Olmec

First civilization of Mesoamerica and thought to be the mother culture of the Mayans. It developed in the coastal zone south of Vera Cruz and in adjacent Tabasco 1200–400 BC. The Olmecs built a large clay pyramid and several smaller mounds on the island of La Venta. Some gigantic stone heads, vestiges of their religion, also remain. The naturalistic Olmec art had a distinctive and influential style, often using the ‘were-jaguar’ motif of a sexless figure with fangs.