The mysterious Olmec civilization. Olmecs - one of the mysterious peoples of antiquity Amazing archaeological finds

After excavations and discoveries in the 30s and 40s of the 20th century, it became clear that in the first millennium AD, in the swampy and humid jungles of the Gulf Coast, there was an unusual high culture, created by the Olmec people. They built tall pyramids and magnificent tombs, carved massive ten-ton heads of their rulers from stone, and many times depicted the figure of a ferocious jaguar god on huge basalt steles and elegant jade objects.

We still don’t know where the Olmecs came from to Veracruz and Tabasco, whether they were the original inhabitants of these places.

No less mysterious is the death of the Olmec culture, the creators of which suddenly disappeared without a trace from the historical arena seven centuries before Columbus saw the shores of the New World.

Later, in the mid-50s, when archaeologists began to widely use the radiocarbon method in their work to determine the age of ancient things, the Olmec civilization suddenly received a completely new light.

The fact is that, judging by a series of radiocarbon dates obtained during the excavations of La Venta in 1955, this most important center of the Olmec kingdom existed implausibly early - in 800-400 BC. e., that is, in an era when the cultures of early farmers still dominated in other areas of Mexico.

Based on this data, a group of Mexican scientists hypothesized that the Olmecs were the creators of the oldest civilization in the Americas and had a decisive influence on the origin and development of other civilizations in this area.

In turn, other archaeologists, citing the unreliability of radiocarbon dates, which have often failed archeology in the recent past, defend the idea that the Olmecs as a whole developed in parallel with the other peoples of Central America - the Mayans, Nahuas, Zapotecs, and so on. The future will show which of them is right.

Thus, the problem of origin and death big people, who at one time inhabited vast territories of Southern Mexico, and to this day remains the main problem for all archaeologists, for all scientists involved in the ancient history of the New World. There are more than enough bold theories here. But everything is genuine Scientific research based on hard work. The work of a scientist is also impossible without elements of fantasy, but the main thing in it is a solid foundation real facts and evidence.

The beginning of excavations in Mexico.

In the late autumn of 1938, from the port town of Alvarado, which stands on the ocean shore, near the mouth of the large Papaloapan River, an antediluvian paddle steamer set off up the river on its next voyage. On board, in addition to the usual passengers - Mexican peasants, merchants and minor officials - there was a group of people whose clothing and appearance identified them as foreigners. American explorer Matthew Stirling, the head of a joint archaeological expedition of the Smithsonian Institution and the US National Geographic Society, and his few employees, crowded along the side, eagerly examined the rapidly changing exotic landscapes of the tropics. The steamer passed emerald meadows with tall grass and entered an endless green tunnel formed by the spreading crowns of giant trees, closing their branches over the middle of the river. Jungle, endless jungle for hundreds of kilometers around. Sometimes they are cheerful, strewn with scarlet and white flowers, with the chirping of birds and the perky cries of monkeys, sometimes, on the contrary, they are dark and gloomy, immersed up to their shoulders in the viscous mud of bottomless swamps, where only snakes and huge iguana lizards patiently wait in the cool twilight for unwary prey.

Finally, after several days of travel, the misty peaks of the volcanic mountain ranges of Tuxtla appeared far on the horizon, at the foot of which were the ruins of unknown ancient cities. It was these that archaeologists had to study. There, on the fertile lands of the foothills and adjacent plains, many centuries ago a large and industrious people lived and flourished. An impregnable wall of mountain ranges protected this area from fierce hurricanes and winds from the Gulf of Mexico. And the fertile soil, even with minimal labor, produced incredible harvests, and twice a year.

History of the Olmec region.

What did we know until recently about the past of this region? The notes of the Spanish soldier Bernal Diaz, an eyewitness and direct participant in all the vicissitudes of the bloody epic of the Conquista, say that the Papaloapan River was discovered in 1518 by the brave hidalgo Pedro de Alvarado, the future associate of Cortes. At that time, the country was inhabited by warlike Indian tribes that came from somewhere in the west. The formidable legions of Indian warriors, lined up on the river bank in strict battle formation, were so impressive that the Spaniards (it was an exploration expedition under the command of Grijalva) hastened to leave.

From ancient Indian legends we also know that even before the arrival of the conquistadors, the entire coast of the Gulf of Mexico was under the rule of the great Aztec ruler Montezuma. One of the many duties of the local residents was that they had to deliver fresh fish daily to the court of the formidable emperor.

To cover this huge distance of several hundred kilometers, along the entire route - both in the jungle and on mountain passes - fleet-footed and hardy messengers were stationed, who, like a relay race, passed baskets of fish from one post to another. In one day they managed to run from the coast of the Gulf of Mexico to the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan.

According to other legends, the first inhabitants of these places were the Olmecs (the word “Olmec” literally means “inhabitants of the land of rubber”) - the creators of the most ancient civilization of Central America. “Their houses were beautiful,” says the legend, “houses with mosaic inlays of turquoise, elegantly plastered , were wonderful. Artists, sculptors, stone carvers, feather craftsmen, gongers and spinners, weavers, skilled in everything, they made discoveries and became capable of finishing green stones, turquoise ... "
But this prosperity did not last long. Unknown enemies who came from the west poured into the flourishing cities and villages of farmers in a black stream. The high Olmec civilization was destroyed, and the green jungle absorbed what the foreigners had not managed to destroy.

It fell to the lot of Matthew Stirling and his comrades to open the first page in the study of the mysterious Olmec culture, which was forcibly erased from human memory the swords of conquerors and the onslaught of the merciless jungle. Excavations began in 1939 ancient city Olmecs near the already familiar village of Tres Zapotes, in the state of Veracruz.

Olmec civilization. A city lost in the jungle

At first everything was mysterious and unclear. Dozens of artificial hills-pyramids that once served as the foundations for palace and temple buildings, countless stone monuments with bizarre faces of rulers and gods, fragments of painted pottery. And one hint as to who owned this abandoned city. The words spoken by the famous American traveler Stephens involuntarily came to mind about another ancient city lying in the jungles of Honduras, three hundred miles to the south:
“Architecture, sculpture and painting, all types of art that decorate life, once flourished in this virgin forest. Orators, warriors and statesmen; beauty, ambition and fame lived and died here, and no one knew of their existence or could tell about their past. The city was uninhabited. Among the ancient ruins there are no traces of the disappeared people with their traditions passed on from father to son and from generation to generation. He lay before us, like a ship wrecked in the middle of the ocean. Its masts were broken, its name was erased, and its crew died. And no one can say where he came from, who he belonged to, how long his journey lasted, or what caused his death.”

The mystery of stone sculptures

Nevertheless, archaeologists stubbornly continued their painstaking work, bringing to the surface more and more traces of the lost culture. First of all, the famous stone head was excavated, which, as it turned out, lay only 100 meters from the expedition camp. Twenty workers spent the whole day working around the fallen giant, trying to free him from a deep forest grave. Finally it was all over. The head, cleared of earth, seemed to come from some kind of fantastic, other world. Despite its impressive dimensions (height - 1.8 meters, circumference - 5.4 meters, weight - 10 tons), it was carved from a single stone monolith. Like the Egyptian sphinx, she silently looked with her empty eye sockets to the north, to where magnificent barbarian ceremonies were once performed in the wide city square, and the priests made bloody sacrifices in honor of the ugly pagan gods. Oh, if the stone lips of the idol could open and he could speak, many interesting pages American history would become as well known to us as the history of Egypt, Greece and Rome.

