The Olmec

1
The Olmec Andean Proto-cultures

• The Roots of Ancient Central and South American
  Civilization

2
Who Were the Olmec?

• The Olmec were a civilization that flourished
  between 1200 BCE and 400 BCE in the Southern Gulf
  Lowlands of Mexico
• They are considered by many to be a
  proto-civilization a precursor to later similar
  cultures like the Maya and Aztec.

3
Where did the Olmec Come From?

• Most of what we know from the Olmec civilization
  is derived from archaeology. Few written records
  survive.
• While most historians believe that the Olmec were
  an indigenous American civilization, some have
  speculated that the Olmec culture was an offshoot
  of a powerful seafaring African or Hindu culture.
  Their main evidence is the claim that the statues
  produced by the Olmec have characteristically
  African features
• Which argument do you think is most convincing?
  Why?

4
How did the Olmec Influence Later Cultures?

• Many of the features of Maya and Aztec culture
  were likely adapted from the Olmec including
• Urban planning and agricultural techniques
• Human and blood sacrifices
• Polytheistic religion

Ballcourt goal at Chichen Itza (Wikipedia)
Early Olmec Calendar Tres Zapotes (wikipedia
Step Pyramids at Tikal, Guatemala
(Civilization.ca)
5
What About the Andean Protocultures

• At approximately the same time the Olmec
  civilization was emerging in present day Mexico,
  several Andean civilizations were experimenting
  with irrigated agriculture in the highlands and
  lowlands in present day Peru, Chile and Equador
• Much of what we know about the Incan proto
  civilizations comes from post-conquest accounts,
  archaeology and oral tradition, as the Inca had
  no written language that we know of, though they
  did store data using a knotted ropes called a
  quipu
• The Inca and the precursor cultures were expert
  masons building some of the most impressive stone
  buildings and infrastructure in the world

6
The Kingdom of Cusco

• The Inca would rule the largest empire in the
  pre-Columbian Americas and developed a complex
  and extremely effective system of government
• The Incas began as a kingdom centred in the city
  of Cusco around 1100C.E.
• The 40,000 or so Incans would conquer or absorb
  most of the other cultures in the Andes by the
  time the Spanish arrived in 1533

Machu Picchu Road to the Sky