Notes

Mesoamerica’s first known civilization builders were a people known as the Olmec. They began carving out a society around 1200 BC in the jungles of southern Mexico. They often are called Mesoamerica’s “mother culture.”
Around 1860, an extraordinary stone sculpture, standing 5 feet tall and weighing about 8 tons, of an enormous head, wearing a headpiece. The head was carved in a highly realistic style, with thick lips, a flat nose, and large oval eyes. Archaeologists had never seen anything like it in the Americas.
This head, along with others that were discovered later, was a remnant of the Olmec civilization. The Olmec emerged about 1200 BC and thrived from approximately 800 to 400 BC. They lived along the Gulf Coast of Mexico, in the modern-day Mexican states of Veracruz and Tabasco.
On the surface, the Gulf Coast seemed an unlikely site for a high culture to take root. The region was hot and covered with swamps and jungle. In some places, giant trees formed a thick cover that prevented most sunlight from reaching the ground and rainfall swelled rivers and caused severe flooding.
However, the region also had certain advantages. There were large sums of salt and tar, as well as fine clay used in making pottery. There were also wood and rubber from the rain forest. The hills to the north provided hard stone from which the Olmec could make tools and monuments. The rivers around the region provided a means of transport. Most important, the flood plains of these rivers provided fertile land for farming.
The oldest site Olmec site, San Lorenzo, dates back to around 1150 BC. It was this site the revealed the most about the Olmec society. Archaeologists discovered earthen mounds, courtyards, and pyramids, as well as stone monuments. They included columns, altars, and more colossal, sculpted heads, which may have represented particular Olmec rulers. These monuments weighed around 44 tons.
To the east of San Lorenzo, another significant Olmec site, La Venta, rose around 900 BC. Here, researchers discovered a 100-foot-high mound of earth and clay. This structure may have served as the tomb of a great Olmec ruler. Experts believe the Olmec prayed to a variety of nature gods. Most of all, they probably worshiped the jaguar spirit. Numerous Olmec sculptures and carvings depict a half-human, half-jaguar creature. Some scholars believe that the jaguar represented a powerful rain god. Others contend that there were several jaguar gods, representing the earth, fertility, and maize (corn).
The Olmec appear to have been a prosperous people who directed a large trading network throughout Mesoamerica. Olmec goods traveled as far as Mexico City to the north and Honduras to the south. In addition, raw materials—including iron ore and various stones—reached San Lorenzo from faraway regions. For reasons that are not fully understood, Olmec civilization eventually collapsed. Scholars believe San Lorenzo was destroyed around 900 BC. La Venta may have fallen sometime around 400 BC.

After the Olmec came the Zapotec. Oaxaca is a rugged region of mountains and valleys in southern Mexico. In the center of the state, three valleys meet to form a large open area known as the Oaxaca Valley. This valley has fertile soil, a mild climate, and enough rainfall to support agriculture. As a result, various peoples have made the Oaxaca Valley their home, including the ancient Zapotec. The Zapotec lived in scattered villages throughout the valley. By 1000 BC, however, one site—San José Mogote—was emerging as the main power in the region. At this site, the Zapotec constructed stone platforms. They also built temples and began work on monumental sculptures. By 500 BC they had developed early forms of writing and a calendar system and took a major leap forward. High atop a mountain at the center of the Oaxaca Valley, the Zapotec built the first real urban center in the Americas, Monte Albán. This city, with view of the entire valley, grew and prospered. By 200 BC, Monte Albán was home to around 15,000 people. The city eventually would reach a peak population of almost 25,000. For more than a thousand years the Zapotec controlled the Oaxaca Valley and the surrounding region. Sometime after AD 600, the Zapotec began to decline. Some scholars believe they may have suffered a loss of trade or other economic difficulties.