A Study of Small Sculpture from the Mesoamerican Societies Essay

The Olmecs were farmers, traders, artists… innovators. The Olmec culture first emerged in the Isthmus region of Tehuantepec. The site of San Lorenzo, which sits on the Coatzacoalcos River, sheds the most light on this mysterious culture. During this time period, The Initail Formative, food surplus sparked an increase in population and career specialization. With the increase of specialization and sedentism came the environment for complex culture.

The Mesoamericans had a whole civilization since 1200 B.C. Olmecs located in Mexico and centre around the southern Gulf Coast, had already created the first calendar. (900-300B.C). Olmec civilization shaped up the largest city in Mesoamerica, San Lorenzo Tenochtitlan. At such early time, San Lorenzo was the home for eighteen thousand with an elaborated water and drainage system. San Lorenzo strategic position avoid flooding and allowed them to control local trade. Olmec civilization focused on the timing of religious virtual, who pursued the creation of the first calendar which years later the Aztecs and Mayans would be using. By creating many advances, they had an affluent society, and ate a wide variety of foods. Variety of foods was accomplish by their

                The Olmec culture is found through Mexico City. The spread of their religion influenced a lot of what their art that was found. Symbolic traditions, as well as artistic and architectural complexes. Were found Chiapas were the civilizations was formed around 1500 BCE. During this period the first true Mesoamerican writing and language were developed right after the Mayan civilization was formed the Olmec had a huge influence in them. Writing they had a lot of adventures epic poems about the gods that were from religion that were the explanation of the nature they saw, the stars they saw. All the natural situation that happened they wrote it down creating poem influenced by their religion there's different kinds of gods.

Mesoamerica is full of rich culture. Expeditions have revealed monuments of valiant, female sultan erected for display and iconography feminine in appearance. Women have played a prominent role in defining cultures; such is the case for Maya, Inca, and Aztec societies.

Olmec made mounds out of soil that replicated mountains and volcanoes. They would also paint on cave walls, carved out sculptures in the material called jade. These jade sculptures where used for ceremonial purposes. These Olmec didn’t use jade for carving utensils, instead they used stone to make drills to use for carvings. This region also made pyramids that are aligned with the north and south axis. These people were also known to paint human and animal figures and postures in many

Mesoamerica lies in the northern tropical latitudes. From the slopes of Pico de Orizaba, it is the 3rd highest mountain in North America that has dramatic gradations of altitude, temperature and rainfall. Mesoamerica’s earliest urban society was built by the Olmec. These centers include modern Mexico City. Another was in the fertile Oaxaca Valley in the mountains of southern Mexico. Finally another came to the low lying Yucatan Peninsula and upland areas of Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and Honduras. This population mostly spoken a language in the Maya family. Mesoamerica became a zone of dynamic intercommunication. The exchange soon tapered off to the north. The rainfall was much lower and farming was smaller. In 1800 years, people did not migrate

Artifacts serve as a road map of the past, subsequently they offer data and a detailed accounts of important historical elements. Civilizations leave behind different kinds of evidence proving their existence and such evidence lead historians to the Olmec civilization. They suddenly appeared upon the world stage and successfully existed for hundreds of years, moreover this was confirmed with the discovery of ancient artifacts and it was later discovered to be the first civilization in the Americas. The Olmecs have impacted the Americas with their artistic innovations and these innovations can be observed in their architectural structures, writings, and stone monuments.

When I first started my research about Olmec heads, I knew nothing about it. It was actually suggested that I do this topic so I decided to give it a try. However, as I continued my research I learned so much about Olmec heads and their unique and interesting history. Including the fact that Olmec heads serve as proof that Africans traveled to America prior to Christopher Columbus’s arrival. Olmec heads are stone representations of human heads sculpted from large basalt boulders.

The ancient Olmec civilization is one of the greatest civilizations in Mesoamerica. In the 1900s the Olmec were known as a cultural group of people who shares customs, beliefs, and history in Mesoamerica. The Olmec name means “rubber people”. Olmec name was given to their production of rubber by tapping rubber trees. The Olmec were also used in reference to the artistic style of things they created, such as, art, sculptures, and architectures. One of the most recognized aspect of the Olmec are their colossal heads known as helmet heads. Many characteristics features of the Mesoamerican culture originated in the lowland in the Olmec civilization.

The Olmec religion developed in MesoAmerica around 1200-900 B.C.E. The Olmec had an advanced writing system of hieroglyphics. Some scholars have suggested that the Olmec was the mother culture of Mesoamerica, but they lack solid evidence to back up these claims. Instead, it has been found that there was considerable intercultural interaction between the Olmec and other MesoAmerican societies, but nothing that would lead us to believe that they were the founding society Evidence suggests that the Olmec highly regarded the Tuxtla Mountains. These mountains are believed to be the site of the Olmec creation story.

The Olmec built these gigantic freestanding sculptures known as Colossal Heads which were found in San Lorenzo, Veracruz. They are over two meters long and weigh sixteen tons. They are also known simply as the Olmec heads. There are different interpretations as to why these heads were built. I belief that the author of the article “Toward a Conception of Monumental Olmec Art,” Beatriz de la Fuente, finds that the harmonic proportions of the Olmec heads symbolize the cosmos. De la Fuente uses iconography to demonstrate why the Olmec heads were portraits of someone superior. In the article, “The Portrait and the Mask: Invention and Translation,” the author, Esther Pasztory, writes about the effect the Olmec heads have on the viewer. Pasztory uses visual context to demonstrate how the heads were something people were, and still are, in awe of.

In the Continent of Cultures, it was stated how and why the first people reach to the Mesoamerica. Learning about the different people from Olmec to the Aztecs in the (Cultures of Ancient Mexico) on page four of the text. Each group had their significant of their tribe. In example the Olmec build big statues that weight a ton, so that is saying they were great at architectural work. The Maya was great at reading the sky, so they derived a calendar that new America took for our calendar. The Aztec was powerful people and great at trading. (In The Plenty of the Pacific Northwest) it states that this environment is very rich in natural things. They were able to use things from nature to make whatever they need such as red alder to carved bowls

The main archeological site within the film is San Lorenzo which is in the modern-day state of Veracruz. The main Olmec culture that seems to be the focus within the film seems to be about the production of the large Olmec head statues. The first interesting fact I received from the film was that the Olmec were the first to establish a civilization within Mesoamerica. The second interesting fact from the film was that archeologist considered the Olmec that mother culture of Central America. The third thing I thought was interesting was the fact that Olmec artifacts were found hundreds to thousands of miles away from San Lorenzo. They were able to trace some of these artifacts because of the tar that these artifacts were made from. The way that

Mayan culture existed a thousand years ago, in what is now part of Central America. Its ruins were almost entirely abandoned by 600 A.D, and were not rediscovered until the early 1500’s, by Spanish settlers. Mayan architecture astounded the early conquistadors, and continues to be of great interest to modern archeologists as well. These scientists have labeled a certain period of Mayan architectural history as the “Classic” period.

During the Early Preclassic (2000-900 BC), civilization began to take shape in parts of MESOAMERICA. By 1200 BC, the OLMEC of the Gulf Coast had risen to preeminence, dominating trade routes that extended from the modern Mexican state of Guerrero to Costa Rica, passing through Maya regions. At COPAN, Honduras, and Cuello, Belize, around 1000 BC, local Maya leaders began to imitate Olmec styles of pottery and jades and