But how did the ancient inhabitants of Tres Zapotes deliver this huge block of basalt to their hometown, if the nearest stone deposit is several tens of kilometers away? Such a task would baffle even modern engineers. And 15-20 centuries ago, all this was done by the Olmecs without the help of wheeled transport and draft animals (they, like the rest of the American Indians, simply did not have either one or the other), only with the muscular power of man. And yet, a giant monolith, delivered by some miracle - and not by air, but by land, through the jungle, rivers, swamps and ravines - now proudly stands in the central square of the city as a majestic monument to the perseverance and work of unknown masters of antiquity.

Did the Olmecs invent the Mayan calendar? Sensation

On January 16, 1939, an event occurred in the life of the expedition that eclipsed in its significance all previous discoveries and finds. On this day, Matthew Stirling and a group of Indian workers went to look at the newly found stone stele, the edge of which barely protruded from the ground.

They had to tinker a lot before they managed to pull the heavy monument to the surface. “The Indians, on their knees,” recalls Stirling, “began to clear the surface of the monument from viscous clay. And suddenly one of them shouted to me in Spanish: “Señor, there are some numbers here!”

These were indeed numbers. I don’t know how my illiterate workers figured this out, but there, on the smooth surface of the stele, were clearly carved perfectly preserved columns of dashes and dots - signs of the ancient calendar.

Choking from the unbearable heat, covered in sticky sweat, Stirling began feverishly copying the mysterious inscription. A few hours later, all the expedition members eagerly crowded around the table in their leader’s tent. Complex calculations and calculations followed, and now the full text of the inscription is ready: 6 Etsiab 1 Io. According to the European calendar, this corresponded to November 4, 31 BC.

No one dared to dream of such a sensational discovery. On the newly discovered stele (later called “Stele C”), a date was carved according to the Mayan calendar system, which was more than three centuries older than any other dated monument from the Mayan region!

And there could be only one conclusion from here: the proud Mayan priests borrowed their amazingly accurate calendar from their western neighbors - the unknown Olmecs.

La Venta is the capital of the Olmecs.

On the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, among the vast mangrove swamps of the state of Tabasco, several sandy islands rise, the largest of which, La Venta, is only 12 kilometers long and 4 kilometers across. Here, next to a remote Mexican village, from which the entire island took its name, the remains of another Olmec city were discovered.
The ancient builders of La Venta knew the laws of geometry well. All the most important buildings of the city, standing on the tops of high pyramidal foundations, were oriented strictly to the cardinal points. The abundance of palace and temple ensembles, elaborate sculptures, steles and altars, numerous giant heads carved from basalt, the luxurious decoration of the tombs found here indicated that La Venta was once the largest center of Olmec culture, and perhaps the capital of the entire countries. Using calendar dates found on many stone sculptures, as well as the results of art historical analysis, scientists have established that the city’s greatest prosperity occurred in the 1st-7th centuries AD.

Then, like Tres Zapotes, he becomes a victim of an enemy invasion and perishes in the flames of fires amid the jubilant cries of the victors. Everything that could be destroyed was destroyed. Everything that could be robbed and carried away was carried away. The uninvited aliens sought to destroy literally everything that reminded them of the culture and religion of the defeated people. But the huge stone heads, columns and statues, sculpted from basalt as hard as steel, were not so easy to destroy. And then, in helpless rage, the ancient vandals smashed small sculptures, and deliberately disfigured and damaged the beautiful and expressive faces of large statues. Nevertheless, most of the amazing creations of the artists and sculptors of La Venta survived the centuries, and they were rediscovered for humanity in the middle of the 20th century by the skillful hands of archaeologists.

In the very center of the city, from the foot of the high pyramid and further to the north, there is a wide, flat square, bordered on all sides by vertically standing basalt columns. In the middle of it, above the thick grass and bushes, rose some strange structure in the form of a platform made of the same basalt columns. When the platform was completely cleared, a kind of basalt house, half buried in the ground, appeared before the archaeologists. Its long wall consisted of nine vertically placed stone pillars, and the short one - of five. From above this rectangular room was covered with a ramp of the same basalt pillars. The house had no door or windows. The ancient builders fit the giant stone columns together so skillfully that not even a mouse could slip between them. But each of them weighed almost two, or even three tons!

Using a hand winch and strong ropes, workers began to pull away the roof of the mysterious building. After removing the four columns, the hole in the roof became so wide that one could venture downstairs to where the thick black shadows hid the inside of a spacious room walled up by the priests of La Venta 15 centuries ago.

“First,” writes Matthew Stirling, “we came across an elegant little pendant in the shape of a jaguar’s fang, carved from green jade ... Then an oval mirror appeared from a carefully polished piece of obsidian. And further, in the back of the room, rose some kind of platform made of clay and lined with stone. A large spot of bright purple paint stood out clearly on its surface. Inside it we found the remains of human bones belonging to at least three of those buried.”

Next to the skeletons lay in a pile all sorts of items made of precious jade in green and bluish tones: funny little figurines in the form of sitting men with childish faces, dwarfs and freaks, frogs, snails, jaguars, strange flowers and beads.

In the southwestern corner of the burial platform, a strange headdress was discovered, more reminiscent of a “crown of thorns” than a symbol of the power and high position of its owner. Six long sea urchin needles were strung on a strong cord, separated from each other by elaborate jade decorations in the form of outlandish flowers and plants. There were also two large jade spools - ear decorations and the remains of a wooden funeral mask, inlaid with jade and shells. Not far from the platform, workers came across a cache hidden in the ground, which contained 37 polished jade and serpentine axes.

According to a legend still prevalent among the residents of La Vepta, the last Aztec emperor Montezuma was buried here, among the ruins of the ancient city. And when night falls on the earth, he leaves his tomb to dance in the ghostly rays of the moonlight with his entourage in the wide squares and deserted streets of the forever asleep capital of the Olmecs.

And although all this is just a figment of popular imagination, wonderful legend, the scientific significance of the basalt tomb is in no way diminished by the fact that instead of Montezuma, some other powerful ruler who lived 9-10 centuries before the Aztecs appeared in the Valley of Mexico is buried in it.

Olmec civilization. The Mystery of Sixteen Men.

In 1955 after long break Excavations continued in the Olmec capital, La Venta. One after another, amazing finds were born: reliefs, mosaics, magnificent sculptures, steles and altars. And suddenly the worker’s shovel, having broken through the hard layer of cement covering the surface of the clay platform, fell down into the emptiness of a narrow and deep pit. When archaeologists finally got to its bottom, green spots of polished jade shone brightly in the sun’s rays against the background of yellow clay. Sixteen little stone men - participants in some unknown dramatic performance - solemnly froze in front of a fence of six vertically placed jade axes. Who are they? And why were they hidden at the bottom of a deep hole, arranged in a certain order, but incomprehensible to us?

It is possible that the key to solving this archaeological puzzle can be provided by the sixteenth participant in the ancient pagan ritual.
His solitary figure, carved from granite unlike the others, stands with his back to the flat surface of the fence. The remaining fifteen figures are made of jade and have a purely Olmec appearance. All of them, turning their heads in one direction, look intently at the person opposing them. From the right, a procession of four gloomy figures with frozen masked faces is approaching him. Who is this lonely standing man? The high priest presiding over a solemn pagan rite, or a victim who will be thrown down in a moment on the bloody altar of an unknown god?

