Olmec Reflection

Describe Olmec Culture and Legacy

Culture: 

The Olmecs lived near the water and this advantage allowed them to became fishers. Everyday job of Olmecs were fishing, farming and also building houses. Their houses were located on dwellings. The dwellings could hold up to several houses. They built their houses from mud, wood and palm leaves. The main job of farmers were providing food for everyone in the village. The nobles of the Olmec society were called elite. The elite lived in big stone houses, wore fancy clothes and always had a fancy jewelry made out of jade or any other beautiful rocks. The commoners were usually farms and craftworkers. They lived in small house that were made out of mud or wood. The art in their civilization included big stone heads that represent Olmec rulers or famous ball players. The Olmecs also made small sculptures from jade and they also liked doing pottery and painting. Similar to Mayans, Olmecs used glyphs to write, record important dates and tell stories. Also Olmecs worshiped only several gods. They worshiped gods such as: fire, corn and jaguar. Mostly their gods were represented as animals. The Olmecs used pyramids as religious centers. 

Legacy: 

The Olmec influenced other later civilizations to come in contact with other civilizations across MesoAmerica. They also have influenced other civilizations with their art such as sky dragon and the snake god. The snake god will later be shown in the later civilizations such as Aztecs and Mayans. The Olmec civilization spread across Mesoamerica because the Olmecs did trading with precious stuff.