The Olmec civilization Was an ancient culture, belonging to the middle preclassic period that was located in the southern part of Mexico, specifically in Veracruz and Tabasco.
The word Olmeca Comes from the Nahuatl that means inhabitants of olman (inhabitants of the country of the rubber).
Most experts agree that the language spoken by this civilization belongs to the Mixe-Zoque family where Mixe comprises the mixed languages of Oaxaca and Veracruz and Zoque the languages of Chiapas, Oaxaca, and Tabasco.
It is considered the Mother culture Of Mesoamerican civilizations by many historians.
Although it is not clear its origin is attributed many achievements mainly in art (having as important elements the use of gemstones like jade and obsidian) and architecture. Among others Cultural contributions Which is attributed to him is the invention of the game of the ball.
The Olmecs were mainly located on the southern coast of Mexico, more precisely in the state of Veracruz and Tabasco. Its capitals are: La Venta, San Lorenzo, Laguna de los Cerros and Tres Zapotes.
Each of these capitals is part of a different period to the history of the Olmec culture. Thus the first capital was San Lorenzo followed by La Venta and then by Tres Zapotes. Laguna de los Cerros was mainly a center for religious and ceremonial rituals.
Part of the territory was crossed by the Grijalva and Papaloapa rivers where the population strategically built typical houses with palm roofs and thus to take advantage of the resources that these gave them.
The Olmec culture gradually disappeared as a product of rivalries and wars that ended with the abandonment of their cities to march to other places and give way to new civilizations.
Considering the first Mesoamerican culture is attributed many peculiarities.
The most important features of the Olmec culture
Art
The Olmec culture stands out for its impeccable handling of the carving and sculpture. In addition it is attributed to him the creation of 17 great figures of stone that taking into account the time where the use of the wheel was not established.
Most of these sculptures are in archeological sites of Xalapa and La Venta.
They have also been found stylized figures carved in jade and obsidian, which were generally religious representations in which the majority were representations of the jaguar or a combination of a snake and a jaguar.
Among other sculptures are several with a remarkable precision of human anatomy. In addition they have been found varied ceramics and vessels with animal form.
Science
The Olmec culture has been recognized for being a pioneer in cultural and scientific advances. Among these advances you can find hieroglyphic writing to represent your life.
Near San Lorenzo 62 symbols have been drawn drawn known as the block of Cascajal which is considered as the oldest find of writing. However some experts have doubts about it since the stone is not similar to any other Mesoamerican writing.
This civilization is also attributed to the creation of cycles of a calendar (Long Count calendar) and the use of zero along with some astronomy studies.
Religion
The religion of this civilization was polytheistic, the center of their cult was mainly the jaguar followed by the serpent and we can observe them in their artistic works where they are represented by a species of serpent with claws.
The Olmecs considered all, or almost all, the animals of the habitat as gods . These were related to different natural elements like the sun, water, volcanoes, among others. They also paid tribute to the mountains, which they had much respect for as they believed that it was a connection between heaven, earth and the underworld.
Almost all the religious mythology that we can find in the civilizations that happened to him has certain features of the Olmecs.
Ceremonial cities and centers
The history of the Olmecs is divided into three stages that revolved around the three major cities of civilization.
San Lorenzo is the oldest city of which we are aware, in this place began to emerge the bases of what would be Olmec culture. Most of the monuments made by the Olmecs date from this time (1200 BC to 900 BC)
La Venta stands out as the most important ceremonial center of the Olmecs, great architectural advances were achieved, such as the construction of the great pyramid, which is also the oldest in Mesoamerica. The Olmecs were located in this city from 900 BC to 400 BC.
The site of Tres Zapotes was the last to be developed, it was also a ceremonial center and the third most important city in history, Olmecs lived on this site at about the same time as La Venta. Data from this period date from 400 BC to 200 BC.
Economy
The economy of the Olmecs was developed mainly by their progress in agriculture, the territory in which they lived facilitated their crops thanks to the fertile land.
They also hunted deer and were fishermen. They marketed their products with neighboring communities through rivers and land routes.
Society
The Olmec civilization was divided into tribes that were ruled by a king or priest and these were led by a supreme chief, who was also a priest, called Chichimecatl.
These lived within the ceremonial centers while the rest, peasants, lived in the nearby villages and were those who were in charge of the culture.
