Mexico is home to some of the most amazing civilizations of the New World, including the Olmecs, who flourished on the Gulf Coast as early as 1500 BCE.  The Olmecs are important as a Mother Culture, a culture that developed beliefs and traditions that became the foundation for future high civilizations, such as the Maya and Aztecs. The large Olmec Head, illustrated above, reflects ideas that were passed to the Maya and Aztec elite, for instance. In fact, Olmec influences are are still evident in daily life of the people of Mexico and surrounding regions even today.

The purpose of the Colossal Olmec Heads (above) has been hotly debated. The heads vary in size from 5-12 feet in height, weighing from 5-20 tons.  The average height is 6-8 feet, and the average weight is about ten tons. (The heads at Villahermosa, like the one above, measure 5-6 feet high.)  These heads were carved in quarries and then transported to ceremonial centers, often located miles away.  The amount of effort in creating and moving these heads indicates how important they were to the Olmec.  So, what did they depict?  Experts have conjectured that the heads depict rulers. Each wears a helmet or headdress, and had distinctive facial features. The helmet might refer to some of the roles of the king--as warrior (wearing a helmet in battle) and as ballplayer (meeting an opponent in the ritual ballgame). If the experts are correct about the meaning of these Olmec heads, it proves the importance of the Olmec as a Mother Culture, because later Maya and Aztec kings also led their troops into battle, participated in the ballgame, and were considered basic to the existence of their people. (For more information on the ballgame, check the travel page for Tikal.)   


Later cultures continue many of the Olmec's traditions, including the
creation of large ceremonial centers, which the Olmec start. Many later ceremonial centers, like Tikal and Palenque (at the right), were created as backdrops for rituals.  They also served as places for public displays that enhanced royal power. Palenque, in the State of Chiapas,  included an elaborate administrative center, multiple temples and a ball court. Palenque has become a particularly famous site, because, in 1952, an archaeologist excavating in one of the temples found a passageway leading down about 80 feet to a subterranean room with the untouched burial of a great Mayan king, Lord Pacal. The temple over the burial rose nine levels, like the imposing Temple I at Tikal, referring to the nine levels of the underworld.  Buried with Lord Pacal, the Maya placed incredible works of art and objects of wealth.

For more information about Palenque, including updates on a current archaeological dig there, visit:http://www.mesoweb.com/palenque/