The name Olmec, in fact, comes from a Nahuatl word meaning "rubber land," a reference to one of the natural resources available in the Olmec heartland. It is not known exactly where the Olmec people first came from, or how they came to settle in the lowlands of Mexico's southern Gulf Coast, or what language the Olmec spoke, or even what they called themselves. Researchers have been studying Olmec culture since the early 20th century, but there is still a great deal about the Olmec that remains unknown to contemporary scholars. History The Olmec heartland where the Olmecs reigned from c.1400 - 400 BCE. 4.3 Mesoamerican Long Count calendar and invention of the zero concept.4.1 Bloodletting and sacrifice speculations.Olmec artworks are considered among ancient America's most striking and beautiful, and among the world's masterpieces. In fact, the Olmec civilization was first defined through artifacts purchased on the pre-Columbian art market in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The most familiar aspect of the Olmecs is their artwork, particularly the aptly-named colossal heads. The Olmec were a sedentary group, and they produced large architectural complexes and a great deal of material culture. The Olmec have long attracted interest because of their fascinating and diverse artworks using semi-precious stones and their sophisticated monumental figurative sculpture. Among other "firsts", there is evidence that the Olmec practiced ritual bloodletting and played the Mesoamerican ballgame, hallmarks of nearly all subsequent Mesoamerican societies. They laid many of the foundations for the civilizations that followed. The most ancient of the Mesoamerican civilizations is known by the name Olmec. Monument 1, one of the four Olmec colossal heads at La Venta.
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