1 / 8

The Flourishing Olmec Civilization: Insights into Politics, Economy, and Culture

Explore the Olmec civilization, characterized by political structures led by a main chieftain, intricate trade networks, religious practices centered on polytheism and ceremonial objects, and a rich artistic and intellectual heritage including astronomy and hieroglyphics.

raina
Download Presentation

The Flourishing Olmec Civilization: Insights into Politics, Economy, and Culture

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Olmec Civilization

  2. Political • One main chieftain who had alliances with lesser chiefs • Chief in charge of military and construction of monuments • Priests dominated the government • Two main city states – La Venta and San Lorenzo • Very little military force (both city states destroyed by outsiders)

  3. Economic • Lots of trade (both within Olmec civilization and with other societies) • Basalt, obsidian, iron ore, and jade - imported • Extensive communication • Domesticated animals = turkey and dog • Lots of specialists • Villages = sparsely populated ceremonial trading centers • Olmec = rubber people • Very wealthy • Food • Maize, beans, squash • Fishing and hunting

  4. Religious • Built big dirt temple mounds and stone pyramids • Polytheistic • Human/animal figures as gods • Carved religious statues and had ceremonial objects • Had ceremonies to honor their gods • Birth was celebrated (optimistic view of life) • Were-Jaguar – main god: combination of jaguar (earth) and snake (water)…god of rain and fertility, avatar of life and death • World Tree/Tree of Life

  5. Main Chief Social Lesser Chiefs • Had ball games • Olmec priests and traders lived among populations of other nearby societies Nobles/Priests Merchants Artisans Farmers

  6. Intellectual/Artistic • Engineering (San Lorenzo built on an artificial platform) • Astronomy (aligned cities with stars) • Hieroglyphics • Calendar – Bars and dots • Long Count Calendar • Mathematics

  7. Near (Geography) • Mexico and Central America • Centered around Gulf Coast of Mexico • Fertile and flooded plains

  8. Sources • "Olmec Civilization." Olmec Civilization. Crystallinks.com. 2 Sept. 2008 <http://www.crystalinks.com/olmec.html>. • Mandelkow, Brian. "San Lorenzo." MNSU.edu. Minnesota State University. 29 Aug. 2008 <http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/archaeology/sites/meso_america/sanlorenzo.html>. • Textbooks

More Related