Mesoamerica's first great civilization, the Gulf-coast Olmec carved colossal basalt heads and built earthen pyramids at San Lorenzo and La Venta, seeding later writing, calendars, and ballgame across the region.
La Venta was abandoned around 400 BC and the heartland declined; Olmec style dissolved into the Epi-Olmec of Tres Zapotes and was absorbed by emerging Maya and Zapotec traditions.
The atlas holds 2 border frames for Olmec — the shape you scrub through changes in 1200 BC · 900 BC.
An insider history of Olmec archaeology at San Lorenzo and La Venta by one of the field's leading excavators.
The standard survey of ancient Mexico opening with the Olmec (broad regional backbone).