Universal Encyclopedia
What was the Olmec civilization?
Before the Maya and the Aztecs, the Gulf Coast raised colossal stone heads, invented writing in the Americas, and played the first ballgame.
Last updated: October 2026
The Olmec civilization was the earliest major Mesoamerican culture, flourishing on Mexico’s Gulf Coast — in modern Veracruz and Tabasco — from about 1200 to 400 BCE. Famous for colossal basalt heads weighing up to 40 tons, the Olmecs pioneered writing, the calendar and the ritual ballgame that would define the later Maya and Aztec civilizations.