A photograph of the Great Pyramid in La Venta on a partly cloudy day. In particular, the relevant objects from the Amuco-Abelino site in Guerrero reveal dates as early as 1530 BCE. ( See translated excerpt from Melgar y Serrano's original 1869 report, reprinted in Adams (1991), p. 56. The Tres Zapotes site, on the western edge of the Olmec heartland, continued to be occupied well past 400 BCE, but without the hallmarks of the Olmec culture. The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 36, no. Trading helped the Olmec build their urban centers of San Lorenzo and La Venta. Its legs are splayed out. [49] One werejaguar quality that can be found is the sharp cleft in the forehead of many supernatural beings in Olmec art. The Great Pyramid was the largest Mesoamerican structure of its time. Although the Olmec had a writing system of sorts, no Olmec books have survived to modern day. All rights reserved. Birds were available as food sources, as were game including peccary, opossum, raccoon, rabbit, and in particular, deer. Frans Blom and Oliver La Farge made the first detailed descriptions of La Venta and San Martin Pajapan Monument 1 during their 1925 expedition. Monumental sacred compl. However, none of the heads are alike, and each boasts a unique headdress, which suggests they represent specific individuals. [86], Nonetheless, Olmec society is thought to lack many of the institutions of later civilizations, such as a standing army or priestly caste. Olmec "colossal head". Photograph of a realistic ceramic baby figurine. The Olmec civilization is considered to be one of the earliest appearing civilizations in Central America . Virtual Event. [27] Common motifs include downturned mouths and a cleft head, both of which are seen in representations of werejaguars. [28] These monuments can be divided into four classes:[29], The most recognized aspect of the Olmec civilization are the enormous helmeted heads. [75], While the actual ethno-linguistic affiliation of the Olmec remains unknown, various hypotheses have been put forward. The Olmecs (/lmks, ol-/) were the earliest known major Mesoamerican civilization. The Olmec religion practised was Shamanism, believing that every person had an inner animal spirit. Also, the Juxtlahuaca and Oxtotitln cave paintings feature Olmec designs and motifs.[52]. La Venta, east of San Lorenzo and closer to the Gulf Coast (15 kilometers/9 miles) in the modern Mexican state of Tabasco, reached its height in about 900500 C.E. The yellow dots represent Olmec settlements, and the red dots represent archaeological finds. [100], Matthew Stirling of the Smithsonian Institution conducted the first detailed scientific excavations of Olmec sites in the 1930s and 1940s. and lasted until about 400 B.C.E. . The origins of Olmec civilization most likely lie in the dynamic social competition and negotiation of agents and factions at San Lorenzo, strategies expressed in both communal and individualistic stone monuments ( 5 ). "Writing May Be Oldest in Western Hemisphere", American Association for the Advancement of Science, Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, "From Stone to Symbols: Olmec Art in Social Context at San Lorenzo Tenochtitln", "Implications of new petrographic analysis for the Olmec "mother culture" model", Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, "Mexico and the early history of magnetism", "Olmec Bloodletting: An Iconographic Study", Scientists Find Earliest "New World" Writings in Mexico, "Olmec Ritual Behavior at El Manat: A Sacred Space", Economic Foundations of Olmec Civilization in the Gulf Coast Lowlands of Mxico, "The Politicization of the Mesoamerican Ballgame and its Implications for the Interpretation of the Distribution of Ballcourts in Central Mexico", "The Cascajal Block: The Earliest Precolumbian Writing", "Petrographic evidence shows that pottery exchange between the Olmec and their neighbors was two-way", "Posibles correlaciones lingsticas y arqueolgicas involucrando a los olmecas", "Sources of Rocks Used in Olmec Monuments", Drawings and photographs of the 17 colossal heads, "Stone Etchings Represent Earliest New World Writing", BBC audio file. San Lorenzo, the oldest known Olmec centre, dates to about 1150 bce, a time when the rest of Mesoamerica was at best on a Neolithic level. [79], At least the fact that the MixeZoquean languages are still spoken in an area corresponding roughly to the Olmec heartland, and are historically known to have been spoken there, leads most scholars to assume that the Olmec spoke one or more MixeZoquean languages. [77] Campbell and Kaufman proposed that the presence of these core loanwords indicated that the Olmec generally regarded as the first "highly civilized" Mesoamerican society spoke a language ancestral to MixeZoquean. MESOAMERICA; THE OLMEC CIVILIZATION- A concise note. The jaguar represents a belief system that was deeply involved in the