Among the
various Mesoamerican
Pre-Classic period (1200 BCE-400 BCE) groups, the Olmec are the most
well-known. The Olmec heartland was centered in La Venta in
Tabasco, and San Lorenzo Tenochtitlan and Laguna de los Cerros in Veracruz.
The Olmec were a highly developed and well organized group with a complex
calendar and hieroglyphic writing system. They also created unique art
objects.
Olmec cities were constructed around a central raised mound, which was used for religious ceremonies. Around 900 BCE, these raised mounds were replaced with pyramid-shaped structures. Society began to separate into divisions arranged in a hierarchy, as is shown in the change in residential patterns. The houses were made of wooden walls with clay and palm roof tops.
An irrigation system that ran through the city supplied
water for crop production. Crops were supplemented by fishing and hunting. The Olmecs had access to many waterways which were used for fishing
and the transportation of people and trade goods.
Basalt, found in the distant Tuxtla Mountains, was used to construct plazas,
religious pyramid structures, and the large stone heads the Olmecs are
known for carving. As it came from other areas, basalt likely was a
traded commodity that demonstrates links with other cultures in the
surrounding areas.
Olmec religion strongly featured animals and animal symbolism; they likely practiced shamanism. Hallucinogenic drugs from a marine toad and/or several mushroom species may have been used by the shamans to enter trances. The Temple of the Feathered Serpent in Teotihuacan is an example of an Olmec ceremonial site.
Olmecs are most well-known for their colossal head
statues. The heads were possibly modeled after notable citizens,
probably leaders. Most of the
colossal heads were defaced or destroyed in some way. They were likely
altered after the regional center in which it is affiliated with lost
prominence, by a conquering group, or the Olmecs did this themselves after a ruler died as a sacrifice to the
gods or animal spirits. The facial features of the heads were people with
slanted eyes and large lips. Many have argued over whether the Olmecs
were of African or Asia descent, because of these facial features.
Others believe that this is just an overgeneralization. Most of the
heads were deformed, which was likely
done at birth for noble children, as the Mayan culture did.
Other motifs in Olmec art consist of jaguars, serpents and monkeys. Many of the art objects show a transition between human and animal figures, which demonstrates a connection between the two. Most sculptures were made of jade, which was also not found in the Olmec region. This must have been traded from an outside location.