Native Olmec Indians

The Olmec were the first one of the first civilizations in the Americas and were the mother culture of many Central American Native cultures. The Olmec called themselves Xi (pronounced shee). The Olmec thrived in the forests, rivers and savannas of the Gulf of Mexico from 1200 to 400 BC. Their territory began at the Valley of Mexico and reached to Guatemala. No one is certain where the Olmec came from or how they go to South America, but they most likely descended from the hunter gathers that first entered the Americas.

The most well-known form of art of the Olmec were their large stone heads. These sculptures were made of basalt, a rock formed from lava that enters the ocean and is rapidly cooled, and most stand about eight to twelve feet tall. The basalt used to carve these sculptures was not native to the Olmec territory and had to be imported from quarries as far as eighty miles away. The first of these colossal heads was found in 1862 near Veracruz, Mexico.

For a long time, the Olmec culture was misinterpreted. The Maya were thought to be the mother culture of South America and the Olmec were thought to be an insignificant culture or Maya themselves. In 1939, another sculpture with characteristic Olmec designs was found near the first giant head sculpture with a date symbol on the back. For the first time, it was realized that the Olmec were the mother civilization of South America.

Many of the large stone head carvings have wide noses and large lips, which many have interpreted to suggest that the Olmec leaders or founders were African. This is not necessarily true though because many Asian cultures, including Cambodians and Philippinos, have the same facial characteristics, and so the origin of the Olmec remains a mystery.

civilizations of South America began with the Olmec. The

Olmec also frequently performed human sacrifice, another

practice handed down to later cultures. Many skeletons of

sacrifice victims have been recovered and their ages range

from the elderly to infants.

After further investigation and archaeological research on the Olmec, it was learned for certain that they were the mother culture of South America. The Olmec calendar, writing and some of the Olmec gods are present in more evolved forms in descending cultures. Some archaeologists believe that Quetzalcoatl, the plumed serpent god of the Aztec and Maya, originated with the Olmec. The jaguar is believed to have been the principle god of the Olmec and appears as the god of rain in later cultures. Unlike the later South American civilizations, the Olmec portrayed very few animals as deities, only the jaguar, monkey, eagle, falcon and serpent.

The Olmec Indians were as the first to build the stone pyramids in South America. The pyramids were made from basalt and the first was built near modern day La Venta, Mexico around 900 BC. The pyramids of the Olmec were very similar to the pyramids built by later cultures, very tall and narrow with steep staircases on each of the four sides leading up to a platform at the top where ceremonial rituals, including blood-letting and human sacrifice were performed.

The Olmec inhabited areas ranging from rural lands to small towns to large cities. The largest cities contained thousands of people. Olmec society was divided into classes by wealth and social status. The ruling class lived in the large cities and towns while the lower class resided in less populated areas. The Olmec rulers were also priests and possessed both religious and political power. The lower class farmed and hunted for a living, while the upper class mainly traded art and other luxury items.

Around 500 BC, the Olmec culture began to decline,

although archaeologists are not sure why. Some attribute

the collapse of the civilization to depleted resources and

others say social distress between the classes. Whatever

the cause, the Olmec collapsed and the people went on to

different places and formed new civilizations, but they kept

the Olmec traditions and beliefs.