supernatural and the shamanic vision of reality. Seventeen monumental stone representations of human heads sculpted from large basalt boulders have been unearthed in the region to date. This area is characterized by swampy lowlands punctuated by low hills, ridges, and volcanoes. [71], The Long Count calendar required the use of zero as a place-holder within its vigesimal (base-20) positional numeral system. They also likely had gardens in which the Olmec would grow medicinal herbs and small crops, like sunflowers. why did they live near what is now Veracruz and Tabasco? In this region, the first Mesoamerican civilization emerged and reigned from c.1400400BCE. [41] But the vast majority of archaeologists and other Mesoamerican scholars reject claims of pre-Columbian contacts with Africa. Fruit trees, such as avocado or cacao, were probably available nearby. The Olmec colossal heads are at least seventeen monumental stone representations of human heads sculpted from large basalt boulders. Medicine science art and philosophy were all very important to all three civilizations but the greatest priorities were on astronomy . Direct link to Eleven's post What did the Olmecs do wi, Posted 3 months ago. Dawn F. Jackson, Olmec Nation's High Priestess is the author of The Olmec Nation: The First Spiritually Civilized Culture in North America "Volume 1: The Olmec Civilization is Our inheritance", "Volume 2: Lemuria - Continent of the First Civilized Species" and "Volume 3: The Legacy". In the Olmec civilization the reoccurring motif of the Were-jaguar can be seen in many statuettes and carvings. [26] In addition to making human and human-like subjects, Olmec artisans were adept at animal portrayals. These sites include:[50]. Good behavior and moderation were synonyms of good health for the Aztecs, as any type of excess would damage and expose the individual to the evil spirits. The Olmec people were a Mesoamerican civilization that flourished in the Gulf of Mexico and surrounding regions from approximately 1500 BC to about 400 BC. The wide diffusion of Olmec artifacts and "Olmecoid" iconography throughout much of Mesoamerica indicates the existence of extensive long-distance trade networks. Surviving art, like this relief of a king or chief found in La Venta, help provide clues about how Olmec society functioned. The Olmec society lasted from about 1600 BCE to around 350 BCE, when environmental factors made their villages unlivable. Olmec artworks are considered among ancient America's most striking.[4]. The most striking art left behind by this culture are the Olmec colossalvery bigheads. Flannery et al. The Olmec culture flourished in several civic and ceremonial centers along the Gulf of Mexico more than 3,000 years ago, from 1500 to 400 B.C. The question of Olmec chronology came to a head at a 1942 Tuxtla Gutierrez conference, where Alfonso Caso declared that the Olmecs were the "mother culture" ("cultura madre") of Mesoamerica. The Olmec might have been the first people to figure out how to convert latex of the rubber tree into something that could be shaped, cured, and hardened. [34], Curators and scholars refer to "Olmec-style" face masks but, to date, no example has been recovered in an archaeologically controlled Olmec context. The Olmec is the earliest known major civilization of Mesoamerica or Pre-Columbian America. Olmec CivilizationThe pouting ancestors of Mesoamerica. The Olmec were the first major civilization in Mexico. 126151. The medicine of the Incas today The empire of the Incas extended from the city of Cusco to the present territories of Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, Chile and Argentina. Alternatively, the mutilation of these monuments may be unrelated to the decline and abandonment of San Lorenzo. [67] Known as the Cascajal Block, and dated between 1100BCE and 900BCE, the 2006 find from a site near San Lorenzo shows a set of 62 symbols, 28 of which are unique, carved on a serpentine block. The first Olmec center, San Lorenzo, was all but abandoned around 900BCE at about the same time that La Venta rose to prominence. c. 1200 BCE The Olmec civilization springs from the grouping of ancient villages along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. Some monuments, and at least two heads, were recycled or recarved, but it is not known whether this was simply due to the scarcity of stone or whether these actions had ritual or other connotations. Some of the reasons for trade revolve around the lack of obsidian in the heartland. Explain how the Olmec and Chavincivilizations were different from the Middle East civilizations. [87] And there is no evidence that San Lorenzo or La Venta controlled, even during their heyday, all of the Olmec heartland. In particular, Williams and Heizer (p. 29) calculated the weight of San Lorenzo Colossal Head 1 at 25.3, Wiercinski, A. The Mayas sutured wounds with human hair, reduced fractures, and used