That were whipped into a chocolate drink formed the

that were whipped into a chocolate drink
formed the basis of commerce. The mother
of Mesoamerican cultures was the Olmec
civilization.
Flourishing along the hot Gulf Coast of Mexico from about 1200 to about 400 BCE, the Olmec produced a number
of major works of art, architecture, pottery, and sculpture. Most recognizable are their giant head sculptures and
the pyramid in La Venta. The Olmec built aqueducts to transport water into their cities and irrigate their fields.
They grew maize, squash, beans, and tomatoes. They also bred small domesticated dogs which, along with fish,
provided their protein. Although no one knows what happened to the Olmec after about 400 BCE, in part because
the jungle reclaimed many of their cities, their culture was the base upon which the Maya and the Aztec built. It
was the Olmec who worshipped a rain god, a maize god, and the feathered serpent so important in the future
pantheons of the Aztecs (who called him Quetzalcoatl) and the Maya (to whom he was Kukulkan). The Olmec
also developed a system of trade throughout Mesoamerica, giving rise to an elite class.

The Olmec carved heads from giant boulders that
ranged from four to eleven feet in height and could
weigh up to fifty tons. All these figures have flat
noses, slightly crossed eyes, and large lips. These
physical features can be seen today in some of the
peoples indigenous to the area.
THE MAYA
After the decline of the Olmec, a city rose in the fertile central
highlands of Mesoamerica. One of the largest population centers
in pre-Columbian America and home to more than 100,000
people at its height in about 500 CE, Teotihuacan was located
about thirty miles northeast of modern Mexico City. The ethnicity
of this settlement’s inhabitants is debated; some scholars believe
it was a multiethnic city. Large-scale agriculture and the resultant
abundance of food allowed time for people to develop special
trades and skills other than farming. Builders constructed over
twenty-two hundred apartment compounds for multiple families,
as well as more than a hundred temples. Among these were the
Pyramid of the Sun (which is two hundred feet high) and the
Pyramid of the Moon (one hundred and fifty feet high). Near the
Temple of the Feathered Serpent, graves have been uncovered
that suggest humans were sacrificed for religious purposes. The
city was also the center for trade, which extended to settlements
on Mesoamerica’s Gulf Coast.
The Maya were one Mesoamerican culture that had strong ties to
Teotihuacan. The Maya’s architectural and mathematical
contributions were significant. Flourishing from roughly 2000 BCE
to 900 CE in what is now Mexico, Belize, Honduras, and
Guatemala, the Maya perfected the calendar and written
language the Olmec had begun. They devised a written
mathematical system to record crop yields and the size of the
population, and to assist in trade. Surrounded by farms relying on
primitive agriculture, they built the city-states of Copan, Tikal, and
Chichen Itza along their major trade routes, as well as temples,
statues of gods, pyramids, and astronomical observatories.