Who were the Olmec? And where did they come from?

Mesoamerica had many flouishing civilizations over time and some of them are mysterious and engimatic in their own way, building structures, temples and other buildings with accurate alingments to the stars and other strange anomalous features, whether in the construction or within fascinating layouts.

None however, is more curious than the civilization that is said to have began it all.

The Olmec are a mystery. The seem to appear from nothing, and disappear just as dramatically. Most of what we are tod about this anicent culture is based on interpretations of the archaeological evidence giving us a blurred picture.

The are said to be a stone age culture, using stone, bone and jade tools for construction purposes and for everyday life. They built huge mound structures and the first Pryamid in Mesoamerica, as well has being attributed many of the firsts of civilisation in the area.

This stone age culture is also said to have worked and fashioned stone, including colossal stone heads, some weighing up to 60 tonnes, and transported them from a mountain side quarry with no knowledge of the wheel and no apparent use of beasts of burden. These heads, and other artifacts, are a bone of contention between all disaplines who research them making The Olmec's one of the most mysterious civilizations ever found.

It is very difficult to undertsand their place in time, and on the ground. Most Olmec sites have only been partially excavated so we don't know the true extent of there cities. The marshland they built them on also causes problems with preservation of artifacts etc.

They lefted us no wirtten records, essentially leaving us looking in the dark for answers, leading academia to make asumptions based on the archaeological evidence. It is no easy task to uncover a culture with all these obsticles to navigate.

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[dearHadrian]

Those head sculptures are beautiful. Nice video! :)

[westho]

Fine narrative, presentation, and wonderful deliverythen viewing so the Hopi, Zuni, Tewa Peoples of today. The Handbag motif as depicted & shown in Olmec sculpture, as well as being displayed in Mesopotamian base reliefs as well as at Gobekli seed bag would be an easy answer , The Mesopotamian example has script on the bag, whether it is related to

[ourcuriouspast]

What do you think of the Olmec? Just the start of Mesoamerican civilizations? Evidence of a someone or something bringing civilization to the local population? Or something else entirely?

[NLJeffEU]

They came from south america. That ez.

[luissosa]

Mexican anthropologist archeologist historians already knows the roots of the so called olmecs but the problem for people like you who doesn't speak Spanish is that you don't have access to that sources of information