The Olmecs: America's First Civilization (Ancient Peoples and Places)

The enormous basalt carved heads of the Olmecs are as impressive as those of Easter Island, but they belong to a civilisation which has for many years been little understood. Drawing on the most recent archaeological findings from projects carried out in southeastern Mexico, Richard Diehl pieces together the story of the Olmec civilisation. Lasting from 1500 to 400 BC, the Olmecs were America's oldest civilisation and two of its major centres, San Lorenzo, Mesoamerica's first city, and La Venta, which emerged as the pre-eminent society in Mexico and Central America, are studied in detail. The main part of the book examines Olmec life, culture and art and, more specifically, its cities, palaces, pyramids, plazas, tombs and religious sanctuaries, its technologies, belief systems, subsistence, trade, travel, its monumental sculpture and jade crafts. The influence of the Olmec on other cultures of Mexico, questions of how they were perceived by the Aztecs and Spanish conquistadors, as well as a review of Olmec studies from the 19th century to the present, are also included.