And here the description of a terrible custom that was once widespread among many peoples of antiquity involuntarily comes to mind. According to their ideas, the king was considered the focus of magical forces that controlled the life of nature. He is responsible for good harvest crops, for the abundant offspring of livestock, for the fertility of women of the entire tribe. He receives almost divine honors. He tastes all the blessings of life, enjoying luxury and peace. But one day the day comes when the king must pay a hundredfold for both his wealth and his exorbitant power. And the only payment that he is obliged to give to his people is his own life! According to ancient customs, the people cannot tolerate a weakened, sick or aging king for a minute, since the well-being of the entire country depends on his health. A tragic ending comes. The old ruler is killed. A. in his place they choose a young, full of strength successor. And this terrible cycle of murder and coronation continued in many countries for hundreds of years.
Who knows, maybe by chance we also managed to see in all its tragic completeness this terrible ritual performed by sixteen stone men from La Venta?

Olmec. Gold and jade

Among the civilized peoples of pre-Columbian America, unlike the Egyptians, Assyrians, Greeks, Romans and other inhabitants of the Old World, the main symbol of wealth was not gold, but jade. This fact so struck the imagination of the first Europeans, who made their way through the ocean barrier to the unknown shores of the New World at the beginning of the 16th century, that they repeatedly returned to it in their historical narratives and chronicles.

When in 1519 Cortez landed on the desert coast of Mexico, near the modern city of Veracruz, the local Indian ruler hastened to send a message about this extraordinary event to his supreme ruler, Emperor Montezuma. And a few days later, a magnificent procession of ambassadors and nobles from the Aztec emperor appeared in front of Cortez’s camp tent. Silently spreading several mats at the entrance to the tent, they laid out many expensive gifts on them.

“The first was a round dish,” recalls Berial Diaz, “the size of a cart wheel, with the image of the sun, all made of pure gold. According to the people who weighed it, it was worth 20,000 gold pesos. The second was a round dish, even larger than the first, made of solid silver, with the image of the moon; very valuable thing. The third was a helmet filled to the brim with gold sand worth no less than 3,000 pesos. There were many golden figurines of birds, animals and gods, 30 bales of thin cotton fabrics, beautiful feather cloaks, and in addition, four green stones, which are valued more among them than emerald among us. And they told Cortes that these stones were intended for our emperor, since each of them was worth a whole load of gold.”

If it is true that jade was valued more than gold among the Indians, then it is also true that the largest number of jade products is found in the Olmec country. And this is all the more amazing because there were no jade deposits on the marshy shores of the Gulf of Mexico, where the main Olmec cities are located. It was mined either
in the south, in the mountains of Guatemala, or in the west, in Oaxaca. Be that as it may, a large amount of this precious and unusually hard mineral found its way into the Olmec country, where rough pieces of stone were transformed under the hands of skilled Olmec jewelers into elegant statuettes of gods, intricate jewelry, beads and ritual axes. And from there, from the Olmec centers of La Venta, Tres Zapotes, Cerro de las Mesas, these magnificent jade items dispersed throughout Central America, from the northernmost regions of Mexico to Costa Rica.

Olmec - Fans of the Jaguar.

If all the works of ancient Olmec art were exhibited in the halls of one big museum, then its visitors would immediately pay attention to one strange detail. Of every two or three sculptures, one would necessarily depict either a jaguar or a creature combining the features of a human and a jaguar.

When you find yourself in the mysterious green twilight of the Mexican jungle, it is easy to understand why the Olmec masters tried with such fanatical persistence to capture the image of this ferocious beast.

One of the most powerful predators of the Western Hemisphere, the formidable ruler of the tropical forest, the jaguar was for the ancient Indians not just a dangerous beast, but also a symbol of supernatural powers, a revered ancestor and god. In the religion of various tribes of ancient Mexico, the jaguar is usually considered the god of rain and fertility, the personification of the fruit-bearing forces of the earth. Is it any wonder that the Olmecs, whose economy was based on agriculture, revered the jaguar god with special zeal, forever capturing him in their monumental art.

Even today, four centuries after the Spanish conquest and a thousand years after the death of the Olmec civilization, the image of the jaguar still causes superstitious horror among the Indians, and ritual dances in his honor are widespread among the inhabitants Mexican states Oaxaca and Veracruz. What tricks did the ancient Olmecs resort to so that the formidable ruler of the forests and heavenly waters would provide them with a good harvest. They built magnificent temples in his honor, carved his image on reliefs and steles, and gave him the most precious gift on earth - human lives.

During excavations of the main square of La Venta, almost six meters deep, archaeologists found a perfectly preserved mosaic in the form of a stylized jaguar's face. The total dimensions of the mosaic are about five square meters. It consists of 486 carefully hewn, polished blocks of bright green serpentine, attached with bitumen to the surface of a low stone platform. The beast's empty eye sockets and mouth were filled with orange sand, and the top of its angular skull was decorated with stylized diamond-shaped feathers.
Exactly the same mosaic was subsequently discovered at the other end of the city’s sacred square. But there, in addition to the image of the predator himself, in the depths of the stone platform, they managed to find the richest gifts in his honor: a pile of precious Things and jewelry made of jade and serpentine.

The earthly rulers, wanting to somehow strengthen the already extensive royal power, considered the jaguar their divine ancestor and patron. On reliefs, frescoes and steles they are constantly depicted wearing clothes made of jaguar skin or sitting on thrones made in the form of a figure of this beast. Jaguar fangs and claws are constantly found in the richest and most magnificent burials, not only among the Olmecs, but also among most other cultural peoples of pre-Columbian Mexico.

Mysterious disappearances. Mysticism, secrets, clues Dmitrieva Natalia Yurievna

Olmec

The Olmec civilization has undoubted evidence of its existence in the form of archaeological finds. However, the mysteries of its origin and death have not yet been solved by scientists. The name “Olmec” itself is conventionally taken from the historical chronicles of the Aztecs, where one of the tribes of this civilization is mentioned with this name. The word "Olmec" translated from the Mayan language means "inhabitant of the land of rubber."

The Olmecs lived in what is today southern and central Mexico. The most ancient traces of civilization date back to 1400 BC. e. In the city of San Lorenzo, the remains of a large (probably the main) Olmec settlement were discovered. But there were other settlements, the largest of which were in the places of La Venta and Tres Zapotes.

Many researchers consider the Olmecs to be the ancestors of other Meso-American civilizations, which is confirmed by Indian legends. What is certain is that the Olmecs are one of the earliest cultures of Central America.

