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88-570: El Opeño discoveries became a milestone that questions the Olmec culture as the founders or precursors of all mesoamerican cultures. At the same time, the lack of validated information becomes evident, as well as the need of serious studies of Cem Ānáhuac history, name of the territories known to the Mexica civilization before the Mexico Spaniards invasion and conquest. It is not clear if

176-588: A colossal head required the efforts of 1,500 people for three to four months. Some of the heads, and many other monuments, have been variously mutilated, buried and disinterred, reset in new locations and/or reburied. Some monuments, and at least two heads, were recycled or recarved, but it is not known whether this was simply due to the scarcity of stone or whether these actions had ritual or other connotations. Scholars believe that some mutilation had significance beyond mere destruction, but some scholars still do not rule out internal conflicts or, less likely, invasion as

264-528: A factor. The flat-faced, thick-lipped heads have caused some debate due to their resemblance to some African facial characteristics. Based on this comparison, some writers have said that the Olmecs were Africans who had emigrated to the New World. But the vast majority of archaeologists and other Mesoamerican scholars reject claims of pre-Columbian contacts with Africa. Explanations for the facial features of

352-585: A pause. Vowel clusters are very rare except for sequences that are generated by adding grammatical suffixes like the plural - echa or - icha , the copula - i , or the genitive - iri . Vowel clusters are usually not the first two sounds of a word. Purépecha is one of the few languages in the Mesoamerica without a phonemic glottal stop (a distinction shared by the Huave language and by some Nahuan languages ). It lacks any laterals ('l'-sounds). However, in

440-522: A series of photos of Olmec artwork and of the faces of modern Mexican Indians with very similar facial characteristics. The African origin hypothesis assumes that Olmec carving was intended to be a representation of the inhabitants, an assumption that is hard to justify given the full corpus of representation in Olmec carving. Ivan Van Sertima claimed that the seven braids on the Tres Zapotes head

528-625: A single language. The government of Mexico recognizes 3 dialectal variants: Lacustrine (spoken in areas close to lake Patzcuaro ), Sierran or Meseta (spoken in the Highlands of northwestern Michoacan) and Cañada(spoken in the Cañada de los Once Pueblos region). The language is spoken mostly in rural communities in the highlands of Michoacán. The former center of the Tarascan State was around Lake Pátzcuaro and remains an important center of

616-411: A term coined by Spanish settlers that can be seen as pejorative, is a language isolate or small language family that is spoken by some 140,000 Purépecha in the highlands of Michoacán , Mexico . Purépecha was the main language of the pre-Columbian Purépecha Empire and became widespread in the region during its heyday in the late post-Classic period . The small town of Purepero got its name from

704-533: A velar nasal phoneme. The table of phonemes uses the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) and also gives the alphabet equivalents, enclosed in angle brackets, if it is not obvious. The two mid vowels /e, o/ are uncommon, especially the latter. The high central vowel is almost always after /s/ or /ts/ and is then almost an allophone of /i/ . The final vowel of a word is usually voiceless (whispered) or deleted except before

792-410: Is double-marking in the typology of Johanna Nichols , as it marks grammatical relations on both the dependent phrases and phrasal heads. The language has both grammatical case and postpositions . The case system distinguishes nominative , accusative , genitive , comitative , instrumental , and locative cases, but there are also many nominal derivational affixes. Word order is flexible, and

880-465: Is a Purépecha language word, formed by the words: "ku", put together; "rhu", projection, tip; "tarha" play ball; and "an" gods. It means: "Point where the gods come together to play ball". This ball game was not a common game, but the "celestial ball game". El Opeño consists of a funeral complex that is usually included in the Shaft tomb tradition that spread throughout much of the west of Mesoamerica on

968-631: Is a relatively new arrival to the area. Purépecha has long been classified as a language isolate unrelated to any other known language. That judgement is repeated in Lyle Campbell's authoritative classification. Joseph Greenberg assigned it to the Chibchan language family , but like the rest of his American classification, that proposal is rejected by specialists. There are a number of dialects, which SIL International divides into two languages, but Campbell (1997) considers Purépecha to be

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1056-649: Is a word from the Tecuexe , one of the Great Chichimeca civilizations, whose language is Uto-Aztecan languages. In relation to this site's inhabitants or their culture there is no clear information; available text mentions several cultures, among other the Chichimeca , a subgroup of the chichimecas, the Tecuexe , Purépecha and another contemporary culture, the Capacha culture. What is apparently clear,

