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A great stone head from the Olmec civilization at the Smithsonian Institution

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Olmec civilization


The major Olmec urban area in early times was San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán, at the time the largest city in Mesoamerica.  This was probably a ritual and political place, housing thousands and using an elaborate water and drainage system.  The city and in fact the ancient Olmec civilization is often remembered because of the gigantic stone heads that have been found here.

There are a couple of reasons why the Olmecs are so important.  First, they used and perhaps developed many things culturally and religiously that were later used by the Mayans and Aztecs and many other cultures.  Second, they had a wide influence in their day, which gives us reason to believe that they may be responsible for spreading some of these ideas.

The Olmecs carved stone, jade, and the volcanic rock basalt (used for the great stone heads).  The stone was quarried and imported.

We can see similar types of sculpture as far away as central Mexico (the land of the Aztecs) and the states of Oaxaca, Morelos, Guerrero, perhaps even farther.

In 2006, archaeologists unearthed a city that they believed was influenced by the Olmecs, only 40km / 25mi south of Mexico City.  A new urban society related to the Olmecs suggests that their influence may have been stronger than we ever suspected.  Read more about the city of Zazacatla and the ancient Olmec civilization.

The Olmecs had a rich society, traded with far away peoples and ate a wide variety of foods (did they pioneer some dishes of Aztec food?).

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Influence of the Olmecs

So aside from trade and carving, how did the Olmecs influence Mexico, and eventually the Aztec empire?  We're uncertain, but it's believed that they may have been early adopters of the complex religious system that the Mayans and the Aztecs would use.  Temple mounds, jaguars, many gods, and perhaps even human sacrifice were used by the Olmec society.  The jaguar is a common figure in Olmec religion - especially combined with a snake or human child.

The layout of their newer city (after the decline of San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán), La Venta, would be copied by future societies.

The calendar used for centuries in Mexico may also have originated with the Olmec.  Their astronomy was also carried on by later groups.  They were probably obsess with the timing of religious ritual, as the Mayans and Aztec would be after them.

Even the ritual ball game so popular among the Aztecs is believed to have been played in the ancient Olmec civilization.

What other Olmec influences were still felt in the Aztec empire?  Music?  The hierarchy of society?  Laws?  It may be that the influence of the ancient Olmec civilization is far greater than we now understand.




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The Olmec Culture


The Olmec culture lasted roughly from 1200 B.C. to 400 B.C. and flourished along Mexico's Gulf coast. The Olmec built major cities at San Lorenzo and La Venta, in the present day states of Veracruz and Tabasco respectively. The Olmec were farmers, warriors and traders, and the few clues they left behind indicate a rich culture. Their civilization collapsed by 400 A. D. - archaeologists are unsure as to why - but several later cultures, including the Aztec and the Maya, were profoundly influenced by the Olmec.

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Experts who have studied the Aztecs, Maya and other ancient Mesoamerican religions have come to an interesting conclusion: these religions share certain characteristics, indicating a much older, foundational system of belief. Peter Joralemon proposed the Continuity Hypothesis to fill in the gaps left by incomplete records and studies. According to Joralemon "there is a basic religious system common to all Mesoamerican peoples. This system took shape long before it was given monumental expression in Olmec art and survived long after the Spanish conquered the New World's major political and religious centers." (Joralemon quoted in Diehl, 98). In other words, other cultures can fill in the blanks in regards to Olmec society. One example is the Popol Vuh. Although it is normally associated with the Maya, there are nevertheless many instances of Olmec art and sculpture that seemingly show images or scenes from the Popol Vuh. One instance is the nearly identical statues of the Hero Twins at the Azuzul archaeological site.

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The Olmec "Tree of Life" (Mesoamerican Cosmology).
The lineage founder, 2 Grass, is being born from a twisting World Tree.  Detail from Selden Codex page 2.  Source: FAMSI

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Olmec Deities


The Olmec had several deities whose images repeatedly appear in surviving sculptures, stonecarvings and other artistic forms. Their names have been lost to time, but archaeologists identify them by their characteristics. No fewer than eight regularly-appearing Olmec deities have been identified. These are the designations given to them by Joralemon:

The Olmec Dragon

The Bird Monster

The Fish Monster

The Banded-eye God

The Maize God

The Water God

The Were-jaguar

The Feathered Serpent

Most of these gods would later figure prominently in other cultures, such as the Maya. Currently, there is insufficient information about the roles these gods played in Olmec society or specifically how each was worshipped.

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The Olmec venerated natural sites as well. El Manatí is a bog where offerings were left by the Olmecs, probably those who lived at San Lorenzo. Offerings included wooden carvings, rubber balls, figurines, knives, axes and more. Although caves are rare in the Olmec region, some of their carvings indicate a reverence for them: in some stonecarvings the cave is the mouth of the Olmec Dragon. Caves in Guerrero state have paintings inside which are associated with the Olmec. Like many ancient cultures, the Olmecs venerated mountains: an Olmec sculpture was found close to the summit of the San Martín Pajapan Volcano, and many archaeologists believe that man-made hills at sites such as La Venta are meant to represent sacred mountains for rituals.

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Olmec Rituals


Of Diehl's five foundations of Olmec religion, the rituals are the least known to modern researchers. The presence of ceremonial objects, such as stingray spines for bloodletting, indicate that there were, indeed, important rituals, but any details of said ceremonies have been lost to time. Human bones - particularly of infants - have been found at some sites, suggesting human sacrifice, which was later important among the Maya, Aztec and other cultures. The presence of rubber balls indicates that the Olmec played this game. Later cultures would assign a religious and ceremonial context to the game, and it is reasonable to suspect that the Olmec did as well.




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