Archaeologist Emiliano Gallaga Murrieta removes dirt from remains that were among those found at a tomb that is one of the oldest in Mesoamerica.
An elaborate crypt at least 2,500 years old was found in the Mexican state of Chiapas. The remains are believed to be an early ruler of the Zoque people.
The Zoque are generally thought to be descended from early emigrants from the Olmec culture. The tomb was near the top of a three-story pyramid at the site of Chiapa de Corzo, about 60 miles southeast of the Olmec coastal city of La Venta on the Gulf of Mexico.
Aerial view of the Mound 11 excavations. (Oscar Leon Ramírez)
“For so long, the Olmec people have been considered the ‘Mother Culture’ where everything started in Mesoamerica,” said archaeologist Carl Wendt of Cal State Fullerton, who was not involved in the research. “This find is showing that complexity is not necessarily confined to the Olmec area.”
The full article is posted on LA Times Website
A tablet with unknown writing was found in Veracruz has features indicating it comes from the Olmec civilization. The tablet weighs about 26 pounds and the text contains 62 symbols arranged in horizontal rows—unusual for Mesoamerican scripts, which typically use vertical rows. They date the tablet to about the San Lorenzo phase which ended about 900 BCE. This is approximately 400 years before writing was though to have first appeared in the Western hemisphere. Another interesting feature of this find is the surface containing the text appears to be concave and they believe the block has been carved repeatedly.
Tagged with Olmec, Writing.
The section of the main site MesoAmericas.com for the people of the ancient cultures has been started. Here is the first paragraph:
Olmec Mother Culture
The earliest known civilization in Mesoamerica is the Olmec. It appears they are the genesis of most of the aspects of the Mesoamerican cultures. The form of their government, pyramid-temple building, writing, astronomy, art, mathematics, economics and religion became the template for succeeding cultures. The questions of where the Olmec received their inspiration and knowledge, not to mention the required force, to create the Mesoamerican culture is rarely examined deeply.
More to come…
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