Olmecs of Mesoamerica
By Noah Fried, George
Gavales,
Bryce Veach
and Drew Dickson
Economy
• Economy based on hunting, farming, and
fishing.
• Early hunters used advanced weapons made
from iron
• Early farmers used tools made from stone
and iron
• Early fishermen had nets and boats
• Money was barter, trade
Trade
• The Olmecs were known to have traded both
nationally and internationally
• They imported stone and other art supplies
• They imported seeds and other natural
resources
• Bits of their culture were found so far as
Central America
Labor
• There was specialized labor
• There were the average people who hunted,
farmed, and fished
• There were craftsmen who made weapons
and tools
• There were scribes who used Zapotec writing
• Officials to run the different sections of
government were at the top of the list
Inventions
•
•
•
•
•
The compass
The ziggurat
The ability to write
The concept of zero
A form of recreational sport using rubber
balls
Religion
• There were human sacrifices, some victims were
babies
• Rulers, priests, and shamans led all religious
functions
• A or the god of the Olmecs was a feathered
serpent
• All rulers were in some way related to a god,
making them a sort of deity
• Shamans were represented by half human half
animal figurines
Art
• Olmec art is highly stylized and uses an
iconography reflective of the religious
meaning of the artworks
• They used jade, clay, basalt, and greenstone
among others
• The Wrestler is a good example of this(the
slide background)
Caste System
Military
• There is no record of a military
• The weapons that could have been used were
either destroyed or nonexistent
• They only recorded weapon of the Olmecs is a
paddle shaped club
• Because of the size of the empire they must have
had a military
• It seems that the stereotypical bow and arrow
was not used unless they were destroyed