Based on the discovered artifacts, it can be judged that the Olmecs developed construction, art, and trade. Their pyramids, courtyards (probably intended for some kind of ceremonies), tombs, temples, mounds, water supply systems and huge monuments in the form of stone heads have reached us. The first such head was discovered in 1862 near the settlement of Tres Zapotes, after which a research “boom” began regarding the Indian culture discovered in the forests of Mexico (although immediately after the discovery it was believed that this was the “head of an African,” or, as it is called this day, "the head of an Ethiopian"). This famous head was only completely excavated in 1939–1940. It turned out that the height of the stone head is 1.8 m, and the circumference is 5.4 m, and this huge monument is carved from a single piece of basalt. The question still remains open of how such a large piece of rock was delivered to the place where the statue is now located, if the nearest basalt deposit is located tens of kilometers from this place (the Olmecs, according to archaeologists, did not know wheels and did not have draft animals ). Subsequently, 16 more such heads were found, up to 3 m high and weighing up to 20 tons each. Most scholars are inclined to believe that these heads depicted the leaders of the Olmec tribes. But some modern researchers believe that the giant heads could not have been made by the Olmecs, but by representatives of earlier civilizations: for example, the legendary Atlanteans, while the Olmecs themselves were only the descendants of these civilizations and the “guardians” of huge statues.

In the first half of the 20th century, Mexican archaeologists discovered the city of Sin Cabezas, which means “Headless”. The scientists themselves gave this name to the found city because of the numerous headless statues located in this ancient settlement. However, some stone giants have survived to this day completely intact. In addition to heads and statues, Olmec sculpture is represented in stone altars and carved steles, as well as in small jade and clay (less often granite) figurines depicting people and animals.

Various expeditions that were sent to search for and study artifacts in the first half of the 20th century led to many new discoveries, but some evidence of the Olmec culture was first erroneously attributed to Mayan culture due to the similarity of faces.

Archaeologists had to get to the remains of ancient settlements and stone sculptures through impenetrable jungles, tropical rivers and swamps, and climb mountains: traces ancient civilization By that time they were already quite cut off from modern settlements and roads. This complicated the research, but gradually, based on new information, scientists discovered an increasingly clear picture of the existence of the Olmec civilization. Stylized masks and human figures carved on steles and stone boxes, according to researchers, are images of gods revered by the Olmecs. And in the luxurious tomb found in La Venta, presumably, the Olmec ruler, who lived 9-10 centuries before the Aztecs appeared in these places, is buried. Archaeologists have found jewelry, figurines, and unusual tools in sarcophagi and tombs.

The Olmec pyramids probably served as temple complexes. They were arranged not in the “usual” pyramidal shape, but with a round base, from which several round “petals” “departed.” Scientists explain this shape by its resemblance to volcanic hills preserved after eruptions: the Olmecs believed that fire gods lived in volcanoes, and temple complexes in honor of the same gods they were built in the likeness of extinct volcanoes. The pyramids themselves were made of clay and lined with lime mortar.

The appearance of the Olmecs can presumably be reconstructed from the numerous sculptures found: Mongoloid-type eyes, a flattened nose, plump, flattened lips. The sculptures have purposefully deformed heads. More accurate information could be obtained from the remains of the Olmecs discovered in the tombs, but not a single complete skeleton was preserved.

According to Aztec legends, the Olmecs arrived in their habitat by boat from the northern shore. In the place where the city of Panutla is now located, they left the boats and followed the instructions of the gods to the area of Tamoanchan (translated from the Mayan language - “land of rain and fog”), where they founded their civilization. Other Indian legends do not explain the appearance of the Olmec civilization: they only say that the Olmecs lived in those places since ancient times.

According to Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl, the Olmec civilization may have been brought to Central America from the Mediterranean and Ancient Egypt. This is indicated not only by Indian legends, but also by the similarity of Olmec buildings, writing, and the art of mummification with similar evidence of Old World cultures. Such an assumption would explain the fact that during archaeological research no signs of the evolution of the Olmec civilization were found: it seemed to have arisen in an already prosperous form and just as suddenly ended its existence. However, this is also just a guess. Many scientists are still confident that civilizations in different parts of the Earth could have developed in a similar pattern, being in absolute isolation from each other.

The emergence of the Olmec culture dates back to approximately the second millennium BC. e. According to later archaeological research, it may have developed from the early agricultural cultures of Central America, which gradually evolved from nomadic cultures as a result of changes in natural conditions. The most ancient nomadic tribes of South and Central America, according to scientists, came from Asia at a time when there was still a land connection between these continents. According to paleoanthropologists, representatives of the Negroid race could also have entered the territory of Central America during the last ice age. This goes some way to explaining the facial features reflected in the giant Olmec heads. Other researchers believe that ancient Australians and Europeans could have entered the Meso-American territory by water. Perhaps the Olmec civilization appeared entirely as a result of the mixing of people from different continents.

In 1200-900 BC e. the main Olmec settlement (at San Lorenzo) was abandoned: probably as a result of internal rebellion. The “capital” of the Olmec kingdom moved to La Venta, located 55 miles to the east, among the swamps near the Tonala River. An Olmec settlement at La Venta existed from 1000-600. BC e. or in 800–400. BC e. (according to various research data).

The Olmecs abandoned the eastern parts of their lands around 400 BC. e. Possible reasons include climate change, volcanic eruptions and the capture of some of the Olmecs by representatives of other civilizations. Archaeologists date the dates carved by the Olmecs on stone steles and figurines to the last centuries BC. These are the oldest written dates found in Central America, older than the writing of the Mayan civilization. When Olmec artifacts with dates were discovered, researchers, after much debate, came to the conclusion that the Mayans borrowed their writing and their calendar from the Olmecs.

Interestingly, many stone statues and giant heads belonging to the Olmec culture were deliberately damaged in ancient times: perhaps by the Olmecs themselves. In addition, some statues at the same ancient time were clearly moved from their original places or were also purposefully covered with earth, after which the “grave” was lined with tiles or multi-colored clay.

Some studies suggest that the Olmec civilization flourished in the 1st century BC. e. - I century AD e. It is from this period that all examples of Olmec writing, as well as the most advanced objects of art, are dated. Thus, the Olmecs and Mayans coexisted next to each other for some time.

Researcher Michael Ko believes that the ancestors of the Mayans once lived in the territory of the Olmecs: when the culture of San Lorenzo and La Venta declined, the bulk of the Olmecs moved to the east and gradually turned into the Mayan civilization. According to other researchers, the Mayans and Olmecs developed simultaneously and, despite the existing family ties between these two civilizations, the Mayans cannot be descendants of the Olmecs. The latter assumption is supported by data from the most recent archaeological research. But in this case, where and for what reason did the Olmecs disappear? Scientists have yet to answer this question.

Civilization arose in the 30th century. back.

Civilization stopped in the 25th century. back.

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The most productive civilizational territory of the American continent, the Zone of High Civilizations, is considered to be Middle America. It is divided into three regions: Mesoamerica; Andean region (Bolivia - Peru); intermediate region between them (southern Central America, Colombia, Ecuador).

Mesoamerica is considered a zone of high civilizations. Researchers include the following civilizations here:
Olmec civilization.
Aztec civilization.
Mayan civilization of the classical period (I-IX centuries AD)
Teotihuacan civilization.

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Olmec Civilization - pThe first civilization of Mesoamerica on the southern coast of the Gulf of Mexico (Tabasco, Veracruz).

The population of these regions at the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. e. (800-400 BC) reached a high level of culture: at this time the first “ritual centers” appeared in La Venta, San Lorenzo and Tres Zapotes, pyramids were built from adobes (adobe) and clay, carved stone monuments with subjects of predominantly mythological and religious content.

Among the latter, giant stone anthropomorphic heads in helmets, whose weight sometimes reaches 20 tons, stand out. The Olmec style of art is characterized by low-relief carvings on basalt and jade. Its main motif was the figure of a crying chubby child with the features of a jaguar given to him. These “jaguar babies” adorned elegant jade amulets, massive celtic axes (the Olmecs had a cult of the stone ax as a symbol of fertility), and giant basalt steles.

