WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF THE OLMECS? MAIN FEATURES - HISTORY - 2025

The origin of the Olmecs is in the south-central zone of Mexico. The territory in which they settled runs from the Papaloapan River, in the current state of Veracruz, to the Laguna de los Terminos, in today's Tabasco.

The Olmecs are considered the first Mesoamerican civilization. Its presence on Mexican soil can be estimated during the Middle Preclassic period, between 1500 BC. C. to 500 a. C.

Olmec heads are the main artistic representation of this civilization

The Olmecs are the origin of all other later civilizations: Mayans, Aztecs, Toltecs, among others.

His cultural legacy is still present in America; from Jalisco to Costa Rica you can see today remains of his most representative artistic creations.

What are the origins of the Olmec culture?

It should be noted that on the nature of the Early and Middle Preclassic interactions, it is argued that in fact the Olmec civilization never existed as a unified entity.

Rather, very distinctive unrelated elites in fledgling lordships, after 1100-1000 BC, began to share some elements of a common symbolic system.

Likewise, these cultures were independent in their political evolution, their subsistence systems, ceramics, and ethnicity (Demarest 1989). In this sense, the Olmec civilization would never have existed.

Although the Olmecs were very early, they by no means appeared out of nowhere as mushrooms on the swampy Gulf Coast.

Many of the fundamental things of the Olmecs, such as hierarchical society, ceramics, agricultural production, monumental architecture and sculpture, the ball game, the restricted use of Jade and Obsidian, among other exotic and rare goods, already existed in earlier people. of the formative period.

It may be that these things were happening in the Olmeca area, but the existing one in the southern Pacific, and the mouth of Guatemala and its neighbor Chiapas, a region known as El Soconusco, are very well documented (Blake 1991; Blake et al. 1995; Ceja Tenorio 1985; Clark 1991, 1994; John Clark and Michael Blake 1989, 1994; Coe 1961; Green 1975).

In the South-East region of Guatemala, there is evidence of occupation from archaic times also the oldest site is Chiquihuitán.

Ceramics

A comparative study of ceramic types has been the tool most used by archaeologists to determine the relationships between different Olmec Style bowl, Pacific Slopes, Guatemala, Probably, Chocolácultural areas, so this is what we examine first.

According to Thomas Lee of the New World Archaeological Foundation, the oldest ceramics found in San Lorenzo unquestionably has its antecedents in the Ocós Phase, of the Pacific coast of Guatemala, in places such as Ujuxte, El Mesak, La Blanca, Ocós and La Victoria (Thomas 1983 Coe and Diehl 1980; Lowe 1977).

Furthermore, Lee points out that black pottery with a white edge, common to both areas, has been recognized as a characteristic of the people who lived in the southern Pacific of Mesoamerica.

Interestingly, Pierre Agrinier, also of the New World Archaeological Foundation, notes that the earliest ceramic from the Ocós Phase is by far the most sophisticated found anywhere in formative Mesoamerica, while that from San Lorenzo represents a lesser imitation. fina (Agrinier 1983; Cox and Diehl 1980).

So although the people responsible for making ceramics did not emigrate from the Pacific to the Olmec metropolitan area, it is clear that the knowledge of the styles and techniques came from this region of the Pacific.

Coe and Diehl (1980) call the earliest San Lorenzo pottery "A field version of the much more sophisticated Ocós Phase of the Guatemalan Soconusco."

Early and Middle Preclassic

In general, the Early Preclassic chronology tends to confirm the one already found in Mexico and proposed by the members of the Archaeological Foundation of the New World.

A gradual evolution between the Barra, Locona, Ocós, Cuadros, Jocotal and Conchas phases is apparent both in the ceramic style and in the level of cultural complexity.

There is no evidence at El Mesak of an Olmec "intrusion" into Early Preclassic cultures, as some archaeologists have proposed.

Rather, the evidence tends to confirm the assertions of Hatch, Love, and others that Olmec iconography, figurines, and pottery are dated no earlier than 900 BC, early in the Conchas phase (Hatch 1986; Love 1986; Shook and Hatch 1979). L

The extensive Cuadros and Jocotal ceramics do not present any of the diagnostic characteristics to allude to Olmec interaction. Olmec-style figurines have been found exclusively in the Conchas phase levels.

It seems that the participation in the Olmec symbolic system occurs when the region managed to develop independently emerged level of high leadership.

By then the Olmec iconography and symbolic system were added to the inventories of cultural materials that originate locally.

Stone sculpture

Another source of cultural diagnosis cited by archaeologists such as Ferdon (1953) and Miles (1965, 237-275) is the evolution of stone sculpture in Mesoamerica. Unlike ceramics, stones cannot be dated with certainty.

Although the so-called Barrigones of the Pacific coast of Guatemala, especially those of Monte Alto, Chocolá and Tak'alik Abaj, may not be as old as Graham assumes (2000 BC; Graham 1979), there is no doubt that the oldest examples of sculpture are from this area of ​​Mesoamerica, especially Guatemala.

It was in this region that the raw materials, including granite and basalt, were available for their work, unlike the Olmeca metropolitan area, which had to take them from Las Tuxtlas about 60 to 80 km.

In fact, it is very likely that the famous serpentine mosaic jaguar from La Venta was made from a source in the Pacific near Niltepec, more than 200 km south.

