Mesoamerica- Olmec

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Mesoamerica- Olmec

• Cecilia Shutt
• Grayson Gibson
• P-6

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Cities

• San Lorenzo
• 1400-900 B.C.E.
• La Venta rose to prominence
• Main trade city that used the Coatzacoalocos
  river basin
• La Venta
• 900-400 B.C.E.
• Great Pyramid is the largest Mesoamerican
  structure
• Harvested cocoa, rubber, and salt

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Cities

• Laguna de los Cerros
• Harvested basalt
• Used stone needed for making manos, metates
  (stones for grinding food), and other monuments

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Central Gov. and Law Codes

• Didnt have an army
• Used a hierarchical system
• Little is known about the political structure of
  the Olmec society
• Colossal heads represented rulers

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Writing and Record Keeping

• Thought to be the first civilization in the
  Western Hemisphere to develop writing system
• Two languages spoken were Mixean and Zoquean
  (these two languages are thought to have come
  from Manding, which is spoken in West Africa
• Documented Hieroglyphics were known as Epi-Olmec
  symbols

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Specialized Jobs

• Farmed with the slash-and-burn technique
• Artists/Stone Carvers made many stone heads that
  have been the main artifact found in Olmec ruins
• Priests and Shamans lead religious activities

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Social Classes

• Classes were divided into wealth and social
  statuses
• The elite group lived in small urban centers
• Mainly traded art and luxury items
• The common people lived in rural areas
• Farmed and hunted for a living

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Complex Technologies

• Invented the number zero
• Used a 365 day calendar
• Invented the compass

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Highly Organized Religions

• Believed in one major God along with ten other
  who were gods of fire, water, sun, war, fertility
  and sky
• Were jaguar was the major God that was chosen
  because it was the most fearful and powerful
  animal
• Rituals and sacrifices were preformed by priests,
  shamans, and other high rulers

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BAM!!!