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100-647: The first human inhabitants were hunter-gatherers of various ethnicities. Later, the presence of the Olmecs helped to form the first sedentary agrarian societies. After this, the Nahua eventually became the dominant ethnicity. Most of these Nahuas were of the Xochimilca and Chichimeca tribes. By the 16th century, the area was firmly under the control of the Aztec Empire as a tributary province. After arriving to

200-795: A college in Zacatecas and another college in Mexico City. Although most are (semi) abandoned and not restored for tourists, the town has a number of other architectural and historic sites. The abandoned train station is on the Mexico City-Cuautla section of the Ferrocarril Interocianico (Inter-Ocean Railway) which connected Acapulco with Veracruz. The station was built in 1895. Casa de Cultura José A. Alzate has temporary art and other exhibits as well as classes in dance, painting, music, theater and other arts. It

300-588: 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

400-506: A cultural center due to the annual celebrations held here to commemorate the birth of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz. The parish church for the community is the Church of San Vicente Ferrer which was once the richest church in the municipality. Today it has a small archeological museum containing carved stone, ceramics, clay figures, utensils and more from the pre-Hispanic era. The Arco de los Conejos and Los Guardias are colonial era monuments marking

500-528: 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

600-399: A marble cartibulum , an oblong marble table supported by trapezophoros pedestals depicting mythological creatures like winged griffins. Also, it contained the little chapel to the ancestral spirits ( lararium ), the household safe ( arca ) and sometimes a bust of the master of the house. The cylindrical puteal (a wellhead) gave access to the water cistern fed by water seeping through

700-485: A martyr's fate. This scene not only shows martyrdom but also shows how the Franciscans invested in childhood education and even suggests that they may have loved the boys more than their own parents. To the far right is a relative rare scene of Cortés being flagellated, which depicts a story from Texcoco . According to the story, an Indian missed mass and was punished by public flogging, prompting an angry response from

800-522: 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

900-424: A shallow pool sunken into the floor to catch rainwater from the roof. Some surviving examples are beautifully decorated. The opening in the ceiling above the pool ( compluvium ) called for some means of support for the roof, and it is here where one differentiates between five different styles of atrium. As the centrepiece of the house, the atrium was the most lavishly furnished room. Wealthier houses often included

1000-400: A visual link with that environment. Designers enjoy the opportunity to create new types of spaces in buildings, and developers see atria as prestigious amenities that can increase commercial value and appeal. In a domus , a large house in ancient Roman architecture , the atrium was the open central court with enclosed rooms on all sides. In the middle of the atrium was the impluvium ,

1100-462: Is a large open-air or skylight -covered space surrounded by a building . Atria were a common feature in Ancient Roman dwellings , providing light and ventilation to the interior . Modern atria, as developed in the late 19th and 20th centuries, are often several stories high, with a glazed roof or large windows , and often located immediately beyond a building's main entrance doors (in

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1200-558: Is a pre-Hispanic era bridge located in a rural area of the municipality. Olmecs 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 the site of their development in San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán , but moved to La Venta in

1300-533: Is considered to be part of the "sober" Baroque tradition . The entire altarpiece is gilded and the main feature is the repeating Solomonic Baroque columns . Other colonial altarpieces in various styles line the nave and stand in the side chapels, some with paintings by well known Mexican artists such as Juan Correa and the Arellano family. The altarpiece of the Passion of Christ was begun in 1741. Its sculpting

1400-551: Is located on Fed 115 south of Amecameca . It is part of the "Volcano Route" (a tourism promotion of the State of Mexico) which includes the municipalities of Chalco , Tlalmanalco, Amecameca and Nepantla . The town and municipality experience ash and small quakes from the Popocatépetl volcano from time to time. For this reason, it is one of the 20 communities near the active volcano subject to emergency evacuation procedures in