casts. See also J. E. Clark, p. 343, who says "much of the art of La Venta appears to have been dedicated to rulers who dressed as gods, or to the gods themselves". In fact, Olmec artifacts have been found across Mesoamerica, indicating that there were extensive interregional trade routes. For the Olmec, an early Mexican Gulf Coast culture (1500 to 400 BC), this plant had geological, nutritional, spiritual, and economic significance. The Olmec civilization lasted for about 1100 years. They are regarded as one of the first great civilizations in the world, and their culture was defined by their mastery of agriculture. A map of the Olmec heartland. It's now housed in the Parque-Museum La Venta, in Villahermosa, the capital of the Mexican state of Tabasco. Although it is assumed by most researchers that the colossal heads and several other sculptures represent rulers, nothing has been found like the Maya stelae which name specific rulers and provide the dates of their rule. Direct link to Ashley Elizabeth Miller's post How was the "Mesoamerican, Posted 3 years ago. There are also well-documented later hieroglyphs known as the Isthmian script, and while there are some who believe that the Isthmian may represent a transitional script between an earlier Olmec writing system and the Maya script, the matter remains unsettled. They lived in the tropical lowlands of south-central Mexico, in the present-day states of Veracruz and Tabasco, and had their center in the city of La Venta. Probably because of the fertile land there, or just by chance. Appearing around 1600 BCE, the Olmec were among the first Mesoamerican complex societies, and their culture influenced many later civilizations, like the Maya. Based on this comparison, some writers have said that the Olmecs were Africans who had emigrated to the New World. Knowledge Systems of the Olmec. A nearby garden was used for medicinal and cooking herbs and for smaller crops, such as the domesticated sunflower. How was the "Mesoamerican Ballgame" played? They lived in the tropical lowlands on the Gulf of Mexico in the present-day Mexican states of Veracruz and Tabasco. Facts about the Olmec Civilization. Known for their colossal stone head sculptures, they first emerged in the Gulf of Mexico near present-day Tabasco and Veracruz in 1600 BCE. Like other Mesoamerican peoples of the period, they lived in villages, practiced agriculture based on maize cultivation, and produced pottery. [102], Shortly after the conference, radiocarbon dating proved the antiquity of the Olmec civilization, although the "mother culture" question generated considerable debate even 60 years later.[103]. Direct link to David Alexander's post "Cleft" is an adjective i, Posted 3 months ago. [55] Some researchers, including artist and art historian Miguel Covarrubias, even postulate that the Olmecs formulated the forerunners of many of the later Mesoamerican deities. Direct link to David Alexander's post The Olmecs appreciated th, all areas covering the indigenous societies of Latin America, specifically the region of the Maya civilization. This means there is a collection of artifacts thought by archaeologists to represent a particular society. What is the Olmec civilization known for? [14], Some of the heads, and many other monuments, have been variously mutilated, buried and disinterred, reset in new locations and/or reburied. Evidence has also been found that the Olmecs' participated in human sacrifices, ritualistic sports known today as Ulama, created their own solar calendar based on 365 days and were excellent . Overview. The Olmec culture was defined and unified by a specific art style. Although several of these speculations, particularly the theory that the Olmecs were of African origin popularized by Ivan Van Sertima's book They Came Before Columbus, have become well known within popular culture, they are not considered credible by the vast majority of Mesoamerican researchers and scientists, who discard them as pop-culture pseudo-science. 8089. The Olmec used obsidian in many tools because worked edges were very sharp and durable. [7], The beginnings of Olmec civilization have traditionally been placed between 1400 BCE and 1200 BCE. The colossal Olmec heads made from basalt are a lasting legacy of the intricate detail with which Olmec sculptures worked. However, at this time, most archaeologists assumed the Olmec were contemporaneous with the Maya even Blom and La Farge were, in their own words, "inclined to ascribe them to the Maya culture". [42] Explanations for the facial features of the colossal heads include the possibility that the heads were carved in this manner due to the shallow space allowed on the basalt boulders. If it was volcanic activity, then that would infer that there is evidence of volcanic eruptions between 400 and 350 BCE. The Kunz axes (also known as "votive axes") are figures that represent werejaguars and were apparently