The Olmec World, the first major exhibition of Olmec art and the first important catalogue to concentrate on this seminal civilization.

OLMEC CIVILIZATION: 1200BC- 600AD The Olmecs were a culture of ancient peoples -1300-400 B.C. - of the East Mexico lowlands. They are often regarded as the Mother Culture of later Middle American civilizations. The Olmec people called themselves Xi (pronounced Shi). Olmecs had colossal heads some of which were deformed. Portrait of a man with said deformation. This life-sized greenstone head was ...

Home THE OLMEC In 1862 a colossal stone head was discovered in the state of Veracruz along the steaming Gulf Coast of Mexico. In the years to come, artifacts from the culture later termed Olmec turned up at widespread sites in Mexico and adjacent Central America, with the greatest number of characteristic themes being present in the region of the original discovery. For decades these findings ...

Study of a newly discovered column of hieroglyphic text on the La Mojarra stela has confirmed the accuracy of translations published five years ago.

The Olmec Culture: La Venta and Izapa For more information on Olmec cultures, click here. Double-headed Figure Seated Figure Colossal Head Vessel Relief Personal Ornaments Stela 1 and Altar 1 The Olmec Culture The Olmec culture flourished from around 1200 to 300 BC in central Mexico and parts of Guatemala, Honduras and Costa Rica. Olmec works of art, made of stone, clay, and jade, represent the ...