History - Olmecs: A Captivating Guide to the Earliest Known Major Ancient Civilization in Mexico

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Introduction

When most people think about pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, they often jump straight to Aztecs and Mayans, arguably the most famous and well-known native civilizations of this region. Of course, they are not to blame as historians themselves give those cultures most of their attention. This often leads to misconceptions about how civilized life actually began in the Americas. Some people think that civilization didnt exist in North America until the Europeans arrived; others think it all began with the Mayans.

In reality, the first people that managed to elevate themselves to civilized life were the Olmecs. They remain relatively unknown, hidden in the long and dark corridors of forgotten history. Most of their culture remains wrapped in mystery, which may explain why so few historians are ready to tackle the task of uncovering the true story of the Olmecs. It is a difficult job, and even after many decades devoted to researching Olmecs, answers may not show up. And usually, with every answer, a new question arises. In a way, it's a Sisyphean task. Because there arent written sources and histories of the Olmecs, their exact story remains unknown. And most of our knowledge about them are just theories based on archeological findings.

So, anyone brave enough to take on the task of learning about the Olmecs should be prepared for a lot of ifs, maybes, probabilities, and likelihoods, not to mention the conflicted opinions of various historians. With all that in mind, one could get discouraged from even trying. But, as the earliest known civilization in America, they deserve some of our attention. Their tale deserves to be told.

Chapter 1 Who Were the Olmecs?

The most honest answer youll get for this question is We are not exactly sure. These people, known as the Olmecs, occupied southcentral parts of present-day Mexico, in what are today states of Veracruz and Tabasco, on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico. They emerged in these tropical lowlands somewhere around 1400 BCE and created what is considered one of the first civilizations in Mesoamerica. For roughly one thousand years, they were the most developed and most powerful nation in this area. During that time they dominated the region through trade and military might, spreading their more sophisticated culture and civilization to neighboring tribes. And then around 400 BCE, just as suddenly as they arrived, they had disappeared into the thick Mexican jungles.

The Olmec heartland.

For almost two thousand years they were forgotten, but during the 19th century, as archeology began to expand and evolve into a serious science, historians started to notice a specific type of jade sculpture with jaguar-like features. It was a unique and powerful style that caught their attention. After some research, they found out that they came from the region we now know as the Olmec heartland, located along the Gulf coast. Early modern archeologists werent sure how to name this new civilization, but one of them remembered that Aztecs from the 16th century CE told Spaniards about the people living in that area, who they called Olmeca (lmcah). In Aztecan Nahuatl language that means rubber people. The name came from the widespread usage of rubber among the population of that region. Even though there is no real connection between the civilizations that in different times occupied the same territory, the name stuck. But we are almost certain that they didnt call themselves Olmeca.

It is worth mentioning that a poem in Nahuatl, recorded long after Europeans came to the Americas, tells a tale of a legendary land on the banks of the eastern sea. In the poem, this mythical land, Tamoanchan, was settled long before the Aztecs founded their cities, in an era no one can remember. And its rule existed for a long time. What is even more intriguing about this poem is that the name Tamoanchan wasnt of Aztecan origins, but rather Mayan, the word Tamoanchan meaning In the land of rain or mist. Some historians believe that the Olmecs heartland was described in the poem and that they actually spoke a variation of the Mayan language. But others disagree, claiming that the tongue of original Olmecs was actually an archaic form of MixeZoquean language, which is still spoken in the area. Although the latter theory is now widely accepted, the truth is that due to the lack of archeological findings, were still not certain about what exact language the Olmecs spoke.

After archeologist started to explore the Olmec sites more thoroughly during the early 20th century, they discovered many sites that could be linked with the so-called rubber people. But two of them stood out as the biggest and most important cities of the Olmecs. The first one was San Lorenzo, situated in the Coatzacoalcos River Basin. The first signs of human communities on that location are sometimes even dated way back to 1800 BCE. But those earliest settlements are usually considered to be pre-civilized societies. The actual rise of this city coincides with the rise of Olmec civilization itself, around 1400 BCE. But by 900 BCE, this site was mostly abandoned. The center of Olmec power and culture had moved by that time.