Olmecs are the people who inhabited Central America in the 16th-2nd centuries BC. Most likely, the Olmec civilization originated in the eastern part of modern Mexico (the states of Veracruz and Tabasco). It is also possible that the people could live in El Salvador and Guatemala.
The name "Olmecs" is translated as "rubber people". This designation was given by the Aztecs in the native area of the Olmecs, where many rubbery plants grew. The first Olmec settlement was called Tamoanchan, which literally means "we are looking for our home." The main occupations of the Olmecs were agriculture, in particular the cultivation of corn and maize, and fishing.
The Olmecs are believed to have founded the first civilization in pre-Columbian America, which gave rise to all other cultures. For this reason, in Latin America, the Olmec culture is called "mother". The Olmecs invented the first written hieroglyphic system, similar to that of the Maya, learned how to calculate time and annual cycles. This people began building the oldest cities in Mexico.
The capital of the Olmec state was the city of San Lorenzo, built 3.4 thousand years ago. Now its ruins are located in the Mexican state of Veracruz. The religious center of the Olmecs was the city of La Venta. Judging by the large number of masks, sculptures and images, totemism was widespread among this people, and the jaguar was considered the main sacred animal.
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A specific feature of the Olmec culture is the construction of gigantic realistic heads made of basalt, an average height of 2.5 m, a circumference of 7 m and a mass of up to 30 tons. Not a single head is repeated, each is endowed with individual facial features of a Negroid type. For this reason, many scholars believe that the Olmecs may have come from the African continent. The stone heads are "dressed" in helmets with a chin strap.
Also, archaeologists and ethnologists are interested in a toy in the form of a dog on wheels discovered at the site of the Olmec settlements, since the opinion has been established in the scientific world that the peoples of Central America did not know the technique of making a wheel.
The discovery of the Olmec culture in the 1930s belongs to the American archaeologist Matthew Stirling. He also conducted the first scientific research on the history of the ancient people.