As much as 1200 tons of the green rock must have been transported across the Isthmus for its realization. All along the foothills of the Sierra Madre, from Arriaga in the far north to Guatemala in the south, are large, rounded granite rocks that may have served as inspiration for the colossal heads of the Gulf area.

Clearly, the area of ​​the southern Pacific coast of Mesoamerica not only provided the raw material, but also a tradition of stone sculptural art, unlike the area of ​​the gulf, where in the absence of good material, it is difficult to imagine its development without external influences.

Language

Language is one of the best elements to trace cultures, we can infer, that who were the Olmecs, some idea of ​​their origins can be found by identifying what branch of language they belonged to.

Most linguists have accepted that the Mayan languages ​​were spoken along both coasts since the Early Formative (ca. 2000 BC).

Thus, many archaeologists, including Jiménez Moreno, Thompson, Coe, and Bernal, believe that the Olmecs spoke a Mayan language.

Lee (1983) makes the observation that there is not a single linguist who says that the Olmecs spoke Maya. In this context, it is interesting to note that Swadesh (1953) dated a separation of Maya speakers in the Gulf region to about 3,200 years ago, (ca. 1300 BC), which agrees with the birth of San Lorenzo in southern Veracruz.

It seems that something happened in the Maya speaking people, which led people from the west and northwest to become the Huastecas, and the rest into the Mayas of the lowlands of the Petén.

For a change like this to effectively separate a sparsely populated population, the constant influence and emigration from the south through the Strait of Tehuantepec is more credible than a war or invasion by sea from the north.

Linguists have recognized the similarity of four southern Mesoamerican languages ​​for some time, but their current geopolitical division has complicated the reconstruction of linguistic patterns in this region.

The 3 main Olmec settlements in the Preclassic Period

The Olmecs were precursors of the grouping of the population in urban centers. There were three main centers in which the Olmec culture developed: San Lorenzo, La Venta and Tres Zapotes.

1- San Lorenzo

It is the original settlement, emerged at the beginning of this civilization. It was located in the current state of Veracruz, in the Coatzacoalcos river basin.

Here arose the first artistic manifestations of the Olmecs (sculptures and characteristic architectural elements), which were destroyed during the looting that the site suffered around 900 BC. C.

Many of these sculptures were transferred to another urban center that emerged then, called La Venta.

2- The Sale

Its main historical relevance is derived from being a cult or ceremonial center. In the area you can still see colossal heads, thrones and the Great Pyramid, probably the first to be erected in Mexico.

La Venta ceased to be a reference center in the Olmec world around 400 BC. C., and then its decline began.

3- Tres Zapotes

It was the last urban center to develop. Few vestiges of this center remain.

This is due to the widespread use of flimsy and not very durable materials for the construction of houses, such as earth and adobe.

Olmec heritage in Mesoamerican societies

Some of the most outstanding contributions of the Olmec culture, which would later survive or develop in later cultures, are writing, the calendar and the compass, religion and artistic manifestations.

Writing

The Olmecs are believed to have been the first Western civilization to develop a writing system.

Of course, it was a type of hieroglyphic writing, of which traces were found deciphered by linguists who established the existence of a syllabary.

The calendar and the compass

The compass as an orientation tool may have been used by the Olmecs around 1000 BC. C., according to antiquity tests carried out with carbon 14 on objects found in the field.

The long count calendar and the use of zero as a neutral element are also attributed to this civilization.

The religion

The Olmecs practiced different rituals and even sacrifices for religious purposes. They were polytheists and many of their gods were related to agriculture, their source of subsistence.

The jaguar was the main cult subject. The Olmec is considered a highly complex religion that has yet to be fully deciphered.

Artistic manifestations

The most characteristic are the colossal heads built of basalt, believed to represent their rulers.

In all, seventeen of these monuments are counted in the area once populated by the Olmecs.

Works made of precious stones and others of animal representation have also been found.

References

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2. Olmec Art and Sculpture by ThoughtCo. at thoughtco.com
3. The Ancient Olmec Civilization from Aztec-History.com at aztec-history.com
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5. "Mesoamerican Mythology: A Guide To The Gods, Heroes, Rituals and Beliefs of Mexico and Central America". Kay Almere Read and Jason J. Gonzalez. (2000). Oxford University Press.
6. Andrews EW 1990. The Early Ceramic History of the Lowland Maya. In: Clancy, Flora and Peter Harrison (eds.), Vision and Revision in Maya Studies. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. P. 1–17.
7. Malmström, Vincent H. The Origins of Civilization in Mesoamerica: A Geographic Perspective, Department of Geography, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755
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9. GRAHAM, JOHN 1982 Antecedents of Olmec Sculpture at Abaj Takalik. In Pre-Columbian Art History: Selected Readings (Alana Cordy-Collins, ed.): 7–22. Peek Publications, Palo Alto, Calif.
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14. Demarest, Arthur A., ​​Mary Pye, Paul Amaroli, and James Myers, 1991. Early societies on the South Coast of Guatemala. In II Symposium of Archaeological Investigations in Guatemala, 1988 (edited by JP Laporte, S. Villagrán, H. Escobedo, D. de González and J. Valdés), pp. 35-40. National Museum of Archeology and Ethnology, Guatemala.