Olmec heartland

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The Olmec heartland. The yellow dots represent ancient habitation sites, while the red dots represent isolated artifact finds unassociated with any ancient town or village.

Not all monumental art was associated with towns or villages. Monument 1 (above) was found on top of the San Martin Pajapan volcano, part of the Tuxtla Mountains. Note that the headdress features a typical were-jaguar face, with a downturned mouth, almond eyes, and a cleft forehead. The basalt status is 142 cm (55 in) high, and was re-discovered by Frans Blom in his expeditions of the late 1920s.

The Olmec heartland is the southern portion of Mexico's Gulf Coast region between the Tuxtla mountains and the Olmec archaeological site of La Venta, extending roughly 80 km (50 mi) inland from the Gulf of Mexico coastline at its deepest. It is today, as it was during the height of the Olmec civilization, a tropical lowland forest environment, crossed by meandering rivers.

Most researchers consider the Olmec heartland to be the home of the Olmec culture which became widespread over Mesoamerica from 1200 BCE until roughly 500 BCE. The area is also referred to as Olman.

The major heartland sites are:

• San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán
• La Venta
• Tres Zapotes
• Laguna de los Cerros - the least researched and least important of the major sites.

Smaller sites include:

• El Manatí, an Olmec sacrificial bog.
• El Azuzul, on the southern edge of the San Lorenzo area.
• San Andrés, near La Venta.

Important heartland finds not associated with any archaeological site include:

• The wrestler (Photo) found at Arroyo Sonso.
• Las Limas Monument 1, found by two children looking for a stone to crack nuts.
• San Martín Pajapan Monument 1 (at right), found high on the slopes of San Martin Pajapan.

[edit] See also

• Olmec influences on Mesoamerican cultures