used for rituals. The hearth of Olmec civilization is located in the tropical lowlands of Mexico's southern Gulf Coast region, in the majestic archaeological site of San Lorenzo. The Olmec Civilization was one of the most influential ancient civilizations of the early Americas, and though its dominance of the region faded in the last centuries before the Common Era, the Olmec civilization is commonly thought to be the mother culture of many other cultures that appeared in the region in later years. Scholars have not determined how the infants met their deaths. The Olmec civilization flourished roughly between 1200 BC and 400 BC; an era commonly known as Central America's Formative Period. [2] Among other "firsts", the Olmec appeared to practice ritual bloodletting and played the Mesoamerican ballgame, hallmarks of nearly all subsequent Mesoamerican societies. There is also a use of "cleave" that means "To join to" (which is used in some wedding services where the bride and groom are each admonished to "cleave to" the other. National Geographic Headquarters 1145 17th Street NW Washington, DC 20036. The Olmecs cities are the first cities of Mesoamerica, nearly a millennium before the Mayan cities (Le Mirador). Best known for their carvings of colossal stone heads, the Olmec were masters of monumental sculpture, and also produced an array of other distinctive artworks in stone, ceramic, wood, and jade. The Olmec created massive monuments, including colossal stone heads, thrones, stela (upright slabs), and statues. Pool, p. 118; Diehl, p. 112. The earliest recovered Long Count dated is from Monument 1 in the. These Spanish place names are modern; we don't know what the Olmec names for these places were. These 3 books are currently being sold on Amazon. What people are credit for the discovery of the Olmec? The Olmec people lived in the regions of Veracruz and Tabasco along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico between 1200 to 400 BC. Quote and analysis from Diehl, p. 82, echoed in other works such as Pool. [3] The Olmec civilization was first defined through artifacts which collectors purchased on the pre-Columbian art market in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These shared the same basic food crops and technologies of the later Olmec civilization. [91] While the Olmec were not the first in Mesoamerica to organize long-distance exchanges of goods, the Olmec period saw a significant expansion in interregional trade routes, more variety in material goods exchanged and a greater diversity in the sources from which the base materials were obtained. Others note that in addition to the broad noses and thick lips, the eyes of the heads often show the epicanthic fold, and that all these characteristics can still be found in modern Mesoamerican Indians. Record your citations and notes in the inquiry log as you go. [72], The Olmec are strong candidates for originating the Mesoamerican ballgame so prevalent among later cultures of the region and used for recreational and religious purposes. Ann Cyphers, Archaeologist, Institute of Anthropological Research National Autonomous University of Mexico. For example, numerous natural and ceramic stingray spikes and maguey thorns have been found at Olmec sites,[58] and certain artifacts have been identified as bloodletters. Also, in 2007, archaeologists unearthed Zazacatla, an Olmec-influenced city in Morelos. Add to calendar. It existed from 1400 BC to 400 BC. Ortz C., Ponciano; Rodrguez, Mara del Carmen. The Olmec diet initially included foods from fishing and hunting. This pioneering study of mitochondrial DNA in 2018 was carried out on two Olmec individuals, one from San Lorenzo and the other from Loma del Zapote, resulted, in both cases, in the unequivocal presence of the distinctive mutations of the haplogroup A maternal lineage. These included domesticated plants, skilled ceramic production, lithic technologies, and longdistance travel and trade. The heads date between 900 and 700 BC and are a distinctive feature of the Olmec civilization of ancient Mesoamerica. See, for example, Cyphers (1996), p. 156. [21], Scholars have yet to determine the cause of the eventual extinction of the Olmec culture. These cultures, such as the Maya, Zapotec, Totonac, and Teotihuacn civilizations have unique art, architecture, and cultures that separate them from each other, but many historians trace all of these cultures back to their shared Olmec heritage. There are no direct written accounts of Olmec beliefs, but their notable artwork provide clues about their life and religion. The Olmec civilization rise was because of many different factors but one in particular, Olmec architecture, influenced many other succeeding civilizations, assimilate knowledge on health, medicine, astrology and mathematics from 1200 BCE to 400 BCE. The Sierra de los Tuxtlas rises sharply in the north, along the Gulf of Mexico's Bay of