1144-481: Is an agglutinative language , but sound change has led to a certain degree of fusion. It is sometimes considered a polysynthetic language because of its complex morphology and frequent long words. Unlike most other languages that are considered polysynthetic, it has no noun compounding or incorporation . The language is exclusively suffixing and has a large number of suffixes (as many as 160 ) and clitics . The verb distinguishes 13 aspects and 6 modes. The language

1232-422: Is an archaeological complex of Colima, the west of Mesoamerica. The Capacha Culture was the first with complex traits that developed in the region, approximately between the years 2000 and 1200 BC. It was studied and discovered by Isabel Truesdell Kelly , American archaeologist who made excavations in the area of Colima in the year 1939. The similarities between the pieces of this Culture and contemporary ceramics of

1320-483: Is known that they settled next to rivers which they used to their advantage to grow beans and corn. They were also expert artisans, carpenters and musicians. Toribio de Benavente Motolinia wrote "in any place… all know [how] to work a stone, to make a simple house, to twist a cord and a rope, and the other subtle offices that do not require instruments or much art." The Tecuexe were known for their fierceness and cruelty towards their enemy. They were known to be so brave, it

1408-438: Is much smaller; hardstone carvings in jade of a face in a mask form. Jade is a particularly precious material, and it was used as a mark of rank by the ruling classes. By 1500 BCE early Olmec sculptors mastered the human form. This can be determined by wooden Olmec sculptures discovered in the swampy bogs of El Manati. Before radiocarbon dating could tell the exact age of Olmec pieces, archaeologists and art historians noticed

1496-444: Is naturalistic. Other art expresses fantastic anthropomorphic creatures, often highly stylized, using an iconography reflective of a religious meaning. Common motifs include downturned mouths and a cleft head, both of which are seen in representations of werejaguars . In addition to making human and human-like subjects, Olmec artisans were adept at animal portrayals. While Olmec figurines are found abundantly in sites throughout

1584-406: Is now generally accepted that these heads are portraits of rulers, perhaps dressed as ballplayers. Infused with individuality, no two heads are alike and the helmet-like headdresses are adorned with distinctive elements, suggesting personal or group symbols. Some have also speculated that Mesoamerican people believed that the soul, along with all of one's experiences and emotions, was contained inside

1672-520: Is said, that once, when the Mexica (Aztecs) came from Chicomostoc, Zacatecas to take control of Xolotl, (and course on to the lagoon where they found an eagle devouring a serpent) they attacked the settlers of Acatic, Teocaltiche, Mitic, Teocaltitán and Xalostotitlán, but in Tepatitlán, when they encountered the Tecuexe, having heard of their legendary cruelty, the Mexica avoided facing them. Capacha

1760-481: Is that regardless of names assigned by scientists and scholars, the broad ancient Mexico region or Cem Anahuac, had many cultures and subcultures scattered in time and space, it is very likely that all had a common origin, the Nahuatl language and its derivations, and the many found similar archaeological evidence could corroborate this, regardless of the assigned name. The Purépecha are an indigenous people centered in

1848-546: The Aztecs buried it, suggesting such masks were valued and collected as were Roman antiquities in Europe. The 'Olmec-style' refers to the combination of deep-set eyes, nostrils, and strong, slightly asymmetrical mouth. The "Olmec-style" also very distinctly combines facial features of both humans and jaguars. Olmec arts are strongly tied to the Olmec religion, which prominently featured jaguars. The Olmec people believed that in

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1936-482: The Formative Period , the stone monuments such as the colossal heads are the most recognizable feature of Olmec culture. These monuments can be divided into four classes: The most recognized aspect of the Olmec civilization are the enormous helmeted heads. As no known pre-Columbian text explains them, these impressive monuments have been the subject of much speculation. Once theorized to be ballplayers, it

2024-616: The Isthmian script , and while there are some who believe that the Isthmian may represent a transitional script between an earlier Olmec writing system and the Maya script, the matter remains unsettled. The Long Count calendar used by many subsequent Mesoamerican civilizations, as well as the concept of zero , may have been devised by the Olmecs. Because the six artifacts with the earliest Long Count calendar dates were all discovered outside

