Early Formative & Olmec Flashcards
Study for midterm
EARLY FORMATIVE PERIOD
5500-3600 bp
adption of fulltime resource management systems
(growing crops, exploiting shellfish beds)
Olmec
3500-4000 bp (Early Formative)
descendents of shellfish/fruit eaters and river levee farmers
idea is that water management (spreading annual flooding be cutting channels) gives rise to social control becuase of the need for social enforcement mechanism to ensure upstream can’t cutoff downstream
Olmec
San Lorenzo
3600 bp
Many tons of carved basalt monuments and a basalt drain (40 ton collosal head)
nearest basalt resources 125 miles away
Located on a sand dune (worked into a platform) on riverside levee land
levee land is very fertile (1-3 crops a year), floods replenish the soil
Many surface structures (possible political religious)
Olmec
Trading System
Olmec were getting huge amounts of basalt and obsidian, etc. - what were they giving in return (balance of trade)?
People who control levee lands are the ones with the food surplus necessary to get basalt and obsidian
Food extends trade networks food can be traded and people are the pack animals
Coe argues that Olmec “missionized” areas like Chalcatzingo, Pacific Piedmont, Valley of Oaxaca and religious leaders took hold
Olmec
La Venta
3000 bp
Surrounded by levee lands and swamps
elites had access to huge amounts of jade, obsidian, and basalt
Massive offerings and basalt monuments (conspicuous consumption)
1000 tons of serpentine buried in Massive Offering No. 1
Olmec as the
Mother Culture of Mesoamerica
Chalcatzingo
Valley of Morelos, important location on obsidian trade network
“Olmec cliff carvings”
Argued to be an Olmex outpost in the Highlands near obsidian source; carvings commemorate conquest
But cultural complexity preceded any Olmec influence and Olmec elite items added to but did not replace existing elite objects
Olmec as the Mother Culture of Mesoamerica
San Luis Mogote
Nothern end of Valley of Oaxaca
Shows local development of traditions prior to Olmec influen (Danzantes)
Olmec cultureal items add to but don’t replace existing culture
Olmec as the Mother Culture of Mesoamerica
Monte Alto
Gautemala Pacific Piedmont
similar to GC Pacific - rivers drain into ocean, levees (**smaller and not as much rain)
Shellfish/fruit eaters followed by levee farmers
Possible pre-Olmec dates
Collosoal heads (smaller) and full bodied “fat boys”
Olmec as the Mother Culture of Mesoamerica
El Chayal
Valley of Guatemala
On most direct land route from Maya Lowlands to obsidian, jade and basalt
Cliff paintings claimed to be Olmec (based on head shape)
But the site is a Classic Period site, built 1000 years after Olment removing jade from this area
Olmec as the Mother Culture of Mesoamerica
Cor Site
3000 bp
Quiche Basin
Appears to have been an outpost of Pacific Piedmont peoples to conduct trade
During the height of La Venta
Trading groups went for nearby basalt, obsidian, quetzal feathers
These sites suggest that the Olmec were one of several trading partners moving goods around Mesoamerica
Also halucinagenic mushrooms (Peter Furst argues this is how leaders took on attributes of the gods and solved social problems by saying back what they had already heard from talking to community)