Campeche. Map of the Olmec Civilization. Direct link to lereina's post what does mesoamerican me, Posted 4 years ago. The area is about 125 miles long and 50 miles wide (200 by 80 km . [88] There is some doubt, for example, that La Venta controlled even Arroyo Sonso, only some 35km (22mi) away. Diehl, p. 10), which is only accurate within a given range (e.g. They established farming villages. They thrived along Mexico's Gulf coast, mainly in the present-day states of Veracruz and Tabasco, from about 1200 to 400 B.C., although there were pre-Olmec societies before that and post-Olmec (or Epi-Olmec) societies afterward. Sites containing traces of the Olmec civilization are found mainly on the southern coast of the Gulf of Mexico, specifically in the states of Veracruz and Tabasco. The Olmec had an agricultural economy mainly based on the crops of maize corn beans and squash. [39] It has been estimated that moving a colossal head required the efforts of 1,500 people for three to four months. [32] As no known pre-Columbian text explains them, these impressive monuments have been the subject of much speculation. The Olmec Civilization was the first major civilization in the Central American region and took birth in the present day Mexican states of Veracruz and Tabasco. The name Olmec is a Nahuatlthe Aztec languageword; it means the rubber people. The religion of the Olmec people significantly influenced the social development and mythological world view of Mesoamerica.Scholars have seen echoes of Olmec supernatural in the subsequent religions and mythologies of nearly all later pre-Columbian era cultures.. [59], The argument that the Olmec instituted human sacrifice is significantly more speculative. As the first society known to have domesticated the cacao tree, the Olmec found the crop to be spiritually and culturally significant in addition to being a healthful and delicious foodstuff. The Olmecs flourished during Mesoamerica's . Caso (1942), p. 46. They were the first Mesoamerican culture to build pyramids. Pool, p. 295. [68] Others are skeptical because of the stone's singularity, the fact that it had been removed from any archaeological context, and because it bears no apparent resemblance to any other Mesoamerican writing system.[69]. It refers to the geographical area which extends its boundaries from Central Mexico through Central America including present-day territories or countries like Honduras, Belize, El Salvador and Guatemala. The state of Guerrero, and in particular its early Mezcala culture, seem to have played an important role in the early history of Olmec culture. They considerably expanded their trade and activity in the region and also made impressive advancements in arts and architecture. See translated excerpt from Melgar y Serrano's original 1869 report, reprinted in Adams (1991), p. 56. [73] A dozen rubber balls dating to 1600BCE or earlier have been found in El Manat, a bog 10km (6mi) east of San Lorenzo Tenochtitlan. The Olmecs were a full-fledged civilization because they were more organized and socially advanced than their predecessors. Research at these and other sites has led to the following insights. Olmec culture was unknown to historians until the mid-19th century. This environment may be compared to that of other ancient centers of civilization: the Nile, Indus, and Yellow River valleys and Mesopotamia. These artifacts have been called by many as the most strikingly recognizable in ancient Mesoamerica. As we look at a statue of the Olmec people, we see the wide nose and thick lips typical of people of African heritage. [43] The African origin hypothesis assumes that Olmec carving was intended to be a representation of the inhabitants, an assumption that is hard to justify given the full corpus of representation in Olmec carving. They subsequently became a dominant agricultural and trading power. OLMEC RELIGION OLMEC RELIGION . [95], The fruits and vegetables were supplemented with fish, turtle, snake, and mollusks from the nearby rivers, and crabs and shellfish in the coastal areas. Volcanic eruptions during the Early, Late, and Terminal Formative periods would have blanketed the lands with ash and forced the Olmec to move their settlements. Between 400 and 350BCE, the population in the eastern half of the Olmec heartland dropped precipitously, and the area was sparsely inhabited until the 19th century. The Olmec heartland is the area in the Gulf lowlands where it expanded after early development in Soconusco, Veracruz. Ancient City Found in Mexico; Shows Olmec Influence. Individual homes had a lean-tosort of like a garage shedand a storage pit for storing root vegetables nearby. Direct link to angeliavillar's post all areas covering the in, Posted 2 years ago. They were the first people to built roads through the jungle, roads which were used by them as trade routes. [49] The Olmec people believed that in the distant past a race of