2112-719: The Juxtlahuaca and Oxtotitlán cave paintings feature Olmec designs and motifs. Olmec influence is also seen at several sites in the Southern Maya area . In Guatemala, sites showing probable Olmec influence include San Bartolo , Takalik Abaj and La Democracia . Many theories have been advanced to account for the occurrence of Olmec influence far outside the heartland, including long-range trade by Olmec merchants, Olmec colonization of other regions, Olmec artisans travelling to other cities, conscious imitation of Olmec artistic styles by developing towns – some even suggest

2200-587: The Pacific Ocean to their current locations. Ethnohistorical accounts mention them as a people dwelling in the same region of Michoacán they live in now as early as the 13th century. According to the Relación de Michoacán , the communities around Lake Pátzcuaro were gathered into the strong Purépecha State by the leader of the Uacúsecha group of Purépecha speakers, Tariácuri . Around 1300, he undertook

2288-626: The Tepetate or tuff which is part of the subsoil of the region. Access to the underground burial chambers had different means; for example in Nayarit, it is common for tombs to have a very deep shaft, although those in El Opeño had ladders. In El Opeño twelve tombs were discovered, all of which show signs of architectural planning in the funerary complex. Also, the complex as a whole is organized into an overall plan. These tombs can be considered

2376-943: The Tlatilco culture in the Valley of Mexico , where artifacts include hollow baby-face motif figurines and Olmec designs on ceramics. Chalcatzingo , in Valley of Morelos , central Mexico, which features Olmec-style monumental art and rock art with Olmec-style figures. Also, in 2007, archaeologists unearthed Zazacatla , an Olmec-influenced city in Morelos. Located about 40 kilometres (25 mi) south of Mexico City, Zazacatla covered about 2.5 square kilometres (1 sq mi) between 800 and 500 BCE. Teopantecuanitlan , in Guerrero , which features Olmec-style monumental art as well as city plans with distinctive Olmec features. Also,

2464-789: The linguistic rights of indigenous peoples and promoting multiculturalism in colonial states, the Congress of the Union of Mexico approved the General Law of Linguistic Rights of the Indigenous Peoples in 2003, giving Purépecha and Mexico's other indigenous languages official status as "national languages." The official alphabet is the Pʼ;URHEPECHA JIMBO KARARAKUECHA (Purépecha Alphabet): The letters b, d, g occur in spelling only after m, n : mb, nd, ng , which reflects

2552-502: The 2006 find from a site near San Lorenzo shows a set of 62 symbols, 28 of which are unique, carved on a serpentine block. A large number of prominent archaeologists have hailed this find as the "earliest pre-Columbian writing". Others are skeptical because of the stone's singularity, the fact that it had been removed from any archaeological context, and because it bears no apparent resemblance to any other Mesoamerican writing system. There are also well-documented later hieroglyphs known as

2640-597: The Ecuador region indicate that there were some very early relationships between western Mesoamerica and the Andean Cultures. Capacha was contemporary to other important Mesoamerica cultural developments such as El Opeño, Michoacán, and the first Tlatilco phase, in the Valley of Mexico. The geographical extent of the Capacha pottery covers the entire Pacific coast between the Mexican States of Sinaloa, in

2728-742: The North, and Guerrero, in the South. Especially important are the burials uncovered by Gordon Ekholm in Guasave , Sinaloa. Archaeological evidence found in this site corresponds to the Preclassical horizon (1300 -200 BCE) settlements in evidence in this area. Jacona is one of the oldest towns of Michoacán and one of the first settlements dominated by and tributary of the Purépecha kingdom . The current Jacona city (originally Xacona, derived from Xucunan)

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2816-712: The Olmec culture is tenocelome , meaning "mouth of the jaguar ". The Olmec heartland is the area in the Gulf lowlands where it expanded after early development in Soconusco , Veracruz. This area is characterized by swampy lowlands punctuated by low hills, ridges, and volcanoes. The Sierra de los Tuxtlas rises sharply in the north, along the Gulf of Mexico's Bay of Campeche . Here, the Olmec constructed permanent city-temple complexes at San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán , La Venta , Tres Zapotes , and Laguna de los Cerros . In this region,

2904-566: The Olmec heartland, continued to be occupied well past 400 BCE , but without the hallmarks of the Olmec culture. This post-Olmec culture, often labeled the Epi-Olmec , has features similar to those found at Izapa , some 550 kilometres (340 mi) to the southeast. The Olmec culture was first defined as an art style, and this continues to be the hallmark of the culture. Wrought in a large number of media – jade, clay, basalt, and greenstone among others – much Olmec art, such as The Wrestler ,

