Editing Olmecs (section)

==History of archaeological research==
[[File:Kunz Axe.jpg|upright|thumb|Kunz Axe; 1000–400 BCE; [[jadeite]]; height: 31 cm (12{{fraction|3|16}} in.), width 16 cm (6{{fraction|5|16}} in.), 11 cm (4{{fraction|5|16}} in.); [[American Museum of Natural History]] (New York City, USA). The jade Kunz Axe, first described by [[George Frederick Kunz|George Kunz]] in 1890. Although shaped like an axe head, with an edge along the bottom, it is unlikely that this artifact was used except in ritual settings. At a height of {{cvt|11|in|cm|0|order=flip}}, it is one of the largest jade objects ever found in Mesoamerica.<ref>Benson (1996) p. 263.</ref>]]
Olmec culture was unknown to historians until the mid-19th century. In 1869, the Mexican antiquarian traveller [[José Melgar y Serrano]] published a description of the first Olmec monument to have been found ''[[in situ]]''. This monument&nbsp;– the colossal head now labelled [[Tres Zapotes Monument A]]&nbsp;– had been discovered in the late 1850s by a farm worker clearing forested land on a ''[[hacienda]]'' in Veracruz. Hearing about the curious find while travelling through the region, Melgar y Serrano first visited the site in 1862 to see for himself and complete the partially exposed sculpture's excavation. His description of the object, published several years later after further visits to the site, represents the earliest documented report of an artifact of what is now known as the Olmec culture.<ref>See translated excerpt from Melgar y Serrano's original 1869 report, reprinted in Adams (1991), p. 56. See also Pool (2007), pp. 1, 35 and Stirling (1968), p. 8.</ref>

In the latter half of the 19th century, Olmec artifacts such as the Kunz Axe (right) came to light and were subsequently recognized as belonging to a unique artistic tradition.

[[Frans Blom]] and [[Oliver La Farge]] made the first detailed descriptions of [[La Venta]] and [[San Martin Pajapan Monument 1]] during their 1925 expedition. However, at this time, most archaeologists assumed the Olmec were contemporaneous with the Maya&nbsp;– even Blom and La Farge were, in their own words, "inclined to ascribe them to the Maya culture".<ref>Quoted in Coe (1968), p. 40.</ref>

[[Matthew Stirling]] of the [[Smithsonian Institution]] conducted the first detailed scientific excavations of Olmec sites in the 1930s and 1940s. Stirling, along with art historian [[Miguel Covarrubias]], became convinced that the Olmec predated most other known Mesoamerican civilizations.<ref>Coe (1968), pp. 42–50.</ref>

In counterpoint to Stirling, [[Miguel Covarrubias|Covarrubias]], and [[Alfonso Caso]], however, Mayanists [[J. Eric S. Thompson|J. Eric Thompson]] and [[Sylvanus Morley]] argued for Classic-era dates for the Olmec artifacts. The question of Olmec chronology came to a head at a 1942 [[Tuxtla Gutierrez]] conference, where Alfonso Caso declared that the Olmecs were the "mother culture" ("''cultura madre''") of Mesoamerica.<ref>"Esta gran cultura, que encontramos en niveles antiguos, es sin duda madre de otras culturas, como la maya, la teotihuacana, la zapoteca, la de El Tajín, y otras" ("This great culture, which we encounter in ancient levels, is without a doubt mother of other cultures, like the Maya, the Teotihuacana, the Zapotec, that of El Tajin, and others".) Caso (1942), p. 46.</ref>

Shortly after the conference, [[radiocarbon dating]] proved the antiquity of the Olmec civilization, although the "mother culture" question generated considerable debate even 60 years later.<ref>Coe (1968), p. 50.</ref>

The Olmecs could have had direct influence on the societies around them. Olmec iconography and artwork uses imagery of animals such as the jaguar and the serpent, as well as large heads to depict their leaders. This same artwork and imagery can be seen in later civilizations' art and creations. Many Olmec artifacts have been found beyond their original territory. Despite the evidence, the hypothesis of a "mother culture" is uncertain as the diversity of cultures in Mesoamerica is great enough that the cultural strides made by the Olmec could have been made by other civilizations independently. In some cases, the motifs seen in Olmec archaeology might have been adopted from even earlier civilizations. Examples of these civilizations include the site of Zohapilco, the center for [[Tlatilco]] culture, the [[Zapotec peoples|Zapotecs]], and [[San Jose Mogote]]. Discoveries of older agriculture, writing, and ceramic creation show that cultures surrounding the Olmecs could have been more advanced, meaning that the Olmecs are not necessarily the "mother culture" that has been hypothesized.

At the site of [[Zohapilco]], some of the oldest ceramics in Mesoamerica have been found dating back to almost 5,000 years ago. The area was known to have had a high population and was a clay-rich source for brickmaking.<ref>Hepp, Guy David. "Interaction and Exchange in Early Formative Western and Central Mesoamerica: New Data from Coastal Oaxaca.” Interregional Interaction in Ancient Mesoamerica, edited by Joshua D. Englehardt and Michael D. Carrasco, University Press of Colorado, 2019, pp. 51–82. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvkjb2qb.7. Accessed 18 Nov. 2024.</ref> The ceramic figurines that have been found there represent pregnant women and could have influenced later Olmec civilization. Olmec art shows that they could have adopted very similar styles of art.<ref>Evans, Susan T. (2004). Ancient Mexico and Central America: Archaeology and Culture History. London: Thames and Hudson. ISBN 0-500-28440-7., p. 122.</ref> These connections show the complexity of Mesoamerican culture through the discovery of more and more ceramics throughout the region. 

[[San Jose Mogote]] is another site that has elements of cultural strides that the Olmecs could have adopted as the site can be dated back to 1500–500 BCE. San Jose Mogote is a site that dates to the early [[Zapotec peoples|Zapotecs]],<ref>Evans, Susan T. (2004). Ancient Mexico and Central America: Archaeology and Culture History. London: Thames and Hudson. ISBN 0-500-28440-7., p. 122.</ref> a civilization that situated well outside the Olmec heartland. The site shows some of the earlier signs of a working irrigation system by diverting water from streams over cropland.<ref>Marcus, Joyce; Kent V. Flannery (1996). Zapotec Civilization: How Urban Society Evolved in Mexico's Oaxaca Valley. London: Thames and Hudson. ISBN 0-500-05078-3.</ref> This irrigation system created by the Zapotecs existed well before the Olmecs existed as a society. The Olmecs also used various irrigation methods, but because of the difference in dating it is safe to infer that they most likely obtained some of these methods and ideas from the Zapotecs.
	
Despite evidence existing that at one time pointed in the direction that the Olmecs could have been a "mother culture" in Mesoamerica, these new discoveries largely refute that idea. The older evidence of the Zapotecs and other civilizations show that what was once considered Olmec technological and social evolutions were in fact much more widespread throughout the region before the Olmecs had even arrived at their strongest point. Mesoamerica is filled with many different civilizations that all contributed to the overall development of the region as time went on.