Artifacts

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The Olmec Civilization is probably most well known for its colossal stone heads. These head were skillfully made with basalt, a volcanic rock, and weighed about 20 tons. In order to transport the basalt the Olmecs had to place it on water rafts, and haul it using simple machines. These heads have an African look; historians believe that there was a connection between the African and Olmecs. Of course, these heads represented Olmec priests, rulers, other religious leaders, and warriors. Just like snowflakes a stone head is not alike another one. The common characteristics of these are the flat nose, long lips, and head dresses. The first Olmec head was found when miners were digging for oil in Mexico; this was the first sign that the Olmec civilization existed; discovering the true “mother culture of Mesoamerica. Before, the discovery of the Olmecs, the Mayan Civilization was thought to be the first civilization. These stone heads stand for monumental structures of this civilization. The stone heads are a form of Improved Technology because the Olmecs invented it in their time and made it advanced. The stone heads are the most well know artifact, and treasured artifact of the civilization.

**Jaguar God** The Olmecs believed in a jaguar god who was the deity of the underworld, earth, waters, thunder, lightening, fertile soil, and rain. Like Hindus' Brahman, there are many different faces and forms of this deity. This deity was often shown in Olmec art, as half-jaguars, half-serpents, and mostly were jaguars. Were jaguars were members of the Olmec culture that are believed to be in the troubling transformation stage of becoming the jaguar. This phase is similar in Buddhism, when one reaches the Buddha, however the Olmec's suffered during the stint. When one was transformed tobacco powder was put up one's nose. The Olmecs chose to represent a jaguar as one of their gods, because the jaguar was a fierce animal that symbolized life and death. The deity is the shaman of the animal world. A myth exclaims that a long time ago a woman had a half jaguar baby, in time he evolved into the jaguar god. His father was a jaguar and his mom was a human. Of course, the baby is the jaguar deity. Like most religions, the Olmecs gave offerings; the Olmec's consisted of blood and jade objects. As well as preforming rituals, during the month of May. The jaguar god represents the Greek Myth of Mother Nature. The jaguar god is a form of complex institutions because it ties into religion. The jaguar deity took play in many of the characteristics of the Olmec culture. =Animal Souls =

The Olmec Culture believed that they were the descendants of the jaguar god. So, naturally it was believed that every human had an animal spirit inside of them. Olmec's believed when the animal died that the person who has the soul would die, too; if the person was closely related. The animals were called by the name nahual (The animal representation of a god). The fact that many gods had many uses was centered around the fact of the animal souls. There were only five kinds of animal souls: jaguars, monkeys, serpents, eagles, and falcons. The animal soul was believed to the "ticket" to the Olmec's heaven, earth, and underworld. To deeper understand one's soul the Olmec's had Shamans, meaning they practiced Shamanism. The Shamans had the power to heal people, see visions, and access the world of sprits. When a Shaman heals a person they remove the evil spirt from the person's body. Animal souls are another form of complex institutions because they make up the Olmec religion, too. The entire belief in animal souls is the main reason why the Olmec culture was a civilization.

**Mother Culture** = =

The Olmec Civilization was the mother culture of Mesoamerica. A mother culture is "a culture that shapes and influences the customs and ideas of later cultures"(Carnine, et al. p.368). This civilization existed in the time period known as Mesoamerica Formative Period, and was active during 1400-400 BC. During the Olmec Civilization: art, mathematics, mythology, agriculture, writing, language, science, and calendars flourished. Area that was covered by the Olmecs span from the Tuxtlas Mountains to the Chontalpa Lowlands in Mexico. Basalt, which is used to make stone heads comes from the mountains of Tuxtlas, comes from the Tuxtlas Mountains. Olmec Heartland, an archeological term, is the area of Mexico in which the Olmecs first settled, south of the Gulf of Mexico. No one knows why or how this culture declined. There are suggestions that there were assaults, disease, fails in agriculture, or that this civilization became the ancestors of the Mayans; the civilization that was previously thought to be the mother culture, before the discovery of the Olmec's culture. The Olmecs mostly influenced Latin American by its slash-and-burn agriculture (to cut down a piece of land and burn it to farm; when the land becomes less productive farmers move to a new piece of land), calendars and its mathematics. Being a mother culture is a form of advanced cities.Without the mother culture Olmec Civilization who knows what Latin America would be like, today. =Polytheistic = The Olmec Civilization was polythestic, meaning the people of the Olmec culture believed in multiple gods and goddesses. Out of the numerous gods and goddesses the Olmecs worshiped, archeologist only have identified 10. The first mother goddess and father god are the parents of all the gods. The mother goddess was the moon goddess. While, the father god, Plumbed Serpent, oversaw construction of new things throughout the cosmos. He constantly is reborn day after day, like the Egyptian god Ra. The mother goddess is six years older than the father god. Hunahpu and Xbalanque are the twins gods of scribes. The twins overcame the forces of death and turned their older brothers into monkeys, too. Itzam-Ye is a god responsible for the four corners of the earth, and established the peak of a mountain. His wife, Ix Chel, is the goddess of human birth, medicine, and weaving. K'awil is the god of royality, and was often represented when a new king came into power. The Jaguar god live moves the sun across the sky, and then has it fall into the west side of the underworld. While the sun is in the sky the Jaguar god is called by the name of Kinich Ahau. Wherefore, the rain god and monster of the world, sits on the very edge of the earth, shreds his blood asrain, and uses his axes as lightening is Chac. The Lord of Death dwells in the underworld and is often represented as a skeleton. The Witz god represents living mountains; his open mouth represents the opening of mountains, meaning his images were placed on temples to make them mountains. The polytheistic religion is another form of complex institutions because it relates to religion.

Carnine, Doulgas, et al. //<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">McDougal Littell World History Ancient Through Early Modern Times //<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">. Evanston, Illinois: Houghton Mufflin Company, 2009. Print.
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