2992-435: The Olmec instituted human sacrifice is significantly more speculative. No Olmec or Olmec-influenced sacrificial artifacts have yet been discovered; no Olmec or Olmec-influenced artwork unambiguously shows sacrificial victims (as do the danzante figures of Monte Albán ) or scenes of human sacrifice (such as can be seen in the famous ballcourt mural from El Tajín ). At El Manatí, disarticulated skulls and femurs, as well as

3080-414: The Olmec remains unknown, various hypotheses have been put forward. For example, in 1968 Michael D. Coe speculated that the Olmec were Maya predecessors. In 1976, linguists Lyle Campbell and Terrence Kaufman published a paper in which they argued a core number of loanwords had apparently spread from a Mixe–Zoquean language into many other Mesoamerican languages . Campbell and Kaufman proposed that

3168-457: The Olmecs formulated the forerunners of many of the later Mesoamerican deities . Although the archaeological record does not include explicit representation of Olmec bloodletting , researchers have found other evidence that the Olmec ritually practiced it. For example, numerous natural and ceramic stingray spikes and maguey thorns have been found at Olmec sites, and certain artifacts have been identified as bloodletters. The argument that

3256-510: The Olmecs most familiar now is their artwork, particularly the colossal heads . The Olmec civilization was first defined through artifacts which collectors purchased on the pre-Columbian art market in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Olmec artworks are considered among ancient America's most striking. The name "Olmec" means "rubber people" in Nahuatl , the language of the Nahuas , and

3344-404: The Olmecs was Ōlmēcatl [oːlˈmeːkat͡ɬ] (singular) or Ōlmēcah [oːlˈmeːkaʔ] (plural). This word is composed of the two words ōlli [ˈoːlːi] , meaning " natural rubber ", and mēcatl [ˈmeːkat͡ɬ] , meaning "people". Early modern explorers and archaeologists, however, mistakenly applied the name "Olmec" to the rediscovered ruins and artifacts in

3432-839: The Purépecha State reached the Pacific Coast at Zacatula , advanced into the Toluca Valley , and also, on the northern rim, reached into the present-day state of Guanajuato . In the 15th century, the Purépecha state was at war with the Aztecs. Many Nahua peoples who had lived side by side with Purépecha-speakers were relocated outside of the Tarascan frontiers, and Otomi -speakers fleeing the Aztec expansion resettled on

3520-425: The Purépecha community. Ethnologue counts Purépecha as two languages: a central language, spoken by approximately 40,000 people (2005) around Pátzcuaro, and a western highland language, spoken by 135,000 speakers (2005) around Zamora , Los Reyes de Salgado , Paracho de Verduzco , and Pamatácuaro , all of which are in the vicinity of the volcano Parícutin . Recent migration has formed communities of speakers in

3608-567: The Sierra de los Tuxtlas. The Tres Zapotes heads, for example, were sculpted from basalt found at the summit of Cerro el Vigía, at the western end of the Tuxtlas. The San Lorenzo and La Venta heads, on the other hand, were probably carved from the basalt of Cerro Cintepec, on the southeastern side, perhaps at the nearby Llano del Jicaro workshop, and dragged or floated to their final destination dozens of miles away. It has been estimated that moving

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3696-592: The area. They demonstrate the wealth and social networks of these peoples. Among these goods are "...probable turquoise (from one of several possible locations in northern Mexico or New Mexico), jade from the Motagua Valley of Guatemala, marine shell from both the Pacific and Atlantic Casts, iron pyrite mirrors reminiscent of types made in Oaxaca, and green obsidian from Pachuca in central Mexico." This exchange

3784-610: The basic word order has been described as either SVO or SOV . However, most authors note that other word orders are frequently used for pragmatic purposes such as focus or topic tracking . Nouns are inflected by the basic formula Noun + Number + Case. The language distinguishes between plural and unspecified numbers, with no dedicated singular form. Plurals formed by the suffix -echa/-icha or -cha . warhít icha women- PL tephar icha fat- PL maru some warhít icha tephar icha maru women- PL fat- PL some 'some fat women' The nominative case

