The Olmec Civilization

An Olmec Stone head.
The Olmec Social Structure
The Olmec Tech.
The Olmec Politics and Government
The Olmec Culture and Economic
Olmec environment!!!
Structures And Art
-The Olmec built Elaborate
temples on top of pyramid

- They built giant stone heads that overlooked their villages

- They built paved roads that connected their villages

- The Olmec had a theocratic* government.
- They traded with people who lived thousands of miles away.
- They are not believed to have any government.
- Nobody knows what happened to their culture.
* A Theocratic government is a government who's rulers are devinely picked.
T
he Olmec was very the regular indian group
-they had there own type of mask
They really cared about the sunflower
They used slash and burn in there culture like the Mayan.
They had many domestic dogs.

Writing
Even though the Olmec did
Write, Scientists were not
able to decipher it.
Mathematical contribution
The Olmec developed a
Calender in which the
Mayan calender evolved
from.

The Olmec economy centered around agricultural production.
The diet of the people was contained fish and shellfish.
Natural resources found in the area include cacao, rubber, and salt.
The Olmec Civilization!!
the Olmec mask
An Olmec head
- The Olmec social structure consisted of two main groups: the main population, or common people, and the elite.

-The common people worked on farms with the irrigation systems in rural areas, supplying food for the population which the elite lived off of.

-The elite class consisted of rulers, religious figures, and skilled artisans and craftsmen, who lived in small religious centers or cities, such as La Venta and San Lorenzo.

-It is believed that in order to gain power and authority, rulers would often associate themselves with different gods, and the elite ruled by obtaining control over trade and precious imported materials, such as jade and cacao.

-However, despite the supposed power of the rulers, it is not believed that the cities ruled over all of the rural areas or people.

Their ranking went from Highest to lowest of Social Class
High council( Priests, Medicine Doctors, and Protectors
Workers, Assistants Sculptors, and Builders
Families, and Farmers
Servants

https://sites.google.com/site/theolmeccivilization/home/social-class-structure

Olmec civilization Lived around 1200 and 400 B.C *Blood letting is one of the rituals. *Olmec also make pottery and god heads.
*Had many gods most animals or food
*Some gods are dwarfs
*some gods are Aquatic animals

Made by: Eli, Jager, Justin, Josh
http://archaeology.about.com/od/olmeccivilization/a/olmec_2.htm