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Suggestions on why the Olmec crystallized on the Vera-cruz-Tabasco Plain
Archaeologists begin to see the emergence of the Olmec people on the banks of the Coatzacoalcos River, Tabasco around 1500 BC and they flourished in this region for many centuries. The Olmec are considered a pioneering culture of Mesoamerica-- unique in their ideology and emphasis on monumental architecture. They were the first to exhibit a clearly complex socio-political society although there is evidence of other “complex” cultures existing before and during the Olmec Era in Belize, the Pacific Coast region and the Oaxaca valley . These other sites, however, pale in comparison when viewed in light of Olmec ingenuity. Olmec ingenuity as seen through the archaeological record contains impressive site architecture and an abundance of ceremonial art. Richard Diehl mentions, “according to Reilly, Olmec art is primarily shamanic in content, reflecting the actual basis of Olmec religion.” All “great” civilizations have an organizational religion and the Olmec were the first to invent an ideology in this region. So the question is asked: Why did Mesoamericas first “great” civilization crystallize on the Vera-cruz-Tabasco plain?
I believe the deciding factor as to why the Olmec developed where they did is environmental. We see the beginnings of San Lorenzo, the earliest major Olmec site, on ground elevated slightly above a flood plain along the banks of the Coatzacolcos River. ... In fact, the Olmec area is characterized by its “amazing productivity” which M. ... Sharer believes that we can “infer that the [Olmec] chiefs economic power had its base in the management of agricultural and other food-producing activities. ... The Olmec (along with nearly all other Mesoamerican cultures) practiced swidden agriculture. ... The Olmec differed.
Approximate Word count = 1407
Approximate Pages = 5.6
(250 words per page double spaced)
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