Cassie+Brice

Olmecs //One of the huge Olmec sculptures found at La Venta and subsequently moved to Villahermosa to make way for petroleum exploration. This head is approximately 6 feet tall and 5 feet across. The stone it was cut from was quarried more than 50 miles from where it was discovered, prompting speculation about how it was transported.//
 * They are the first civilization in Mexico and it was from them that all other civilizations in Mesoamerica followed.
 * The Olmec civilization is the name given to a sophisticated central American culture with its heyday between 1200 and 400 BC.
 * The Olmec heartland lies in the Mexican states of Veracruz and Tabasco, at the narrow part of Mexico west of the Yucatan peninsula and east of Oaxaca.



Olmec Capitals
There are four main regions or zones that have been associated with Olmec by the use of iconography, architecture and settlement plan, including San Lorenzo de Tenochtitlan, La Venta, Tres Zapotes, and Laguna de los Cerros. Within each of these zones, there were three or four different levels of hamlets of different sizes. At the center of the zone was a fairly dense center with plazas and pyramids and kingly residences. Outside of the center were a somewhat sparser collection of hamlets and farmsteads, each at least economically and culturally tied to the center. 

Olmec Timeline

 * Initial Formative: 1775-1500 cal BC
 * Early Formative: 1450-1005 cal BC
 * Middle Formative: 1005-400 cal BC
 * Late Formative: 400 cal BC

There is no surviving direct account of the Olmec's religious beliefs, unlike the Maya, with their Popul Vuh, or the Aztecs, with their many codices and conquistador accounts.

Little is directly known about the societal or political structure of Olmec society. Although it is assumed by most researchers that the colossal heads and several other sculptures represent rulers, nothing has been found like the Maya stelae which name specific rulers and provide the dates of their rule.

The wide diffusion of Olmec artifacts and "Olmecoid" iconography throughout much of Mesoamerica indicates the existence of extensive long-distance trade networks. Exotic, prestigious and high-value materials such as greenstone and marine shell were moved in significant quantities across large distances. While the Olmec were not the first in Mesoamerica to organise 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.

Village life and diet
Despite their size, San Lorenzo and La Venta were largely ceremonial centers, and the majority of the Olmec lived in villages similar to present-day villages and hamlets in Tabasco and Veracruz. These villages were located on higher ground and consisted of several scattered houses. A modest temple may have been associated with the larger villages. The individual dwellings would consist of a house, an associated lean-to, and one or more storage pits. A nearby garden was used for medicinal and cooking herbs and for smaller crops such as the domesticated sunflower. Fruit trees, such as avocado or cacao, were likely available nearby. Although the river banks were used to plant crops between flooding periods, the Olmecs also likely practiced swidden agriculture to clear the forests and shrubs, and to provide new fields once the old fields were exhausted. Fields were located outside the village, and were used for maize, beans, squash, manioc, sweet potato, as well as cotton. Based on archaeological studies of two villages in the Tuxtlas Mountains, it is known that maize cultivation became increasingly important to the Olmec over time, although the diet remained fairly diverse. The fruits and vegetables were supplemented with fish, turtle, snake, and mollusks from the nearby rivers, and crabs and shellfish in the coastal areas. Birds were available as food sources, as were game including peccary, opossum, raccoon, rabbit, and in particular, deer. Despite the wide range of hunting and fishing available, midden surveys in San Lorenzo have found that the domesticated dog was the single most plentiful source of animal protein.

Work Cited

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olmec http://www.essaysbyekowa.com/olmecs.html http://www.cultures.com/contests/heads/olmecs_contest_e.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olmec_religion

1. What were the Olmecs beliefs? There is currently no surviving direct account of the Olmec's beliefs. 2. When was the Initial Formative of the Olmecs? 1775-1500 B.C. 3. Where were the villages located? The villages were located on higher ground and consisted of several scattered houses. 4. Where does the Olmec heartland lie? In the Mexican states of Veracruz and Tabasco. 5. What did the Olmec's diet consist of?

The fruits and vegetables were supplemented with fish, turtle, snake, and mollusks from the nearby rivers, and crabs and shellfish in the coastal areas.