The Olmec heartland is the southern portion of

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

's Gulf Coast region between the

Tuxtla mountains The Sierra de Los Tuxtlas (Tuxtlas Mountains) are a volcanic belt and mountain range along the southeastern Veracruz Gulf coast in Eastern Mexico. The Los Tuxtlas Biosphere Reserve (Biósfera Los Tuxtlas) includes the coastal and higher elevation ...

and the Olmec

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...

of La Venta, extending roughly 80 km (50 mi) inland from the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...

coastline at its deepest. It is today, as it was during the height of the Olmec civilization, a tropical lowland forest environment, crossed by meandering rivers. Most researchers consider the Olmec heartland to be the home of the Olmec culture which became widespread over

Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica. W ...

from 1400 BCE until roughly 400 BCE. The area is also referred to as Olman or the Olmec Metropolitan Zone.See Diehl. The major heartland sites are: * San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán * La Venta * Tres Zapotes * Laguna de los Cerros - the least researched and least important of the major sites. Smaller sites include: *

El Manatí El Manatí is an archaeological site located approximately 60 km south of Coatzacoalcos, in the municipality of Hidalgotitlán 27 kilometers southeast of Minatitlán in the Mexican state of Veracruz. El Manatí was the site of a sacred Olm ...

, an Olmec sacrificial bog. *

El Azuzul El Azuzul is an Olmec archaeological site in Veracruz, Mexico, a few kilometers south of the San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán complex and generally considered contemporary with it (perhaps 1100 to 800 BCE). Named for the ranch on which it is located, El ...

, on the southern edge of the San Lorenzo area. * San Andrés, near La Venta. Important heartland finds not associated with any archaeological site include: *"The Wrestler", a

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

statue found at Arroyo Sonso (see photo). * Las Limas Monument 1, found by two children looking for somewhere to crack nuts. *

San Martín Pajapan Monument 1 San Martín Pajapan Monument 1 is a large Olmec basalt sculpture found on top of the San Martin Pajapan volcano, in the Tuxtla Mountains of the Mexican state of Veracruz. It is notable for its original location and its Olmec iconography. Descrip ...

, found high on the slopes of San Martin Pajapan.

References

Literature

* (1989). "The Olmec Heartland: Evolution of Ideology" in Robert J. Sharer and David Grove (eds.), ''Regional Perspectives on the Olmec''. Cambridge University Press. . * (2004). ''The Olmecs: America's First Civilization''. Thames & Hudson, London. . * (1984). ''The Art and Architecture of Ancient America: The Mexican, Maya and Andean Peoples''. Pelican History of Art, Yale University Press. .400-03525-10.

Notes

{{coord, 17, 50, N, 94, 38, W, source:kolossus-nowiki, display=title *Olmec Heartland Geography of Mesoamerica

See also

References

Literature

Notes