1500-438: 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

1600-572: Is named after Jose Antonio de Alzate y Ramirez Santillana, who was baptized here in 1737. He was a scientist with influence in the social, political and economic fields during the intellectual movement of Mexico in the 18th century. The scientist's childhood home is also located here. Colonial era constructions include the Juan Rulfo house, the Casa de la Nueva York and the Chapel of San Francisco, one of

1700-444: 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

1800-406: 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

1900-521: Is that it typically creates unused vertical space which could otherwise be occupied by additional floors. One of the main public spaces at Federation Square , in Melbourne , Australia, is called The Atrium and is a street-like space, five stories high with glazed walls and roof. The structure and glazing pattern follow the system of fractals used to arrange the panels on the rest of the facades at Federation Square. In Nashville, Tennessee , U.S.,

2000-557: 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 was the Aztec term for

2100-399: Is used for agriculture with most of the rest being developed. Some of the main crops are produced in family orchards and include walnuts, capulins , avocados , Mexican hawthorns , peaches, apricots, apples, and others. A number of commercial flowers and medicinal plants are also grown here. Agriculture is still the most important economic activity, with some livestock and some logging done at

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2200-466: 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 the Olmecs most familiar now

2300-546: 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

2400-482: 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

2500-703: The INAH to determine what it probably looked like. In the center of the altarpiece is an image of the Immaculate Conception, surrounded by images of the saints associated with the life of the Virgin Mary as well as Franciscan friars such as Anthony of Padua , Diego de Acala Obispo , Francis of Assisi and Bernardino of Siena and others such as Saint Dominic and Augustine of Hippo . Two sculptures are missing... those of Saint Cecilia and King David due to theft. Although extremely ornate, this piece

2600-616: 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

2700-719: 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

2800-781: The Opryland Hotel hosts 4 different large atria, spanning 9 acres (36,000 m ) of glass ceiling in total, in the hotel above the gardens of: Delta, Cascades, Garden-Conservatories, and Magnolia. When it opened in 2019, the Leeza SOHO in Beijing , had the world's tallest atrium at 194 metres (636 ft), replacing the previous record-holder, the Burj Al Arab in Dubai . The Luxor Hotel , in Las Vegas , Nevada , has

2900-943: 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,

3000-414: The lobby ). Atria are a popular design feature because they give their buildings a "feeling of space and light." The atrium has become a key feature of many buildings in recent years. Atria are popular with building users, building designers and building developers. Users like atria because they create a dynamic and stimulating interior that provides shelter from the external environment while maintaining

3100-487: The 16th century. It has a wide church with thick buttresses. The main entrance is sculpted in sandstone containing the coats of arms of Castilla and of the Dominican order. The complex overall is a mix of Moorish and Plateresque styles. A plaque states that Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz was baptized here in 1651 although she was really baptized in 1648. The baptismal font dates from 1542. This church has been converted into

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3200-502: 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

3300-457: The Aztecs. The area was divided into encomenderos , but the natives maintained much of their communal farmland despite efforts by hacienda owners to confiscate them. During the colonial period, the main town in this area was Chimalhuacan, generally called Chimalhuacan-Chalco. The village of Ozumba was founded in 1525 by Francisco Atlanlzincuilzin, who was its first leader. Evangelization was done by

3400-607: The Festival of the Gremios on 15 August. On feast days, traditional dances include Concheros , Moros y Cristianos and Marotas. There is one institution of higher education located here called the Universidad Alzate de Ozumba. As municipal seat, the town of Ozumba is the governing authority for thirteen other named communities. Together the municipality has a total population of 24,055 (2005) over 65% of which lives in

3500-591: The Franciscans at the end of the 16th century, when the monastery was most likely established here. The earliest parts of the building date from this time. The first formal church parish was established here in 1606, according to the first records of baptism, which dates from 1621. In this book, which extends to 1650, the baptisms of the indigenous are recorded in Nahuatl and those of the Europeans in Spanish. Ozumba

