drums beating music narrator the thousand yearsgo in souern mexico, an unprecedented culture flounearhe gulf coast. Le rivers meandering through the hot, tropical lowlands were the regions lifeblood. Theswaterways for transporon and tra enuraged agriculture. Annual floods left deposits of fertile soil, ideal for growing maize, squash and beans. More than two thousand years later, the aztecs called this region olman, or rubber country, the name of the peoples. Who dwelled there in antiquity is lost, but they have become known as olmec. To express their political and religious beliefs, the ancient olmec invented imagery of spellbinding power. Theyarved monumental sculptures fm volcanic rock without mel tools, ing haers and chisels made ostone. They transported massive blocks of basalt, ighing up to 2ns, across miles of teory thout benefit of the wel. They built the First Pyramid in the americas, rising 100 feet anma of ren the half millionubic ft ofpa they fasoned delicate, and often dee
music narrator the thousand yearsgo in souern mexico an urecedent culture flourished in the jungle nearhe gulf coast. Rivers meandering through the hot, tropical lowlands were the regions lifeblood. Theswaterwayfor transportion and tra encouraged agriculture. Annual floods left deposits of fertile soil ideal for growing maize, squash and beans. More than two thousand years later, the aztecs called this region olman, or rubber country, for its many rubber trs. The name of the people who dwelled there in antiquity is lost but they have become known as olmec. To express their political and religious beliefs, the ancient olmec invented imagery of spellbinding power. They carved monumental sculptures fm volcanic rock without mel tools, ing hamms and chisels made ostone. They transported massive blocks of basalt weighing up to 2ns across miles of teory thout benefit of the wel. They built the First Pyramid in the americas, rising 100 feet anma of ren the half millionubic f ofpa th fasoned de
music narrator the thousand yearsgo in souern mexico, an unprecedent culture flourished in the jungle nearhe gulf coast. Rivers meandering through the hot, tropical lowlands were the regions lifeblood. Theswaterwayfor transporon and trade enuraged agriculture. Annual floods left deposits of fertile soil, ideal for growing maize, squash and beans. More than two thousand years later, the aztecs called this region olman, or rubber country, the name of the peoples. Who dwelled there in antiquity is lost, but they have become known as olmec. To express their political and religious beliefs, the ancient olmec invented imagery of spellbinding power. They carved monumental sculptures from volcanic rock without mel tools, using hammers and chisels ma ostone. They transported massive blocks of basalt, weighi up to 20 ns, across miles of teory thout benefit of the wel. They built the First Pyramid in the americas, rising 100 feet an of ren the half millionubic ft ofpa e they fasoned delicate, and
Some are shown cradling a supernatural infant part human, part jaguar who may have been their link to the spiritual world. Similar figures appear on sculptound at la venta thtirlg me to be altars. But decades later, a clue to their true function was discovered far from the coast, at the mntainous site of oxtotitclan. Its name means place of caves, which ancient mesoamericans regarded as sacred entrances to the underrld, the mythic realm of ancestral and supernatural srits. A rock painting above the cave mouth shows a ruler wearing a bird mask and feathered costume. His elaborate throne depicts a monstrous supernatural face, similar to tse on the socalled alta of la venta, incating thath, too, were rones. Priousesearch proposed that la venta was exclusively a site where priests resided and conducted ritual activities. However, new research has shown that it was a more complex urban area. New speaker with the new findings, we find a much more dense population, not only on the site, on th
music narrator the thousand yearsgo in souern mexico, an unprecedent culture flourished in the jungle nearhe gulf coast. Rivers meandering through the hot, tropical lowlands were the regions lifeblood. Theswaterwayfor transportion and tra encouraged agriculture. Annual floods left deposits of fertile soil, ideal for growing maize, squash and beans. More than two thousand years later, the aztecs called this region olman, or rubber country, the name of the peoples. Who dwelled there in antiquity is lost, but they have become known as olmec. To express their political and religious beliefs, the ancient olmec invented imagery of spellbinding power. They carved monumental sculptures fm volcanic rock without mel tools, ing haers and chisels made ostone. They transported massive blocks of basalt, weighing up to 2ns, across miles of teory thout benefit of the wel. They built the First Pyramid in the americas, rising 100 feet an oren the a half millionubic ft ofpa they fasoned delicate, and oft