Another notable feature of the “Olmec” culture was the following ritual: in deep pits in the central squares of the settlements, caches were set up with offerings to the gods in the form of hewn blocks of jade and serpentine, celt axes and figurines from the same materials, etc., weighing a total of tens of centners . These materials were delivered to the “Olmec” centers from afar: for example, to La Venta - from a distance of 160 and even 500 km.
Excavations at another "Olmec" village - San Lorenzo - also revealed giant heads and rows of ritually buried monumental sculptures in a purely "Olmec" style.

A series of radiocarbon dates place this at 1200-900. BC e. It was on the basis of the above data that the hypothesis was formulated that the “Olmecs” are the creators of the earliest civilization of Mesoamerica (1200-900 BC) and from it all the other highly developed cultures of Mesoamerica descend - Zapotec, Teotihuacan, Maya etc. At the same time, today we have to say that the “Olmec” problem is still very far from being resolved.

We do not know the ethnicity of the bearers of this culture (the term “Olmec” is borrowed from the name of those ethnic groups that settled on the southern coast of the Gulf of Mexico on the eve of the Conquest). There is no clarity about the main stages in the development of the Olmec culture, the exact chronology and material signs of these stages.
The general territory of distribution of this culture and its socio-political organization are also unknown.

The Olmec culture with all its manifestations reflects a long path of development: from the end of the 2nd millennium BC. e. to the middle - last centuries 1st millennium BC e. It can be assumed that “ritual centers” with monumental sculpture appear in Veracruz and Tabasco around the first half of the 1st millennium BC. e. (possibly even in 800 BC), as in La Venta.
But everything that is represented there archaeologically in 800-400. BC e., fully corresponds to the level of “chiefdoms”, “tribal unions”, i.e. the final stage of the primitive communal era.

The first examples of writing and calendar known to us appear on “Olmec” monuments only from the 1st century. BC e. (Stele C in Tres Zapotes, etc.). On the other hand, the same “ritual centers” - with pyramids, monuments and calendar hieroglyphic inscriptions - have been represented in Oaxaca since the 7th-6th centuries. BC e., and without inscriptions - in mountainous Guatemala, among the ancestors of the Mayans, at least from the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e. Thus, the question of the “ancestor culture” that gave birth to all the others now disappears for Mesoamerica: apparently, parallel development took place in several key areas at once - the Valley of Mexico, the Oaxaca Valley, mountainous Guatemala, the Mayan lowland areas, etc.

One of the first Meso-American societies, the Olmecs inhabited the tropical lowlands of south-central Mexico. The first traces of the Olmecs, dating back to 1400 BC, were found in the city of San Lorenzo, where the main settlement was located, connected to 2 other centers, Tenochtitlan and Potrero Nuevo. The Olmecs were skilled builders. In every important place there were ceremonial courts, mounds, conical pyramids and stone monuments, including the famous huge head.

Olmec civilization depended on trade both between different Olmec regions and with other Meso-American peoples. As one of the earliest and most advanced Meso-American cultures of the time, the Olmecs are often considered the progenitor culture of other Meso-American peoples. In 400 BC. the eastern part of the Olmec lands was deserted, possibly due to changes environment. People may also have moved due to volcanic activity. Another popular theory is that they were captured, but no one can say who.

The hallmark of the Olmecs are considered to be giant sculptures in the form of heads located in modern Mexico. The heyday of the Olmec state occurred between 1500 and 400 BC; according to historians, this people achieved impressive successes in architecture, agriculture, medicine, writing and other branches of knowledge. The Olmecs had a fairly accurate calendar and a mathematical system that used the number “0,” which can be considered a real breakthrough.

Olmec - c evilization, whose disappearance still baffles scientists.

Having existed for more than a thousand years, the Olmec civilization, for reasons still unclear, fell into decline, but other civilizations arose on its ruins.

Olmecs - ohsociety and archaeological culture that existed on the southern coast of the Gulf of Mexico in the 2nd - 1st millennium BC. e. The earliest traces of habitation were found in the La Venta area and date back to the end of the 3rd millennium BC. e. The first settlers developed the ecological zones of the river estuaries and created an integrated economy using agriculture (maize, which produced three crops a year, beans, avocados), sea and river resources. The first settlements were small villages in irrigated areas. (Belyaev)

INend of the 2nd millennium BC e. The flourishing of the culture of the Atlantic coast of the current state of Veracruz begins, which received the name Olmec (from the Aztec word “olmi” - rubber). The Aztecs named them after the area on the Gulf Coast where rubber was produced and where the contemporary Olmecs lived. According to the most ancient legend, the Olmecs (“people from the land of rubber trees”) appeared on the territory of modern Tabasco about 4000 years ago, they arrived by sea and settled in the village of Tamoanchane (“We are looking for our home”).

According to the same legend, it is said that the sages sailed away, and the remaining people settled these lands and began to call themselves by the name of their great leader Olmec Wimtoni. According to another legend, the Olmecs appeared as a result of the union of the divine animal jaguar with a mortal woman. Since then, the Olmecs considered jaguars as their totems, and they began to be called the Jaguar Indians. (Belyaev)

ABOUThowever, despite all the efforts of archaeologists, no traces of the origin and evolution of the Olmec civilization, the stages of its development, or the place of its origin have been found anywhere. Little is known about social organization Olmecs, and about their beliefs and rituals - except that they, it seems, also did not disdain human sacrifices.

It is unknown what language the Olmecs spoke and what ethnic group they belonged to. On top of this, the high humidity in the Gulf of Mexico has meant that not a single Olmec skeleton has survived, making it extremely difficult for archaeologists to shed light on the culture of Mesoamerica's oldest civilization. (Belyaev)

NSome scholars believe that the first empire in America was the Olmec. This was due to the creation of cities (ritual centers) with a unique, simple and powerful architecture. (Belyaev)

PThe first and most ancient capital of Indian America is considered to be San Lorenzo (1400-900 BC). It is located on a natural plateau, the slopes of which have been modified to create numerous residential terraces. According to archaeologists, up to 5 thousand inhabitants lived in it. The city was still patronized by the almighty jaguar god. His masks decorated the corners of the steps of the pyramid (the oldest known today in America), which is a cone with a base diameter of about 130 m, but with an irregular projection.

In the city, 10 colossal Olmec heads made of basalt were also found, as well as throne altars and several dozen anthropomorphic and zoomorphic sculptures. The colossal heads obviously represented the supreme leaders. These ten heads from San Lorenzo probably represent ten generations of the dynasty that ruled the valley. Coatzacoalcos for 250 years (1150-900 BC). (Belyaev)

INThe second ritual center-city of the first level of the Olmecs was La Venta. The city was home to a large architectural complex consisting of two temples and several pyramidal platforms. Ancient settlers chose this place back in 1400 BC, where they erected one of the oldest settlements. La Venta was built on the greatest scale. And by 900 B.C. the city becomes an important center of another important chiefdom with its colossal Olmec heads. There is a sharp rise in the power of La Venta.