werejaguars was made between the union of a jaguar and a woman. "Mesoamerican Long Count calendar & invention of the zero concept" section cited to Diehl, p. 186. [34] The "Olmec-style" also very distinctly combines facial features of both humans and jaguars. Colossal heads (which can be up to 3m (10ft) tall); Rectangular "altars" (more likely thrones), Free-standing in-the-round sculpture, such as the twins from, This page was last edited on 28 February 2023, at 21:57. [84], Instead, archaeologists relied on the data that they had, such as large- and small-scale site surveys. The Olmecs (Olmec Culture of Ancient Mexico) Watch on. The Olmec Civilization's Rise and Fall There are differing opinions regarding the Olmec timeline. Most Olmec dates are based on radiocarbon dating (see e.g. These are massive carved stone statues weighing between 10 and 40 tons. (1) $3.00. [9], What is today called Olmec first appeared fully within San Lorenzo Tenochtitln, where distinctive Olmec features occurred around 1400BCE. Direct link to Woody Joel's post If it was volcanic activi, Posted 2 years ago. The Olmec thrived in the hot and humid Gulf of Mexico. The emergence of the Olmec civilization within the American web Compared to their counterparts of the Old World Web, the metropolitan webs in the Americas have emerged at a later date and in distinguished dimensions. In the investigations of the San Lorenzo Tenochtitln Archaeological Project at the sites of San Lorenzo and Loma del Zapote, several human burials from the Olmec period were found. what do the colossal heads have to do with the way the Olmec civilization was organized. These cities, however, were used predominantly for ceremonial purposes and elite activity; most people lived in small villages. Although the river banks were used to plant crops between flooding periods, the Olmecs probably also practiced slash-and-burn agriculture to clear the forests and shrubs, and to provide new fields once the old fields were exhausted. [37], The heads were carved from single blocks or boulders of volcanic basalt, found in the Sierra de los Tuxtlas. Hearing about the curious find while travelling through the region, Melgar y Serrano first visited the site in 1862 to see for himself and complete the partially exposed sculpture's excavation. They also built earthen mounds and pyramids, and ceramics of several types that became common throughout a broad region influenced by the Olmec civilization. The Aztecs believed disease to be caused either by natural or divine reasons. The Olmecs appreciated the colossal heads, and put them on the ground. Streamlined for easy instructional use, each puzzle worksheet in this set even the word jumble comes with a convenient teacher answer key for quick correcting. These Spanish place names are modern; we don't know what the Olmec names for these places were. The Olmec are known for the immense stone heads they carved from a volcanic rock called basalt. This means there is a collection of artifacts thought by archaeologists to represent a particular society. The Olmec likely grew crops such as maize, beans, squash, manioc, sweet potatoes, and cotton. (2019), Coe (2002) refers to an old Nahuatl poem cited by, The term "tenocelome" is used as early as 1967 by. The Olmec civilization was named after the Aztec word for their descendants, who inhabited Olman, or the "land of rubber." It is primarily known through the study of their architecture and stone carvings. The Olmecs are said to have been ancestors of the Jaquar. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. MixeZoque specialist Sren Wichmann first critiqued this theory on the basis that most of the MixeZoquean loans seemed to originate only from the Zoquean branch of the family. Medicine in the Pre-Columbian Americas When the conquistador Hernn Cortes and his followers crossed the Gulf of Mexico for the first time in the year 1519, they expected to find primitive natives like those encountered in the Caribbean islands to the east. "Inter-and Intrapopulational Racial Differentiation of Tlatilco, Cerro de Las Mesas, Teothuacan, Monte Alban and Yucatan Maya,", Haslip-Viera, Gabriel: Bernard Ortiz de Montellano; Warren Barbour Source "Robbing Native American Cultures: Van Sertima's Afrocentricity and the Olmecs,". Coe (1967), p. 72. [22] According to archaeologists, this depopulation was probably the result of "very serious environmental changes that rendered the region unsuited for large groups of farmers", in particular changes to the riverine environment that the Olmec depended upon for agriculture, hunting and gathering, and transportation. [104][105], The name "Olmec" means "rubber people" in Nahuatl, the language of the Nahuas, and was the Aztec Empire term for the people who lived in the Gulf Lowlands in the 15th and 16th centuries, some 2000 years after the Olmec culture died out.

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