3872-565: The border between the two polities. That created a fairly homogeneous area of Purépecha speakers, with no other languages spoken in the core area around Lake Pátzcuaro. During the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire , the Purépecha State was at first peacefully incorporated into the realm of New Spain , but with the killing of Cazonci Tangaxuán II by Nuño de Guzmán , the relation became one of Spanish dominance by force. Exceptions were

3960-431: The cause of the eventual extinction of the Olmec culture. Between 400 and 350 BCE , the population in the eastern half of the Olmec heartland dropped precipitously, and the area was sparsely inhabited until the 19th century. According to archaeologists, this depopulation was probably the result of "very serious environmental changes that rendered the region unsuited for large groups of farmers", in particular changes to

4048-598: The cities of Guadalajara , Tijuana and Mexico City and in the United States . The total population of speakers is rising (from 58,000 in 1960 to 96,000 in 1990 and 120,000 in 2000 ), but the percentage of speakers relative to non-speakers is falling, and the degree of bilingualism is rising, which makes it an endangered language . Fewer than 10% of speakers are now monolingual. The Purépecha are known to have migrated from elsewhere to their current location, as their tradition includes stories of having traveled from

4136-431: The colossal heads include the possibility that the heads were carved in this manner due to the shallow space allowed on the basalt boulders. Others note that in addition to the broad noses and thick lips, the eyes of the heads often show the epicanthic fold , and that all these characteristics can still be found in modern Mesoamerican Indians. For instance, in the 1940s, the artist/art historian Miguel Covarrubias published

4224-519: The complete skeletons of newborns or fetuses, have been discovered amidst the other offerings, leading to speculation concerning infant sacrifice. Scholars have not determined how the infants met their deaths. Some authors have associated infant sacrifice with Olmec ritual art showing limp werejaguar babies, most famously in La Venta's Altar 5 (on the right) or Las Limas figure . Any definitive answer requires further findings. The Olmec may have been

4312-424: The distant past a race of werejaguars was made between the union of a jaguar and a woman. One werejaguar quality that can be found is the sharp cleft in the forehead of many supernatural beings in Olmec art. This sharp cleft is associated with the natural indented head of jaguars. The Kunz axes (also known as "votive axes") are figures that represent werejaguars and were apparently used for rituals. In most cases,

4400-610: The early history of Olmec culture. Olmec-style artifacts tend to appear earlier in some parts of Guerrero than in the Veracruz-Tabasco area. In particular, the relevant objects from the Amuco-Abelino site in Guerrero reveal dates as early as 1530 BCE . The city of Teopantecuanitlan in Guerrero is also relevant in this regard. The first Olmec center, San Lorenzo, was all but abandoned around 900 BCE at about

4488-460: The first Mesoamerican civilization emerged and reigned from c.  1400–400  BCE. Pre-Olmec cultures had flourished since about 2500 BCE, and it has been speculated that the Olmecs derived in part from the neighboring Mokaya or Mixe–Zoque cultures which developed during this time. The beginnings of Olmec civilization have traditionally been placed between 1400 BCE and 1200 BCE . Past finds of Olmec remains ritually deposited at

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4576-492: The first civilization in Mesoamerica, the Olmecs are credited, or speculatively credited, with many "firsts", including the bloodletting and perhaps human sacrifice , writing and epigraphy , and the invention of popcorn , zero and the Mesoamerican calendar , and the Mesoamerican ballgame , as well as perhaps the compass . Some researchers, including artist and art historian Miguel Covarrubias , even postulate that

4664-646: The first civilization in the Western Hemisphere to develop a writing system. Symbols found in 2002 and 2006 date from 650 BCE and 900 BCE respectively, preceding the oldest Zapotec writing found so far, which dates from about 500 BCE. The 2002 find at the San Andrés site shows a bird, speech scrolls, and glyphs that are similar to the later Maya script . Known as the Cascajal Block , and dated between 1100 and 900 BCE,

4752-408: The first conquests of other and installed his nephews Hiripan and Tangáxoan as lords of Ihuatzio and Tzintzuntzan respectively while he himself ruled from Pátzcuaro City . By the time of the death of Taríacuri , in around 1350, his lineage was in control of all the major centers around Lake Pátzcuaro. His nephew Hiripan continued the expansion into the area surrounding Lake Cuitzeo . In 1460