Perhaps this was due to another change in the course of the Bari River. From the turn of the 2nd-1st millennium BC. it ran 2 km from Group A in La Venta, which made it possible to control communications and facilitate the movement of resources. In the La Venta area, a three-level settlement hierarchy is finally being formed: settlements without maunds - settlements with a central maund - settlements with several maunds. The population of the zone between La Venta and San Miguel (these monuments are separated by about 40 km) was at least 10,000 people. (Belyaev)

Mbetween 900 and 600 BC e there were at least five complex chiefdoms on the Gulf Coast - San Lorenzo, La Venta, Las Limas, Laguna de Los Cerros and the peripheral Tres Zapotes. They controlled the entire Olman (about 12,000 sq. km). (Belyaev)

4 00 BC chosen by researchers as the end of the Olmec archaeological culture, although this is rather a convention. Rather, we should be talking about the end of one stage in the history of the region and the beginning of another. Tres Zapotes is still alive, as is Laguna de Los Cerros. However, in general, the core of the political and cultural development shifts north to the Tuxtla mountains and spreads along the coast of Veracruz. Along with the old centers, new ones are growing - Cerro de Las Mesas, Viejon. The new capitals retain many of the traditions of their predecessors; therefore, the late Formative society of the Gulf Coast was called Epiolmec. (Belyaev D)

WITHTirling discovered children's toys in the form of dogs on wheels. This find became a sensation - it was believed that the civilizations of pre-Columbian America did not know wheels. But it turned out that this is not so. The central place in Olmec art was occupied by a character whose appearance combined the features of a growling jaguar and a crying human child.

EIts appearance is captured both in giant basalt sculptures, the weight of which often reaches several tons, and in small carvings. There is no doubt that this were-jaguar represented a rain deity, whose cult arose earlier than the cults of the other gods of the Mesoamerican pantheon known to us. (Belyaev)

RThe diet of the ancient Olmecs was also based on a “corn” diet, like other peoples of the rest of pre-Columbian America; the main agricultural crop of the Olmecs was maize. The main sectors of the economy were agriculture and fishing. (Belyaev)

ABOUTThe Lmec culture is called the "mother of cultures" of Central America and the earliest civilization of Mexico. They are credited with creating the basis of writing, a calendar, and a system of numbers for later cultures of Mesoamerica. But there is still heated debate around this - not many agree that the Olmecs invented it. (Belyaev D)

INIn the last century BC, the Olmec civilization completely disappeared, but their heritage organically entered the cultures of the Mayans and other peoples of Mesoamerica. (Belyaev)

_______________________________

ABOUTThe Lmecs were the earliest civilization of Central America, consisting of many small settlements that flourished along the Gulf of Mexico in central Mexico from 1200 to 600 BC. The origins of the Olmec culture are unclear, with some scholars favoring the theory that it was local farmers who transformed into tribes and later cultural societies, and others that the Olmecs were the result of migration from Guerrero or Oaxa.

High level agricultural production became the key to their success. Olmec settlements were based mainly on the banks of slow-flowing rivers, which, when in flood, fed fertile alluvial soils.

WITHen Lorenzo, occupied from 1,200 to 900 BC, is considered the main Olmec settlement. Along with it, there were two other centers: Tenochtitlan (not the capital of the Aztecs, but simply a settlement with the same name) and Portero Nuevo. All Olmec ceremonial centers were complexes of platforms on which were built ceremonial palaces, mounds, stone statues (including carved boulders, altars, and huge free-themed sculptures) and large conical pyramids.

Huge stone heads seem to be the most extraordinary product of architectural thought. They reach a height of three meters and are believed to represent portraits of the Olmec ruling families and elite. To build these things, it took the labor of villagers living in low-lying areas.

Ttrade was a very important matter and was again concentrated in ceremonial centers, where obsidian, serpentine, mica, magnetic iron ore and other materials were exchanged. There were both local retail chains and regional chains. Thus, the Olmec way of life and their complex cosmology spread, along with the objects of exchange, over a fairly large area.

The Olmec priests came up with a 260-day calendar, and a set of beliefs that included the werewolf jaguar ( mythical creature, which spread from a man to a jaguar) and a burning snake. The Olmec style of art is especially evident in sculpture, and is very realistic in its representation of natural and supernatural forms. Crafts are represented by works made of shells and jadeite.

TOBy 600 BC, the Olmec culture declined and the exchange systems decreased in intensity. But still, thanks to the existence of the Olmecs, further civilizations of Central America received a good cultural heritage.

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The Olmec civilization is considered the first, “mother” civilization of Mexico. Like all other first civilizations, it appeared immediately and in a “ready-made form”: with developed hieroglyphic writing, an accurate calendar, canonized art, and developed architecture. According to ideas modern researchers, the Olmec civilization arose around the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. and lasted for about a thousand years. The main centers of this culture were located in the coastal zone of the Gulf of Mexico in the territory of the modern states of Tobasco and Veracruz. But cultural influence The Olmec can be traced throughout Central Mexico. Until now, nothing is known about the people who created this first Mexican civilization. The name "Olmec", meaning "people of rubber", was given by modern scientists. But where did this people come from, what language did they speak, where did they disappear centuries later - all these main questions remain unanswered after more than half a century of research into Olmec culture.

The largest Olmec monuments are San Lorenzo, La Venta and Tres Zapotes. These were real urban centers, the first in Mexico. They included large ceremonial complexes with earthen pyramids, an extensive system of irrigation canals, city blocks and numerous necropolises.

The Olmecs achieved real perfection in stone processing, including very hard rocks. Olmec jade products are rightfully considered masterpieces of the ancient American art. Olmec monumental sculpture included multi-ton altars made of granite and basalt, carved steles, and human-sized sculptures. But one of the most remarkable and mysterious features of this civilization are the huge stone heads.

The first such head was found back in 1862 in La Venta. To date, 17 such giant human heads have been discovered, ten of them come from San Loresno, four from La Venta, and the rest from two more monuments of Olmec culture. All these heads are carved from solid blocks of basalt. The smallest are 1.5 m high, the largest head, found at the Rancho La Cobata monument, reaches 3.4 m in height. The average height of most Olmec heads is about 2 m. Accordingly, the weight of these huge sculptures ranges from 10 to 35 tons!

All heads are made in the same stylistic manner, but it is obvious that each of them is a portrait of a specific person. Each head is topped with a headdress that most closely resembles an American football player's helmet. But all hats are individual, there is not a single repetition. All heads have carefully detailed ears with decorations in the form of large earrings or ear inserts. Ear piercing was a typical tradition for all ancient cultures of Mexico. One of the heads, the largest one from Rancho La Cobata, depicts a man with his eyes closed; all the other sixteen heads have their eyes wide open.

Those. each one with a characteristic set of individual traits. It can be said that Olmec heads are images of specific people. But despite the individuality of their features, all the giant Olmec heads are united by one common and mysterious feature. The portraits of the people depicted in these sculptures have pronounced Negroid features: a wide flattened nose with large nostrils, full lips and large eyes. Such features do not fit in with the main anthropological type of the ancient population of Mexico. In Olmec art, whether sculpture, relief or small sculptures, in most cases, the typical Indian appearance characteristic of the American race is reflected.

But not on giant heads. Such Negroid features were noted by the first researchers from the very beginning. This led to the emergence of various hypotheses: from assumptions about the migration of people from Africa to claims that such a racial type was characteristic of the oldest inhabitants South-East Asia, who were part of the first settlers to America. However, this problem was quickly put to rest by representatives of official science. It was too inconvenient to consider that there could have been any contacts between America and Africa at the very dawn of civilization. The official theory did not imply them.

