Mother culture

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A mother culture is a term for an early people and their culture, with great and widespread influence on later cultures and people. Though the original culture may fade, the mother culture's influence grows for ages in the future. Later civilizations either learn and build upon their old ways, or can learn them through peaceful or military assimilation. This term can be found in the novel Ishmael by Daniel Quinn.

Mother cultures in history include that of ancient Greece in the Mediterranean, and the Olmec in Mesoamerica.