4840-545: The four phonemes /kʷ/ , /kʷʰ/ , /w/ , /j/ . It uses the letter ⟨i⟩ for both /i, j/ and the letter ⟨u⟩ for both /u, w/ , but both semivowels are fairly rare. When ⟨k⟩ or ⟨k'⟩ is followed by ⟨u⟩ and another vowel letter, the sequence virtually always represents the labio-velar phonemes. Intervocally, aspirated consonants become pre-aspirated . After nasals, aspirated consonants lose their aspiration and unaspirated consonants become voiced. Purépecha

4928-457: The head is half the total volume of the figure. All Kunz axes have flat noses and an open mouth. The name "Kunz" comes from George Frederick Kunz , an American mineralogist , who described a figure in 1890. Olmec-style artifacts, designs, figurines, monuments and iconography have been found in the archaeological records of sites hundreds of kilometres outside the Olmec heartland. These sites include: Tlatilco and Tlapacoya , major centers of

5016-478: The head. Seventeen colossal heads have been unearthed to date. The heads range in size from the Rancho La Cobata head, at 3.4 m (11 ft) high, to the pair at Tres Zapotes, at 1.47 m (4 ft 10 in). Scholars calculate that the largest heads weigh between 25 and 55 tonnes (28 and 61 short tons). The heads were carved from single blocks or boulders of volcanic basalt , found in

5104-413: The heartland decades before it was understood that these were not created by the people the Aztecs knew as the "Olmec" but rather a culture that was 2000 years older. Despite the mistaken identity, the name has stuck. It is not known what name the ancient Olmec used for themselves; some later Mesoamerican accounts seem to refer to the ancient Olmec as " Tamoanchan ". A contemporary term sometimes used for

5192-497: The hospital communities of Vasco de Quiroga , such as Santa Fé de la Laguna , where Purépecha could live with a degree of protection from Spanish domination. Through Spanish friars, the Purépecha learned to write in the Latin script , and Purépecha became a literary language in the early colonial period. There is a body of written sources in Purépecha from the period, including several dictionaries, confessionaries, and land titles. Among

5280-425: The immediate Maya homeland, it is likely that this calendar predated the Maya and was possibly the invention of the Olmecs. Indeed, three of these six artifacts were found within the Olmec heartland. But an argument against an Olmec origin is the fact that the Olmec civilization had ended by the 4th century BCE, several centuries before the earliest known Long Count date artifact. The Long Count calendar required

5368-411: The indigenous people who lived there. Even though it is spoken within the boundaries of Mesoamerica , Purépecha does not share many of the traits defining the Mesoamerican language area , suggesting that the language is a remnant of an indigenous substrate that existed several thousands of years ago before the migration of speakers that contributed to the formation of the sprachbund , or alternatively

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5456-553: The most important colonial works are the grammar (1558) and dictionary (1559) of Fray Maturino Gilberti , and the grammar and dictionary (1574) by Juan Baptista de Lagunas From ca. 1700, the status of Purépecha changed, and throughout the 20th century, the Mexican government pursued a policy of Hispanicization . Speakers of indigenous languages were actively encouraged to abandon their languages in favor of Spanish. However, in accord with international changes in favor of recognizing

5544-672: The most prominent Olmec center, lasting from 900 BCE until its abandonment around 400 BCE. La Venta sustained the Olmec cultural traditions with spectacular displays of power and wealth. The Great Pyramid was the largest Mesoamerican structure of its time. Even today, after 2500 years of erosion, it rises 34 m (112 ft) above the naturally flat landscape. Buried deep within La Venta lay opulent, labor-intensive "offerings" – 1000 tons of smooth serpentine blocks, large mosaic pavements, and at least 48 separate votive offerings of polished jade celts , pottery, figurines, and hematite mirrors . Scholars have yet to determine

5632-580: The most valued jade was the Motagua River valley in eastern Guatemala , and Olmec obsidian has been traced to sources in the Guatemala highlands, such as El Chayal and San Martín Jilotepeque , or in Puebla , distances ranging from 200 to 400 km (120–250 miles) away, respectively. The state of Guerrero , and in particular its early Mezcala culture , seem to have played an important role in

5720-498: The name El Opeño, has some meaning or what is the original name of this site. In relation to the name of the city it is located, Jacona or Xucunan, there are several versions. According to the Enciclopedia de los Municipios de México Michoacán , Jacona is a chichimeca origin word which means "place of vegetables". Another meaning comes from Xucunan, "place of flowers and vegetables". Another version notes that Jacona (Xucunan)