And if so, then the Olmec heads are images of local rulers, after whose death such original memorial monuments were made. But Olmec heads are truly a unique phenomenon for ancient America. In the Olmec culture itself there are similar analogies, i.e. sculptural human heads. But unlike the 17 “Negro” heads, they depict portraits of people of a typical American race, are smaller in size and made in accordance with a completely different pictorial canon. There is nothing like this in other cultures of ancient Mexico. In addition, one can ask a simple question: if these are images of local rulers, then why are there so few of them, if we speak in relation to the thousand-year history of the Olmec civilization?

And how should we deal with the problem of Negroid traits? Whatever the dominant theories in historical science may claim, in addition to them there are also facts. The Anthropological Museum of the city of Jalapa (Veracruz state) houses an Olmec vessel in the form of a sitting elephant. It is considered proven that elephants in America disappeared with the end of the last glaciation, i.e. approximately 12 thousand years ago. But the Olmec knew the elephant, so much so that it was even depicted in figured ceramics. Either elephants still lived in the Olmec era, which contradicts paleozoological data, or Olmec craftsmen were familiar with African elephants, which contradicts modern historical views.

But the fact remains that you can, if not touch it with your hands, then see it with your own eyes in a museum. Unfortunately, academic science diligently avoids such awkward “trifles.” In addition, in the last century, in different areas of Mexico, at monuments with traces of the influence of the Olmec civilization (Monte Alban, Tlatilco), burials were discovered, the skeletons of which anthropologists identified as belonging to the Negroid race.

Giant Olmec heads pose many paradoxical questions to researchers. One of the heads from San Lorenzo has an internal tube connecting the sculpture's ear and mouth. How could such a complex internal channel be made in a monolithic basalt block 2.7 m high using primitive (not even metal) tools? Geologists who studied the Olmec heads determined that the basalt from which the heads at La Venta were made came from quarries in the Tuxtla Mountains, the distance to which, measured in a straight line, is 90 kilometers.

How did the ancient Indians, who did not even know wheels, transport monolithic stone blocks weighing 10-20 tons over rough terrain? American archaeologists believe that the Olmecs could have used reed rafts, which, along with cargo, were floated down the river into the Gulf of Mexico, and along the shore they delivered basalt blocks to their urban centers. But the distance from the Tuxtla quarries to the nearest river is about 40 km, and it is a dense swampy jungle.

In some myths about the creation of the world, which have survived to this day from various Mexican peoples, the emergence of the first cities is associated with newcomers from the north. According to one version, they sailed by boat from the north and landed at the Panuco River, then walked along the coast to Potonchan at the mouth of Jalisco (the ancient Olmec center of La Venta is located in this area). Here the aliens exterminated the local giants and founded the first Tamoanchan cultural center mentioned in legends.

According to another myth, seven tribes came from the north to the Mexican Highlands. Two peoples already lived here - the Chichimecs and the Giants. Moreover, the giants inhabited the lands east of modern Mexico City - the regions of Puebla and Cholula. Both peoples led a barbaric lifestyle, obtained food by hunting and ate raw meat. The newcomers from the north drove out the Chichemeks and destroyed the giants. Thus, according to the mythology of a number of Mexican peoples, giants were the predecessors of those who created the first civilizations in these territories. But they could not resist the aliens and were destroyed. By the way, a similar situation took place in the Middle East and it is described in sufficient detail in the Old Testament.

Mentions of a race of ancient giants that preceded historical peoples are found in many Mexican myths. So the Aztecs believed that the earth was inhabited by giants in the era of the First Sun. They called the ancient giants “kiname” or “kinametine”. The Spanish chronicler Bernardo de Sahagún identified these ancient giants with the Toltecs and believed that it was they who erected the giant pyramids in Teotehuacan and Cholula.

Bernal Diaz, a member of the Cortez expedition, wrote in his book “The Conquest of New Spain” that after the conquistadors gained a foothold in the city of Tlaxcala (east of Mexico City, Puebla region), local Indians told them that in very ancient times people had settled in this area enormous height and strength. But since they had a bad character and bad customs, the Indians exterminated them. To confirm their words, the residents of Tlaxcala showed the Spaniards the bone of an ancient giant. Diaz writes that it was a femur and its length was equal to the height of Diaz himself. Those. the height of these giants was more than three times the height of an ordinary person.

In addition, from various sources it is clear that the ancient giants inhabited a certain territory, namely the eastern part of central Mexico up to the Gulf Coast. It is quite reasonable to assume that the giant heads of the Olmecs symbolized victory over the race of giants and the victors erected these monuments in the centers of their cities in order to perpetuate the memory of their defeated predecessors. On the other hand, how can such an assumption be reconciled with the fact that all the giant Olmec heads have individual facial features?

Maybe those researchers are right who believe that the giant heads were portraits of rulers? But the study of paradoxical phenomena is always complicated by the fact that such historical phenomena rarely fit into the system of conventional logic. That's why they are paradoxical. Moreover, myths, like any historical source are subject to influences dictated by the current political situation. Mexican myths were recorded by Spanish chroniclers in the 16th century. Information about events that happened tens of centuries before this time could have been transformed several times. The image of giants could be distorted to please the victors. Why not assume that giants were rulers of the Olmec cities for a time? And why not also assume that this ancient people of giants belonged to the Negroid race?

The ancient Ossetian epic “Tales of the Narts” is entirely imbued with the theme of the struggle of the Narts with the giants. They were called uaigi. But, what is most interesting, they were called black uaigs. And although the epic does not mention the skin color of the Caucasian giants anywhere, the adjective “black”, in relation to the Uaigs, is used in the epic as a qualitative, and not as a figurative concept. Of course, such a comparison of facts relating to ancient history peoples so distant from each other may seem too bold. But our knowledge about distant eras is too scanty.

Olmec- an ancient people who lived in Central America in the 16th - 2nd centuries. BC. in the territory of modern Mexico. They created the first civilization in America, which gave rise to all other Indian cultures of the pre-colonial era. For this reason, the Olmec culture is called in Latin America.

The Olmecs invented the first writing in America, the first calendar and method of measuring time, tamed the dog and turkey, and were the first to begin collecting rubber and cocoa beans.

Civilization arose in the east of what is now Mexico. on the Caribbean coast. Evidence of the presence of the Olmecs is found during excavations in Guatemala and El Salvador.

The origins of the Olmecs and the reasons for the decline of their civilization are unclear. In 1979 Clyde Winters proposed a way to read the Olmec letter, based on the hypothesis of the African origin of this people. Winters admitted the idea that the Olmecs spoke the language of the Malinke family, common in Senegal and Mali. By 1997 Winters deciphered a significant part of the Olmec texts. However, many experts do not share the hypothesis about the African origin of the Olmecs.

About three thousand years ago, an Indian culture arose on the shores of the bay, called Olmec. They were named after the Olmecs, a small tribe who lived in this territory much later in the 11th - 14th centuries. The word Olmec itself means rubber people. The Aztecs named them after the area where rubber was produced and where the modern Olmecs lived.

