About the Olmecs
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Where?
The Olmecs lived in what are now the Mexican states of Tabasco and Veracruz. While this area abuts the Gulf of Mexico, the majority of Olmec settlements were found inland near rivers.
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When?
The Olmec's golden age lasted for about 1200 years from roughly between 1500-300 BCE. Despite the decline of Olmec civilization this area has continued to be inhabited until the present day.
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Mother Civilization
Despite knowing comparatively little about the Olmecs vis-a-vis later Mesoamerican Civilizations, the Olmecs are popularly acknowledged as the first major civilization in Mesoamerica. Although there were other cities and cultures at the time of the Olmecs, none rivaled them in size, opulence, or influence.
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Legacy
The Olmec legacy is as undeniable as it is elusive. On the one hand it's impossible to point to a specific military, economic, or cultural decision that the Olmecs made to influence their contemporaries or descendants. On the other hand, numerous examples of quintessentially mesoamerican cultural phenomena first appear in the Olmec heartland (bloodletting, the mesoamerican pantheon of gods, mesoamerican calendar, among others).
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Legacy continued
On top of this, it is clear that the Olmecs' were in contact with people from distant lands. For instance, many commonplace objects found in Olman were imported from hundreds of miles away. Examples of this include obsidian from the Valley of Mexico, greenstone from Guatemala, iron ore from Chiapas. Conversely, Olmec art has been found all over mesoamerica indicating the depth and breadth of the Olmec's social prestige.
