subject: The Olmec History In Mexico [print this page] The Olmec History In Mexico The Olmec History In Mexico
Among the best-known expressions of Olmec culture are giant stone heads, sculptured monoliths up to three metres in height and several tons in weight. These feats of Olmec stonecutting are especially impressive when one considers that Mesoamericans lacked iron tools and that the heads are at sites dozens of kilometers from the quarries where their basalt was mined. The function of these monuments is unknown. Some authors propose that they were commemorative monuments for notable players of the ballgame, and others that they were images of the Olmec governing elite.
The Olmec are also known for their small carvings made of jade and other greenstones. So many of the Olmec figurines and sculptures contain representations of the were-jaguar, that, according to Jos Mara Covarrubias, they could be forerunners of the worship of the rain god, or maybe a predecessor of the future Tezcatlipoca in his manifestation as Tepeyolohtli, the "Heart of the Mountain"
The exact causes of the Olmec decline are unknown.
In the Pacific lowlands of the Maya Area, Takalik Abaj ca 800 BCE, Izapa ca 700 BCE and Chocola ca 600 BCE along with, Kaminaljuy ca 800 BCE, in the central Highlands of Guatemala advanced in the direction of what would be the Classic Maya culture. Apart from the West, where the tradition of the Tumbas de tiro had taken root, in all the regions of Mesoamerica the cities grew in wealth, with monumental constructions carried out according to urban plans that were surprisingly complex. La Danta in El Mirador, the San Bartolo murals as well as the circular pyramid of Cuicuilco dates from this time, as well as the central plaza of Monte Albn, and the Pyramid of the Moon in Teotihuacan.
Toward the end of the Preclassic period, political and commercial hegemony shifted to the population centers in the Valley of Mexico. Around Lake Texcoco there existed a number of villages that grew into true cities: Tlatilco and Cuicuilco are examples. The former was found on the northern bank of the lake, while the latter was on the slopes of the mountainous region of Ajusco. Tlatilco maintained strong relationships with the cultures of the West, so much so that Cuicuilco controlled commerce in the Maya area, Oaxaca, and the Gulf coast. The rivalry between the two cities ended with the decline of Tlatilco. Meanwhile at Monte Albn in Oaxaca, the Zapotec had begun developing culturally independent of the Olmec, adopting aspects of that culture and but making their own contributions as well. In Peten, the great Classic Maya cities of Tikal, Uaxactun, and Seibal, begun their growth at ca 300 BCE.
Cuicuilco's hegemony over the valley declined in the period 100 BCE to 0 CE. As Cuicuilco declined, Teotihuacan began to grow in importance. The next two centuries marked the period in which the so-called City of the gods consolidated its power, becoming the premier Mesoamerican city of the first millennium, and the principal political, economic, and cultural center for the next seven centuries, in Central Mexico.
