Olmecs

The Olmecs were a prehistoric Mesoamerican civilization that inhabited the Gulf Coast of present-day Veracruz and Tabasco, roughly from 1600 or 1500 BCE to around 400 BCE. They developed some of the earliest complex societies in the region and are frequently described as the first major Mesoamerican culture, sometimes called the mother culture, though this term is debated.

They built large ceremonial centers such as San Lorenzo and La Venta, with plazas, platforms, mounds, and drainage systems. Their art is best known for colossal heads carved from basalt, as well as extensive jade and stone carvings, often depicting rulers, jaguar motifs, and ceremonial imagery. They practiced long-distance trade in basalt, jade, serpentine, obsidian, and other materials, enabling widespread cultural influence. Agricultural practices included maize, beans, squash, and other crops, complemented by fishing and river resources.

The Olmec heartland declined after 900–400 BCE, with major centers losing their prominence, while other Olmec sites persisted. Their influence is seen in later Mesoamerican cultures through shared artistic motifs, religious concepts, and possibly proto-writing or calendrical ideas that influenced Maya, Zapotec, and later civilizations, although direct genealogies are uncertain.