3600-506: The Immaculate Conception. The altarpiece was done by a sculptor named Domingo and contains two of his paintings. At the top are paintings done by someone named Arellano. Some aspects of the altars are modern such as the statue of Thérèse de Lisieux . Originally, there was a statue of Anthony of Padua here. Unfortunately, this church, along with a number of others in the area, has suffered the theft of artwork. This have included statues of saints, altar items and paintings such as "The Transit of

3700-495: The Nuestra Senora de la Inmaculada Concepcion Church with its large atrium . Many come here to rest, and children are allowed to play in the area as well as to see the murals painted in the side entrance. The Church of Nuestra Señora de la Inmaculada Conception began as a Franciscan monastery established in the 16th century. Only the side entrance and columns of the church date from the 16th century. The rest, including

3800-712: 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,

3900-566: 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 ,

4000-435: 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

4100-414: 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

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4200-457: 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

4300-404: 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

4400-601: The Parque El Salto with its small waterfall, gardens and caves located just west of the Dominican monastery. This area is popular with local tourists despite the lack of facilities. Another natural area is the Parque La Herradura, which is a forested area in the foothills of the Popocatepetl volcano. The most important architectural attraction here is the former Dominican monastery which dates from

4500-567: 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

4600-400: The Valley of Mexico, the first Spanish crossed through here on their way to Tenochtitlan . The peoples here allied themselves with the Spanish in 1521 against the Aztecs , an alliance which allowed the people here to suffer less modification of their lifestyles than in other parts of early New Spain . However, this area remained a tributary province with tribute going to the Spanish instead of

4700-540: The Virgin" which was stolen in the 1990s. The monastery area is to the right of the church. The main entrance is a "portería" or an arched, colonnaded entry. Inside this portería are murals depicting scenes from the early evangelization efforts by the Franciscans in Mexico. It has been theorized that this portería originally served as the monastery's chapel and where evangelization efforts were concentrated. This would explain

4800-652: The acceptance of public punishment. Above the doorframe is an image of Francis of Assisi holding three globes that support an image of Mary Immaculate as María de Ágreda writes the Mystical city of God and Duns Scotus writes a defense of the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception . This image would appear in later monasteries such as the Mission Landa in the Sierra Gorda of Querétaro , at

4900-401: The arrival of the first twelve Franciscan monks to arrive to Tenochtitlan-Mexico City. These friars had walked barefoot from Veracruz on the Gulf coast, 250 to the east. Cortés greets them on the causeway leading into the city as the head of a retinue of conquistadors and high ranking Aztec nobles. The Aztecs show surprise when Cortés and the other Spaniards bow to the monks. To the right of

5000-431: 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

5100-427: The church, dates from the 17th century to the early 18th century. This latter construction was due to the dilapidated condition of the original church, which was rebuilt, starting in 1696. The tower was constructed in 1717 by architects Juan Perez and Juan Ventura. Baptismal records indicate that this monastery church became the parish church of the area in the 17th century. The facade has undergone some changes since it

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5200-431: 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

5300-519: 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

5400-461: The country. There are a number of other attractions in the more rural areas of the municipality. The Pozas del Alvaresco and the Pozas de Atzinco are natural springs which emit water during the rainy season. The Hacienda de Actopan is located just east of the town and is available to rent for functions. The Hacienda de Actempan is located east of the town and is semi abandoned. The Puente de los Aztecs

5500-424: 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,

5600-544: The dominant language. During the Mexican Revolution , Ozumba was on the border of lands controlled by the government and those controlled by the rebels, leading to significant violence here, including the derailment of the train by Zapatista troops. Ozumba remained mostly in government hands, but the Zapatistas attacked frequently, capturing it for brief periods on two occasions. The violence ended in 1917, and

5700-610: 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

5800-409: The end of the 17th century. The community of San Mateo Tecalco has both. The largest park Parque Olla and there are year-round fresh water springs at Pozas de Santa Maria. It also has one of the oldest churches in the municipality. Just south of the municipal seat is the community of San Vicent Chimalhuacan, which is often called Chimalhuacan-Chalco or just simply Chimal. Natural attractions here include

