Olmec, indigenous people of Mesoamerica, who established one of the region's first major civilizations.

They lived along the central coast of the Gulf of Mexico, just west of the Yucatán Peninsula, in the swampy jungle river basins of the present-day Mexican states of Veracruz and Tabasco. Over time, they extended their influence through the highlands of Mexico; the Valley of Mexico; Oaxaca; and westwards to Guerrero.

The Olmec flourished between about 1500 and 600 BC. San Lorenzo, their oldest known center, was destroyed around 900 BC. It was replaced by La Venta, a city built in an axial pattern that influenced urban development in Central America for centuries.

A mounded earthen pyramid about 30 m (about 100 ft) high, among the earliest in Mesoamerica, was the center of a complex of temples and plazas.

The Olmec were among the first Mesoamerican peoples to use stone in sculpture and architecture, even though it had to be quarried in distant mountains. Their colossal stone heads of males, about 2.7 m (about 9 ft) high, can be seen today, along with other Olmec artifacts, in the Mexican city of Villahermosa.

Olmec writing, a numerical system, was the precursor of other Mesoamerican forms of writing. The Olmec civilization established patterns of culture that influenced its successors for centuries to come.

*** see also 'Pre Columbian Art & Architecture, VI Mesoamerican Area, A. Pre-Classic Period, Olmec. ***

Carved from stone quarried in the far-away Tuxtla Mountains, this giant male head is characteristic of the Olmec work found at the ancient city of La Venta in Tabasco State, Mexico. The Olmecs, who inhabited Mesoamerica between 1500 and 600 bc, were the first in the region to use stone for sculpture and architecture. Rick Strange/The Picture Cube

"Olmec," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2000 http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2000 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.