have kings. [30] Wrought in a large number of media jade, clay, basalt, and greenstone among others much Olmec art, such as The Wrestler, is naturalistic. Exotic, prestigious and high-value materials such as greenstone and marine shell were moved in significant quantities across large distances. Teet Ottin 08 Aug 2022 Two Olmec Colossal Head statues, Xalapa, Veracruz/Mexico Image Credit: Matt Gush / Shutterstock.com The mask would presumably have been about 2000 years old when the Aztecs buried it, suggesting such masks were valued and collected as were Roman antiquities in Europe. The copyright holder has published this content under the following license: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. These can vary in design and pattern and sometimes the subject also has jaguar paws hanging over the forehead, perhaps representing a jaguar pelt worn as a symbol of political and religious power, a common association in many Mesoamerican cultures. Chalcatzingo, in Valley of Morelos, central Mexico, which features Olmec-style monumental art and rock art with Olmec-style figures. One of the colossal heads contains traces of paint, based on which researchers have surmised that these heads were originally colored. These changes may have been triggered by tectonic upheavals or subsidence, or the siltation of rivers due to agricultural practices. For full treatment, see pre-Columbian civilizations: The rise of Olmec civilization. The aspect of the Olmecs most familiar now is their artwork, particularly the aptly named "colossal heads". These Olmec inhabited southern Mexico, and are regarded as the Mother Culture of the Americas - that is to say, the later Amerindian cultures and technology of the Americas, descend from Olmec culture and technology. The Olmec were the first known culture to arise in Central America and Mexico. What is Gobekli Tepe? [48], Ivan Van Sertima claimed that the seven braids on the Tres Zapotes head was an Ethiopian hair style, but he offered no evidence it was a contemporary style. Monument 1: 3m (9.8 ft) tall. Miller and Taube (1993) p. 42. Derived from the Nahuatl (Aztec) word Olmecatl, which means inhabitant of the rubber country, Olmec is a reference to the rubber production in the area where many of the artifacts have been found. Submitted by Mark Cartwright, published on 21 March 2014. timeframe represent the Olmec society. The Olmecs are especially identified with 17 huge stone headsranging in height from 1.47 to 3.4 metres (4.82 to 11.15 feet)with flat faces and full lips, wearing helmetlike headgear. 1200-400 BCE; polished green quartz (aventurine); height: 29cm, width: 13.5cm; British Museum (London), 900-500 BCE; stone; Dallas Museum of Art (Texas, US), 12th3rd century BCE; stone; height: 32.2cm, width: 14cm, depth: 11.5cm; Cleveland Museum of Art (Ohio, US), 800-400 BCE; serpentine, cinnabar; Dallas Museum of Art, Olmec-style artifacts, designs, figurines, monuments and iconography have been found in the archaeological records of sites hundreds of kilometres outside the Olmec heartland. 4 (April 1949): 5355. A large number of prominent archaeologists have hailed this find as the "earliest pre-Columbian writing". Olmec art shows that such deities as Feathered Serpent and a rain supernatural were already in the Mesoamerican pantheon in Olmec times. For a full discussion, see, Skidmore. Some have also speculated that Mesoamerican people believed that the soul, along with all of one's experiences and emotions, was contained inside the head. Coe (1967), p. 72. The Olmec civilization is considered to be the first major Mesoamerican culture and was believed to have existed between 1200 and 400 B.C. Could Discovery of 9.7 Million Year Old Teeth Rewrite History? [87], Little is directly known about the societal or political structure of Olmec society. The Olmecs established a city named "San Lorenzo" on a river island in 1200 B.C. [58], In addition to their influence with contemporaneous Mesoamerican cultures, as the first civilization in Mesoamerica, the Olmecs are credited, or speculatively credited, with many "firsts", including the bloodletting and perhaps human sacrifice, writing and epigraphy, and the invention of popcorn, zero and the Mesoamerican calendar, and the Mesoamerican ballgame, as well as perhaps the compass. They combine features of a human and other animals, such as jaguar, eagle or toad. The heads can be nearly 3 m high, 4.5 metres (9.8 feet, 14.7 feet) in circumference and average around 8 tons in weight. Why were the Olmec called the "rubber people"? Diehl, p. 10), which is only accurate within a given range (e.g. [22], In any case, following the decline of San Lorenzo, La Venta became the most prominent Olmec center, lasting from 900BCE until its abandonment around 400BCE. Since then they have continued to find evidence of how the earliest Mesoamerican people lived. Please note that some of these recommendations are listed under our old name, Ancient History Encyclopedia. For only $5 per month you can become a member and support our mission to engage people with cultural heritage and to improve history education worldwide. Many of the stones are difficult to place in their original context as they were not necessarily found in the positions the Olmecs had originally put them. Plus you can download videos to your device to watch offline later. Get instant access to free videos, helpful articles, and exclusive offers. When you reach out to him or her, you will need the page title, URL, and the date you accessed the resource. [63], The argument that the Olmec instituted human sacrifice is significantly more speculative. The last object, which displays 465 glyphs, greatly facilitated the interpretation of the epi-Olmec language, though many questions remain. If you have questions about licensing content on this page, please contact ngimagecollection@natgeo.com for more information and to obtain a license. These provided evidence of considerable centralization within the Olmec region, first at San Lorenzo and then at La Venta no other Olmec sites come close to these in terms of area or in the quantity and quality of architecture and sculpture. Was the Sirius Star System Home to the Dogon African Tribe? [6][7], Early modern explorers and archaeologists, however, mistakenly applied the name "Olmec" to the rediscovered ruins and artifacts in the heartland decades before it was understood that these were not created by the people the Aztecs knew as the "Olmec", but rather a culture that was 2000 years older. Scholars believe that some mutilation had significance beyond mere destruction, but some scholars still do not rule out internal conflicts or, less likely, invasion as a factor. Although the physionomy of the sculptures has given rise to unfounded speculation of contact with civilizations from Africa, in fact, the physical features common to the heads are still seen today in residents of the modern Mexican cities of Tabasco and Veracruz. Here, the Olmec constructed permanent city-temple complexes at San Lorenzo Tenochtitln, La Venta, Tres Zapotes, and Laguna de los Cerros. [57], The generally accepted, but by no means unanimous, interpretation is that the Olmec-style artifacts, in all sizes, became associated with elite status and were adopted by non-Olmec Formative Period chieftains in an effort to bolster their status. Researchers Decode Ancient Egyptian Spell From Mysterious Codex, An Update on the Nazca Mummies: There's More to Come, 11,000-Year-Old Shigir Idol Dated Twice as Old as the Pyramids, John Anthony West: Pioneer of Ancient Civilization Theories Passes Away. This site is remarkable for its many stone monuments, including some of the colossal carved heads mentioned above. Richard A Diehl, 2004, The Olmecs America's First Civilization London: Thames & Hudson, pp.
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