5900-458: The entrance to San Vicente Chimalhuacan. One good idea and recomendación is to be helped by experts in the area. Some of them offer very affordable exclusive promotions for "pueblear" in Mexico. They can help you with ideas, tips and destinations that are fun, interesting and at the same time secure for all the family. There are options such as Puebleando ando that is specialized in town tourism through Mexico and can very helpful when traveling to

6000-485: The erection of the State of Mexico , Ozumba became a municipality in 1825, when the area had about 4,000 inhabitants. "de Alzate" was added to the official name in 1879. From 1860 to 1870, the area was plagued by a bandit group known as Los Plateados. The first train arrived in 1882, connecting Ozumba with the outside world, especially Cuautla and Mexico City. This contact resulted in the replacement of Nahuatl with Spanish as

6100-485: The event of an eruption. These procedures affect 60,000 people in fourteen municipalities in Mexico State alone. The town has narrow streets whose layout dates back to the colonial era. The main plaza is a simple layout with an open area for concerts and other events and a kiosk of simple design. It is surrounded by stands offering street food such as tacos and quesadillas. However most of the town's activity focuses on

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6200-460: 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

6300-492: 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

6400-646: 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,

6500-428: The foothills of the Popocatepetl volcano. The only industry is small workshops which produce farm implements, saddles, fireworks and boots. Despite agriculture's importance, just under half the municipality's population is engaged in commerce. The municipality has two main attractions, a variety of natural areas and parks and its architectural heritage consisting of early colonial churches and monasteries completed before

6600-457: 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

6700-478: 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

6800-413: 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

6900-425: 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

7000-469: The industrial revolution with great advances in iron and glass manufacturing techniques. Courtyards could then have horizontal glazing overhead, eliminating some of the weather elements from the space and giving birth to the modern atrium. Fire control is an important aspect of contemporary atrium design due to criticism that poorly designed atria could allow fire to spread to a building's upper stories more quickly. Another downside to incorporating an atrium

7100-405: The main altarpieces and the high choir on the right hand side. This is one of the few of its kind remaining in Mexico and it is completely made of intricately carved wood. The main altarpiece completely covers the wall behind the main altar. The center part of the cut out and replaced by a Neoclassical one. Its restoration to a more original appearance is relatively recent and based on research by

7200-567: The main door is a depicted of the "Niños Mártires" or child martyrs of Tlaxcala . According to the story, in 1527, Axotecatl, one of the four lords of Tlaxcala, sent his sons to be educated by the Franciscans. Then the boys returned, they had converted to Christianity and began to smash native idols and scolding their father for his polygamy and drinking. The lord beat one son, who the Spaniards named Cristobal, and then burned him to death. The other two boys fled but continued to preach until they met

7300-541: The market building. The value of mushrooms in this region of Mexico helps to maintain traditional ethnobiological knowledge. The most common prepared food items sold in the food stalls are barbacoa and moronga , a type of blood sausage prepared in various ways. Principal festivities here is the Feast of the Nuestra Señora de la Inmaculada Concepcion on 8 December, the anniversary of the municipality on 23 June and

7400-672: 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

7500-580: 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

7600-668: The municipality from the state of Morelos. Between the town of Ozumba and Chimalhuacan there is a small elevation which is locally known as the Cerrito (small mountain) and it is one of the few elevations in the center of the municipality. The only natural surface water is found in ravines and springs. The most notable ravines are called the Tlapunatlaco, the San Bartolo, and the San Francisco. The north and central parts of

7700-412: The municipality have a temperate climate (C(w2) (w) b(i)g), while the lower southern part has a somewhat warmer climate (A) C(w2) (w) a(i´)). Most of the wild vegetation here is pine and oak forest, which has been heavily exploited by man. Fauna includes armadillo , cacomixtle ), rabbits, bobcats , bats, skunks, hummingbirds, doves, butterflies, scorpions and spiders. Sixty five percent of the land here