5808-458: The northwestern region of the Mexican state of Michoacán, principally in the area of the cities of Uruapan and Pátzcuaro. There is an ongoing discussion about which term should be considered as the correct one. It is believed that the Tecuexe derived from the dispersion of Zacateco groups from La Quemada . Like the Zacatecos, the Tecuexe were a tribe belonging to the Chichimeca nation. It

5896-409: The oldest antecedent of shaft tombs, which include this site archaeological material. The site architecture, as mentioned earlier, has very particular characteristics that were not included in the later necropoli of Jalisco, Colima, and Nayarit. The funeral architecture with similar or divergent characteristics was practiced by the peoples who lived in a wide continental region and at different periods in

5984-407: The prehispanic era. This region extends from western Mesoamerica down to northern Peru along the Pacific coast. The geographical continuity and chronology of these practices requires deeper analysis to better understand the links between these peoples. Neither remains nor evidence of the builders of the tombs have been found around the site. Hence they have been represented as a people who were in

6072-574: The presence of these core loanwords indicated that the Olmec – generally regarded as the first "highly civilized" Mesoamerican society – spoke a language ancestral to Mixe–Zoquean. The spread of this vocabulary particular to their culture accompanied the diffusion of other Olmec cultural and artistic traits that appears in the archaeological record of other Mesoamerican societies. Pur%C3%A9pecha language Purépecha (also Pʼurhépecha [pʰuˈɽepet͡ʃa] , Purepecha : Phorhé or Phorhépecha ), often called Tarascan ( Spanish : Tarasco ),

6160-491: The pronunciation of p, t, k after nasal consonants. In all dialects of Purépecha, the stress accent is phonemic. As in Spanish orthography , a stressed syllable is indicated by the acute accent . Minimal pairs are formed: Usually, the second syllable of the word is stressed, but occasionally, it is the first. The phonemic inventory of the Tarécuato dialect is presented below. It differs from other dialects in having

6248-510: The prospect of Olmec military domination or that the Olmec iconography was actually developed outside the heartland. The generally accepted, but by no means unanimous, interpretation is that the Olmec-style artifacts, in all sizes, became associated with elite status and were adopted by non-Olmec Formative Period chieftains in an effort to bolster their status. In addition to their influence with contemporaneous Mesoamerican cultures , as

6336-489: The region and used for recreational and religious purposes. A dozen rubber balls dating to 1600 BCE or earlier have been found in El Manatí , a bog 10 km (6 mi) east of San Lorenzo Tenochtitlan. These balls predate the earliest ballcourt yet discovered at Paso de la Amada , c. 1400 BCE, although there is no certainty that they were used in the ballgame. While the actual ethno-linguistic affiliation of

6424-461: The relocation of settlements due to volcanism, instead of extinction. Volcanic eruptions during the Early, Late and Terminal Formative periods would have blanketed the lands and forced the Olmec to move their settlements. Whatever the cause, within a few hundred years of the abandonment of the last Olmec cities, successor cultures became firmly established. The Tres Zapotes site, on the western edge of

6512-405: The rise of an elite class. The elite class created the demand for the production of the symbolic and sophisticated luxury artifacts that define Olmec culture. Many of these luxury artifacts were made from materials such as jade , obsidian , and magnetite , which came from distant locations and suggest that early Olmec elites had access to an extensive trading network in Mesoamerica. The source of

6600-481: The riverine environment that the Olmec depended upon for agriculture, hunting and gathering, and transportation. These changes may have been triggered by tectonic upheavals or subsidence, or the siltation of rivers due to agricultural practices. One theory for the considerable population drop during the Terminal Formative period is suggested by Santley and colleagues (Santley et al. 1997), who propose

6688-430: The same time that La Venta rose to prominence. Widespread destruction of many San Lorenzo monuments also occurred around the 950s BCE, which may indicate an internal uprising or, less likely, an invasion. The latest thinking, however, is that environmental changes may have been responsible for this shift in Olmec centers, with certain important rivers changing course. Following the decline of San Lorenzo, La Venta became

6776-625: The shrine El Manatí near the triple archaeological sites known collectively as San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán moved this back to at least 1600–1500 BCE . It seems that the Olmec had their roots in early farming cultures of Tabasco , which began between 5100 BCE and 4600 BCE . These shared the same basic food crops and technologies of the later Olmec civilization. What is today called Olmec first appeared fully within San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán, where distinctive Olmec features occurred around 1400 BCE. The rise of civilization

