The Olmec civilization flourished in Mexico from 1200 BC to 400 BC, laying the foundation for Mesoamerican cultures. They developed a highly structured society, with a significant artistic element, and made innovations such as bloodletting, a competitive sport, writing, and the concept of zero. The decline of the Olmec culture is speculated to be due to trade or political conflict. However, their influence continued to inform Mesoamerican civilizations and their artifacts can still be found in the region.
As one of the significant Pre-Columbian cultures that flourished in the south-central area of modern Mexico, the Olmec is believed to have laid the foundation for many of the Mesoamerican cultures that later developed throughout the region. Here is some background on the Olmecs, including their contributions to the development of civilization in the New World.
Settled in an area of Mexico known for its tropical climate and low-lying areas, the centers of Olmec civilization were in the present-day Mexican states of Veracruz and Tabasco on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Historians tend to agree that the Olmec founded the first permanent society in Mesoamerica to actually flourish and develop over a long period of time. It is generally understood that the Olmecs controlled the region from about 1200 BC to 400 BC.
The region’s rich soil and tropical climate allowed the Olmecs to develop a highly structured society that relied on the production of maize, or maize. The prosperity of culture led to a definition of classes, which in turn led to the development of a significant artistic element among civilization. Precious metals, such as jade and magnetite, were imported from distant regions and used in the creation of jewellery, building facades, furnishings for homes and public buildings, ceramics and statues.
There are many latest innovations that date back to the prosperous years of the Olmecs. The practice of bloodletting as a means of curing disease appears to have been first practiced among these people. An interesting competitive sport using sixteen balls made its first appearance among the Olmecs and is sometimes pointed to as the origin of many of the sports later played in other Mesoamerican civilizations. The arts of writing and epigraphy also appear to have first developed in the New World among the Olmecs, as did the invention of the concept of zero and a working calendar based on scientific applications.
The original Olmec cultural center, San Lorenzo, began to decline and was more or less abandoned around 900 BC. The population and cultural center for the Olmecs had now become La Venta. The gradual relocation has been speculated to have been heavily influenced by the environment, although some historians speculate that the relocation was also due to commercial factors or that some sort of invasion led to the eventual change. La Venta remained the cultural center for the Olmecs during the remainder of their reign as a premier civilization.
There is some speculation as to what actually led to the decline of the Olmec around 400 BC. Some believe that trade led to a gradual amalgamation of the Olmec culture with other cultures within the region, while others question some sort of political conflict interior which may have divided people into smaller groups. In any case, the existence of the Olmec as a distinct culture appears to have disappeared over the course of a few hundred years, with the Maya civilization becoming one of the most important influences in the region, as well as the Zapotec culture.
While the Olmecs ceased to exist as a civilization, elements of their style of government, religious and artistic philosophies, and agricultural and scientific expertise continued to inform the great civilizations of Mesoamerica up until the time of the first expeditions from Spain to the area. Even today, artifacts of Olmec origin can be found in many places in Central and South America, and Olmec customs continue to be part of many subcultures in the region.
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