Clothing
With the climate of the territory the dress was not very elaborate, the men wore loincloths and above a kind of skirt with a layer on top.
The woman wore a skirt and could have her bare chest. The use of accessories was also common, bracelets and piercings were frequent.
Politics
The Olmec government was centered on religion as the basis of the whole administration, the supreme leader was a priest, the total power of men as they decided on social problems and the family.
Decay
As a result of the arrival of new groups, rivalries and wars were unleashed which caused the Olmec towns to suffer a slow destruction.
The whole process ended with the abandonment of the same by their people and the march of other places or communities. Some people moved to Cuicuilco.
Rituals and ceremonies
The Olmecs were innovative in customs and rituals, especially those related to the deceased, which for the Olmecs existed beyond death. Funerary remains of members of all classes have been found.
The peasants were buried directly on the ground, sometimes with their dogs being sacrificed as a sole company and a stone as a tombstone.
Priests and kings were buried along with offerings ranging from precious stones to carved ceramics and weapons.
In addition to the funeral rituals have been found paintings that shows how the shamans performed ceremonies for healing purposes and for the purpose of blessing the earth.
farming
The Olmecs were prominent producers of maize, marketed with neighboring communities, also cultivated cacao, squash beans. They consumed fruits of the region such as mamey and sapote. Fish, mollusks and turtles were part of their diet.
To cultivate they used the slash that is a system that consists of cutting the mount, let it dry, burn the remains (planting) and sow.
By using this system the soil resources were exhausted so they plowed the land and left it"at rest"while taking advantage of other plots to cultivate.
Mythology
As there are no sources that give us concrete data of the beliefs and mythology of this culture there are many things that are not known. Yet through the sculptures and artistic works of this civilization we find various examples of mythological figures such as those found in La Venta.
These figures are totally related to the animals and the natural processes, thus end up observing images of feathered serpents, jaguars (considered the center of religion), the Olmec dragon, the man of the harvest and the spirit of rain.
Human Sacrifice
There are data suggesting that in the Olmec culture there were cults in the form of sacrifices (usually children) to the gods, mainly to the Jaguar who was the most worshiped animal in that civilization.
The Olmecs are also credited with shamanism where it was believed that the witch-shaman could be transformed into an animal with the help of hallucinogenic plants (salvia, fungi, among others) and offered sacrifices, sometimes self-inflicted.
Calendar
This calendar better known as mexico or maya is the predecessor of the other forms of measurement that would inherit the later cultures.
It consists of 2 versions, the Maya that is in charge of measuring the different astronomical cycles and the mexico that is of ordinary use. Both work based on the one-year ratio of 260 days considered sacred and the 365-day calendar year.
Olmec in current media
Although there is much information of Olmecs that is not yet known or uncertain there are several studies dedicated to them.
These mainly concentrate on history and illustration books but you can also find documentaries like The Olmecs, Kings of Stone Age That Channel History did .
Bibliography
- Cartwright, M. (August 30, 2013). Olmec Civilization . Retrieved on March 17, 2017, from Ancient History Encyclopedia: ancient.eu.
- Channel, H. (Address). (S.f.). The Olmecs, Kings of Stone Age. [Movie].
- Clark, J. (1991). The Olmecs in Mesoamerica. Mexico City:: Citibank.
- Clark, J. (1993). Who were the Olmecs? . Second and Third Archaeological Forum of Chiapas. (Pages 45-55). Series Memories.
- Flannery, K. V., & Marcus, J. (2000). Formative Mexican chiefdoms and the myth of the"mother culture". Journal of Anthropological Archeology, 19 (1).
- Mark, R. (March 28, 2005). Olmec People, Olmec Art . Retrieved from Archeology: archive.archaeology.org.
- Miller, M., & Karl, T. (1993). The Gods and Symbols Af Ancient Mexico and the Maya: An Illustrated Dictionary of Mesoamerican Religion. Thames & Hudson.
- Olmec Jade . (S.f.). Obtained from Khan Academy: khanacademy.org.
- Stefan, L. (January 26, 2007). Ancient City Found in Mexico; Olmec Influence Shows . Retrieved from National Geographic News: news.nationalgeographic.com.
- The ancient Olmec Civilization . (S.f.). Obtained from Aztec-History: aztec-history.com.
- The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. (April 27, 2015). Olmec . Retrieved on March 17, 2017, from Encyclopædia Britannica: global.britannica.com.