7800-589: The municipality's territory is very rugged. The ravines are formed by small streams, whose water flows and swirls into spirals. This is what gives the area its name. Most ravines align northeast to southwest. The highest elevation is the Xoyacan Mountain which separates it from Amecameca and Ayapango. Another major elevation is the Chimal or Huilotepec Mountain which also forms part of its border, separating it from Tepetlixpa. The Cuautepec Mountain separates

7900-416: The native community. To pacify the situation, Cortés arranged with the friars to arrive late to Mass and to receive the flogging in front of the natives. The idea was to show that the punishment was impartial. However, the Franciscans also viewed Cortés flogging as voluntary and as a sign of his piety. The depiction has two messages, one of the special relationship between the Church and the Spaniards as well as

8000-520: The oldest churches in the municipality. Rodolfo Ortega house is representative of the architectural style of the municipality. The municipal market is located on the main road in front of the church. It is a typical rural market of Mexico State selling basic necessities such as foods, seed, grain and even cattle. Particularly during the rainy season, this market, as well as many others in the area, also offers up to 90 species of edible wild mushrooms. These are most often sold by older women in areas just outside

8100-507: 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

8200-461: The porous bottom of the overlying impluvium. The atrium contributed to the passive cooling of the house. The term was also used for a variety of spaces in public and religious buildings, mostly forms of arcaded courtyards, larger versions of the domestic spaces. Byzantine churches were often entered through such a space (as are many mosques , though the term atrium is not usually used to describe Islamic architecture ). The 19th century brought

8300-476: 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. Atrium (architecture) In architecture , an atrium ( pl. : atria or atriums)

8400-510: 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

8500-489: 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

8600-461: 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

8700-405: 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

8800-481: 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

8900-430: 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

9000-625: 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

9100-402: The six major scenes which are depicted on the walls. These murals are all that is left of the monastery's original decoration from the 16th century. The murals were retouched in the mid 19th century. They are one of the earliest examples of Rubens motif in the New World and contain one of the very few depictions of Peter of Ghent . On the left hand side is a depiction of Hernán Cortés greeting

9200-480: The town has been mostly quiet since. The original municipal palace was demolished in the 1950s and replaced with the current one. The municipal market was constructed in the 1970s. Violence returned to the town when gunmen, presumably from " La Familia Michoacana " drug cartel, shot up municipal president Luis Alfredo Galicia Arrieta's house in the town in the middle of the night in December 2009. The town of Ozumba

9300-430: The town proper. The municipality covers a territory of 48.92km2. It is bordered by Ayapango , Amecameca, Atlautla , Tepetlixpa and Juchitepec as well as to the south by the state of Morelos . The most important geographical feature of the area is the Popocatepetl volcano although it lies outside of the municipality proper. Much of the land here was tempered by past lava flows. The town is surrounded by many ravines and

9400-445: 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

9500-447: 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

9600-485: 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

9700-514: 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

9800-574: Was finished in 1746 and was gilded between 1749 and 1753. It was originally dedicated to Jesus the Nazarene until the 19th century. This sculpture was then moved to the second body. There used to be seven archangels here but only two remain. The Chapel of the Third Order has a more traditional altarpiece, with two bodies approachable from three sides. It contains niches, some of which are now empty. These contained images such as those of San Hugo and

9900-522: Was first built. Today, it consists of three bodies crowned by a crest. In the first two bodies there are images between the columns. The third body is decorated with a stone image of the Virgin Mary . The crest contains in image of God, the Father looking down on those entering the church with hands spread in blessing. The tower contains stone and plaster decorative elements. The two main features are

10000-571: Was under the religious jurisdiction of Tlalmanalco . The bishops and other administrators eventually ceased being monks, with these duties handed over to regular clergy. From 1773 to 1813, a large number of priests were assigned to the parish, which only two staying long term. During the Mexican War of Independence , Morelos’ success in Cuautla forced viceroy Felix Calleja to retreat to Ozumba with more than 200 wounded. After Independence and

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