The Olmec Civilization

In Mesoamerica, the first indications of complex life were that of the Olmec civilization. This civilization is thought to have been around since 1500 BCE until about 100 BCE or until sometime in the Common Era. The Olmec Empire was very small; at its largest, it had less than 1,000 people. The area where the Olmec people once lived, south of the Gulf of Mexico, is about 125 miles long and about 50 miles wide.
The word “Olmec” means “rubber people” in the Aztec language, Nahuatl. The Olmec people were given this name because they discovered how to make rubber by removing latex from a rubber tree, called Castilla Elastica, and then adding the juice from a vine, called Ipomoea Alba.
Making rubber is not the only accomplishment of the Olmec people. They also constructed great centers with sophisticated architecture and drainage systems. In these centers there were many public-ceremonial buildings, and also houses for both commoners and the elite, so it is obvious that the Olmec centers were for everyone.
It is also believed that the Olmecs where the original creators of the Mesoamerican ball game, played by many tribes in Mesoamerica, and the rubber ball that was use for it. There was a recent discovery of many rubber balls and a ball court where the Olmec people once lived. The Olmecs also might have been the first of the Mesoamerican civilizations to develop a written language, but this is not yet known for a fact.
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