Rise of the Olmec Civilization

The Olmec civilization, generally regarded as the earliest major civilization of Mesoamerica, emerged in the tropical lowlands of Mexico's Gulf Coast, in the modern states of Veracruz and Tabasco, with the ceremonial center of San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán rising to prominence as the civilization's first major urban center by around 1200 BCE. Olmec culture is best known archaeologically for its colossal carved stone heads, thought to depict individual rulers, and for early developments in Mesoamerican art, iconography, ceremonial architecture and possibly the region's first writing system, achievements that later influenced the Maya, Zapotec and other Mesoamerican civilizations that followed. San Lorenzo declined around 900 BCE, and the center of Olmec civilization shifted to La Venta, which flourished until around 400 BCE with its own monumental earthen pyramid and stone sculpture, before La Venta's own decline marked the end of Olmec civilization's dominance, though its cultural and religious influence, sometimes called Mesoamerica's mother culture, persisted across the region for many centuries afterward.