OLMEC DIET: AGRICULTURE, FISHING, HUNTING - HISTORY - 2024

The diet of the Olmecs was a combination of products that came mainly from activities such as cultivation, fishing and hunting; the latter to a lesser degree. During its period of existence, the Olmec civilization developed techniques to take better advantage of its difficult natural environment and maintain a balanced diet with what they could obtain; in this way they compensated for the lack of certain nutrients and made the most of the abundance of others.

Established in the southern Gulf of Mexico, the Olmecs encountered the natural difficulties of inhabiting large portions of dense jungle and unpredictable river bodies, having to adapt their livelihood activities, and therefore their own diet, to these conditions.

In order to guarantee their subsistence, the Olmecs were characterized by combining the product of the cultivation and of the fishing between them, creating species of "dishes" that at that time provided a greater nutritional contribution.

In the same way, they exploited the consumption of wild plants and fruits in the area, such as guava, which were a fundamental part of their eating habits.

Olmec feeding through agriculture and cultivation

Olmec agriculture

Olmec agriculture can be considered one of the fundamental pillars of this civilization. The main product cultivated and integrated into the Olmec diet for a long time was corn, which came to have almost divine importance.

Other products that emerged from this activity and supplemented the diet were beans, squash, tomato, avocado, potato, etc.

The Olmecs had to go through a process of domestication of some products of the land to include them not only in their diet, but also in some of their rituals and festivities; where they fulfilled a cult function.

Some studies handle the possibility that the Olmecs had contact with cocoa, however it was not included within their basic nutritional load.

As part of the agricultural activity, the Olmec civilization carried out two large crops, mainly corn, a year.

This, for the experts, reflected a great abundance of food at that time, which allowed a great distribution and an equitable nutritional level among all citizens. This without counting what is obtained by fishing and hunting.

One of the first, and best known, combinations between items was nixtamal, a derivative of corn flour combined with ashes and sea shells, strengthening its nutritional value.

Nixtamal

Fishing abundance

Being located among abundant fluvial bodies, the Olmecs knew how to take advantage of the rivers for a double function: fishing and cultivation by irrigation. In this way they were able to double the rate of production and obtaining food.

The relationship of the Olmecs with the rivers resulted in the adherence to their diet of products such as clams, ducks, turtles, crabs, snakes and marine lizards.

Regarding fish, a separate importance has been given to the snook and the manta ray, considered quite popular for Olmec food, mainly in the largest Olmec city, San Lorenzo de Teotihuacán.

The type of fish consumed varied in the different Olmec populations according to the season and the river, or rivers that surrounded them. One of the most prolific species in most areas was the catfish.

The Olmecs had the advantage of exploiting river fishing for their food when in neighboring regions such a practice was impossible.

This also facilitated the eventual development of trade and exchange routes with which they could obtain products that were absent in their region in exchange for their fishing.

Hunting products

Despite the nutritional benefits of fishing activity, protein is considered the scarcest nutrient in the Olmec diet.

This was due to several factors: the difficulties posed by the density of the jungle for Olmec hunters and the absence of a sustainable population of wildlife.

It is known that wild boars, jaguars, tapirs, among others of medium size, lived in the region. Little is known to what extent hunting and eating these animals formed part of the basic Olmec diet.

Over time the consumption of smaller wild animals, such as rabbits, small deer, possums and raccoons, has been included in the Olmec diet, although it is not known if at a level that meets the needs of the general population.

Despite this, the main source of protein attributed to Olmec nutrition came from domestic animals, such as the dog.

The Olmecs domesticated a number of animal species for better control, such as the turkey. However, not all were intended for consumption. As time went by, the Olmecs reduced the consumption of their domestic animals more and more.

Studies have dealt with the theory that over time fishing and hunting practices were neglected and decreased, in the face of a continuous boom in agriculture.

The reasons for this may revolve around the difficulty of hunting, population growth, and the low density of wild and domestic fauna, which resulted in the alternative of an increasingly strong diet of local products.

Food alternatives

As the Olmec civilization advanced and new economic and social structures developed, the population began to seek alternatives to their nutritional deficiencies in trade and exchange.

In this way, they were able to make especially with new plants, fruits and vegetables that they not only added to their diet but also began to produce by themselves.

In the same way, with the products of hunting, which was decreasing in viability and were used as a commercial resource.

The Olmecs also handled a form of ceremonial food, which included items that were not massively produced or whose characteristics were not considered essential to form part of daily consumption.

The changes in economic and social organization that the Olmec civilization faced in advanced years, together with the growth of a long-distance exchange system, allowed the Olmecs to import products from other regions into their peoples that were added as part of constant diet.

References

1. Bernal, I. (1969). The Olmec World. Berkeley: University of California Press.
2. Clark, JE, Gibson, JL, & Zeldier, J. (2010). First Towns in the Americas. In Becoming Villagers: Comparing Early Village Societies (pp. 205-245). Brigham Young University.
3. Minster, C. (2017, March 6). thoughtco. Retrieved from
4. Pool, C. (2007). Olmec Archeology and Early Mesoamerica. Cambridge University Press.
5. Vanderwarker, AM (2006). Farming, Hunting, and Fishing in the Olmec World. Austin: University of Texas Press.
6. Wing, ES (1981). A Comparison of Olmec and Maya Foodways. In The Olmec & Their Neighbors: Essays in Memory of Matthew W. Stirling (pp. 21-28). Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collections.