WHO ON EARTH WERE THE OLMECS?
Between 1200 and 300 BC the Olmec civilisation flourished along the Gulf Coast of southern Mexico. This was the first true civilisation of the New World, a complex society with co-existing political territories, long distance trade in valuables and America's first known symbol system and defined style of art.
Over three thousand years ago the Olmecs had developed a calendar an alphabet and a system of arithmetic. They used a lodestone magnetic compass centuries before the Chinese, and built grand cities with complex drainage systems and the largest pyramids then erected in the New World. They were also the first and finest sculptors on the continent, carving the hardest of stones with unequaled skill and without the use of metal tools.
Among the many artworks discovered in modern times, the most mysterious and extraordinary objects left by the Olmecs are a number of colossal heads made of basalt. These monumental portraits of their rulers stand almost three metres high and weigh up to fifteen tonnes. The volcanic boulders from which they are carved had to be transported ninety kilometres from the mountains. Such enormous tasks called for a well-run social machine a committed workforce and a strong guiding hand from the seat of power.
In an age when the rest of Middle America still lived in small independent communities of farmers and fishermen, the Olmecs achieved an unparalleled degree of social organisation.
They are remembered for the beauty and technical brilliance of their works of art the grandeur and mystery of their monuments, and the importance their iconography attached to the heads of their leaders.
Similarly, Olmec Search & Selection attaches great importance to the most talented heads in the Property and Real Estate sectors. We go to great lengths to locate them for our clients.