6864-541: The site of their development in San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán , but moved to La Venta in the 10th century BCE following the decline of San Lorenzo. The Olmecs disappeared mysteriously in the 4th century BCE , leaving the region sparsely populated until the 19th century . Among other "firsts", the Olmec appeared to practice ritual bloodletting and played the Mesoamerican ballgame , hallmarks of nearly all subsequent Mesoamerican societies. The aspect of

6952-440: The speech of many young Spanish-Purépecha bilinguals , the retroflex rhotic has been replaced by [ l ] under the influence of Spanish. There are distinct series of non-aspirated and aspirated consonants and affricate consonants ; in the spelling aspiration is noted by an apostrophe. There are two rhotics ('r'-sounds, one of them being retroflex ). The official orthography does not have distinct representations for

7040-432: The territory of the current states of Jalisco , Colima , Nayarit and Michoacán . Burials at El Opeño, as in all where shaft burial materials have been found, are distinguished by their exceptional quality within the Mesoamerica framework. No other Mesoamerican people built this type of tradition of funerary monuments before their flourishing or after their decline. These are vertical (or nearly vertical) tombs excavated in

7128-441: The transition towards sedentary agriculture that characterized mesoamerican urban societies of the mid-Preclassical. However, analysis of archaeological materials, both human bone remains and offerings found in the tombs, indicates that the tomb builders were members of a clearly sedentary people with a high social stratification as reflected in the differences of the offering goods. A large number of imported goods have been found in

7216-445: The unique "Olmec-style" in a variety of artifacts. Curators and scholars refer to "Olmec-style" face masks but, to date, no example has been recovered in an archaeologically controlled Olmec context. They have been recovered from sites of other cultures, including one deliberately deposited in the ceremonial altepetl (precinct) of Tenochtitlan in what is now Mexico City . The mask would presumably have been about 2000 years old when

7304-447: The use of zero as a place-holder within its vigesimal (base-20) positional numeral system. A shell glyph – [REDACTED] – was used as a zero symbol for these Long Count dates, the second oldest of which, on Stela C at Tres Zapotes , has a date of 32 BCE. This is one of the earliest uses of the zero concept in history. The Olmec are strong candidates for originating the Mesoamerican ballgame so prevalent among later cultures of

7392-485: Was an Ethiopian hair style, but he offered no evidence it was a contemporary style. The Egyptologist Frank J. Yurco has said that the Olmec braids do not resemble contemporary Egyptian or Nubian braids. Richard Diehl wrote "There can be no doubt that the heads depict the American Indian physical type still seen on the streets of Soteapan, Acayucan, and other towns in the region." Another type of artifact

7480-514: Was assisted by the local ecology of well-watered alluvial soil, as well as by the transportation network provided by the Coatzacoalcos river basin. This environment may be compared to that of other ancient centers of civilization such as the Nile , Indus , Yellow River and Mesopotamia . This highly productive environment encouraged a densely concentrated population, which in turn triggered

7568-402: Was founded in 1555 by Augustinian Friars, Jacona, placing it at about 16 kilometres from the old pre-Hispanic town which was called then "Pueblo Viejo" or "Jacona Vieja" Xacona was established in a chichimeca (tecuexe) region, bordering the Purépecha kingdom. This explains why other neighboring places have Purépecha names. The main hill facing Jacona, for example, is called Curutarán. Curutarán

7656-634: Was mutual; obsidian from Michoacan was also being traded east into the Basin of Mexico, the Oaxaca Valley, and the Gulf Coast by that time. Olmec The Olmecs ( / ˈ ɒ l m ɛ k s , ˈ oʊ l -/ ) were the earliest known major Mesoamerican civilization, flourishing in the modern-day Mexican states of Veracruz and Tabasco from roughly 1200 to 400  BCE during Mesoamerica's formative period . They were initially centered at

7744-583: Was the Aztec term for the people who lived in the Gulf Lowlands in the 15th and 16th centuries, some 2,000 years after the Olmec culture died out. The term "Rubber People" refers to the ancient practice, spanning from ancient Olmecs to Aztecs, of extracting latex from Castilla elastica , a rubber tree in the area. The juice of a local vine, Ipomoea alba , was then mixed with this latex to create rubber as early as 1600 BCE. The Nahuatl word for

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