The ancient Olmec civilization dates back to 2 thousand BC. and ceased to exist in the 1st century. AD The most amazing thing is that neither North America, nor in South America, there are absolutely no traces of the origins of this ancient civilization. It’s as if this people appears already formed. Also unknown is the social organization of the Olmecs, their beliefs, or their language.

Due to the high humidity in the Gulf of Mexico region, not a single Olmec skeleton has survived. It is known that the Olmec culture was a corn civilization, the main branches of the economy were agriculture and fishing. There were rituals of human sacrifice. The ancient Olmec civilization was culturally advanced. Many jade figurines, pyramids, steles, and statues have survived to this day.

The biggest mystery of the remaining Olmec monuments is the huge heads carved from stone. The weight of one head reaches up to 30 tons. The faces look very natural and the most interesting thing is that they depict people with Negroid facial features. These are almost portrait images of Africans in tight-fitting helmets with a chin strap. The earlobes are pierced.

The face is carved with deep wrinkles on both sides of the nose. The corners of the thick lips are curved down. It is these facial features that separate the Olmecs from the Indians of all Mesoamerica. This leads to the conclusion that the Olmecs could not have been an indigenous population. Then the question arises, where could they come from? There is an ancient legend about the origin of the Olmecs. She tells that a mysterious tribe of people arrived by sea and possessed all sorts of magic. Then they settled in a village called Tamoanchane. But one day the sages of the arriving people boarded ships again and sailed away, promising to return before the end of the world.

The remaining people settled the lands surrounding them and began to call themselves by the name of their great leader and magician Olmec Wimtony. Interestingly, the Olmecs identified themselves with the jaguars and considered themselves the descendants of the union of a divine jaguar and a mortal woman. This is how the Olmec tribe appeared, sons of heaven and earth at the same time.

Who are the Olmecs?

At the end of the 2nd millennium BC. e. a sedentary lifestyle becomes dominant and ceremonial centers appear on the Gulf Coast and in the highlands. The flourishing of the culture of the Atlantic coast of the current state of Veracruz, called Olmec, begins. The Aztecs named them after the region on the Gulf Coast, where rubber was produced and where the contemporary Olmecs lived. So the Olmecs themselves and the Olmec culture are not at all the same thing.

By ancient legend, The Olmecs appeared on the territory of modern Tabasco about 4000 years ago, they arrived by sea and settled in the village of Tamoanchane. According to the same legend, it is said that the sages sailed away, and the remaining people settled these lands and began to call themselves by the name of their great leader Olmec Wimtoni.

According to another legend, the Olmecs appeared as a result of the union of the divine animal jaguar with a mortal woman. Since then, the Olmecs considered jaguars as their totems, and they began to be called the Jaguar Indians.

However, despite all the efforts of archaeologists, no traces of the origin and evolution of the Olmec civilization, the stages of its development, or the place of its origin have been found anywhere. Little is known about the social organization of the Olmecs, and about their beliefs and rituals - except that they, it seems, also did not disdain human sacrifice. It is unknown what language the Olmecs spoke and what ethnic group they belonged to. On top of this, the high humidity in the Gulf of Mexico has meant that not a single Olmec skeleton has survived, making it extremely difficult for archaeologists to shed light on the culture of Mesoamerica's oldest civilization.

Olmec culture and art had strong influence on the culture of other Indian peoples of Central America. Wonderful sculptural monuments have been preserved; Many of them depict a jaguar, the main deity of the Olmecs. The reasons for the Olmec's disappearance have not been established; it is assumed that this is the result of large ethnic movements.

The ancient Olmec people lived about three thousand years ago in the territory of modern Mexico, the states of Veracruz and Tabasco.

They were farmers and developed a fairly high civilization, as well as merchants and exchanged their goods with peoples living in distant lands.

The Olmecs were excellent stone workers. They made painted walls, carved gravestones and stone altars, created axes that they used as offerings to the gods, and sculpted small figurines and masks from clay. Undoubtedly, the Olmec civilization became known thanks to the unusual monumental sculptures that have survived to this day.

The Olmecs were called the corn people because this crop formed the basis of their diet. Their daily meal usually consisted of corn cakes. They also ate beans and pumpkin.

Archaeologists have been able to restore many Olmec household items. The main finds were discovered during excavations in San Lorenzo, La Venta and Tres Zapotes.

Was the jaguar the sacred animal of the Almecs?

The jaguar is a carnivorous mammal common in South and Central America. It does not attack people and feeds on large game, particularly deer.

The Olmecs valued jaguars very much because they ate herbivores that destroyed maize plantations.

The Olmecs had only two domestic animals: the dog and the turkey. Olmec dogs were similar to Chihuahua dogs because they were very small. The Olmecs raised them for food.

The Olmecs were a very creative people. They invented the calendar, a form of writing and a number system, as well as a form of government and religion.

The Olmecs did not use fertilizers and did not know irrigation techniques. Farming was very primitive: they planted fields until they were fertile and then left them to rest, although in reality the Olmecs were lucky to live in a region with a large number rivers and therefore there was no need to leave fields for recreation for a long time. When the rivers were high tide, the water flooded the coastal lands and fertilized them, so that the fields produced two or three crops annually. To know when floods occurred and when to sow, the Olmecs invented a means of determining the passage of time, that is, a calendar.

In their study of the passage of time, they reached a year length of 365 days.

The Olmecs were undoubtedly great sculptors. They processed stone with great skill, creating tombstones and altars decorated with human figures.

The most characteristic are the colossal heads, perhaps reproducing the faces of great leaders. These monumental heads were made of basalt, a very hard stone.

Many of these huge heads are preserved in the La Venta Archaeological Park in Mexico.

The Olmecs were the earliest civilization of Central America, consisting of many small settlements that flourished along the Gulf of Mexico in central Mexico from 1200 to 600 BC.

The origins of the Olmec culture are unclear, with some scholars favoring the theory that it was local farmers who transformed into tribes and later cultural societies, and others that the Olmecs were the result of migration from Guerrero or Oaxa. High levels of agricultural production were key to their success. Olmec settlements were based mainly on the banks of slow-flowing rivers, which, when in flood, fed fertile alluvial soils.

San Lorenzo, occupied from 1,200 to 900 BC, is considered the main Olmec settlement. Along with it there were two other centers: Tenochtitlan and Portero Nuevo. All Olmec ceremonial centers were complexes of platforms on which were built ceremonial palaces, mounds, stone statues and large conical pyramids.

Trade was a very important matter and was again concentrated in ceremonial centers, where obsidian, serpentine, mica, magnetic iron ore and other materials were exchanged. There were both local retail chains and regional chains. Thus, the Olmec way of life and their complex cosmology spread, along with the objects of exchange, over a fairly large area.

The Olmec priests came up with a 260-day calendar, and a set of beliefs that included the werewolf jaguar and the burning serpent. The Olmec style of art is especially evident in sculpture, and is very realistic in its representation of natural and supernatural forms. Crafts are represented by works made of shells and jadeite.

By 600 BC, the Olmec culture had declined and the systems of exchange had decreased in intensity. But still, thanks to the existence of the Olmecs, further civilizations of Central America received a good cultural heritage.

Sources: www.vokrugsveta.ru, www.tradiciadrevnih.ru, otvet.mail.ru, pochemuha.ru, secretworlds.ru

Where is the Ark of the Covenant?

There are quite a few versions as to where the Ark of the Covenant is, and each of them has its own arguments. Very interesting...