The Mesoamerican Olmec Heartland

The Mesoamerican Olmec flourished around 1400 BCE near the Bay of Campeche off the Gulf of Mexico. In addition to building large thrones and monuments, they also carved colossal sized heads weighing up to 50 tons and transported them nearly 62 miles to the Olmec heartland. Three of six artifacts discovered in the heartland have given the impression that the Long Count calendar may have been created and used by the Olmecs before the Mayans. Records indicate in 800 BCE, The Great Pyramid, of La Venta was built oriented precisely 8 degrees Northwest, and in 300 BCE, the entire Olmec civilization vanished without any hint to where they might have went and why.

The Olmec heartland is the southern portion of Mexico's Gulf Coast region between the Tuxtla mountains and the Olmec archaeological site of La Venta, extending roughly 80 km (50 mi) inland from the Gulf of Mexico coastline at its deepest. It is today, as it was during the height of the Olmec civilization, a tropical lowland forest environment, crossed by meandering rivers.

""The Wrestler", an Olmec era statuette, 1200 - 800 BCE.. 

Most researchers consider the Olmec heartland to be the home of the Olmec culture which became widespread over Mesoamerica from 1400 BCE until roughly 400 BCE. The area is also referred to as Olman or the Olmec Metropolitan Zone.[3]

The major heartland sites are:

• San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán
• La Venta
• Tres Zapotes
• Laguna de los Cerros - the least researched and least important of the major sites.

Smaller sites include:

• El Manatí, an Olmec sacrificial bog.
• El Azuzul, on the southern edge of the San Lorenzo area.
• San Andrés, near La Venta.

Important heartland finds not associated with any archaeological site include:

• "The Wrestler", a basalt statue found at Arroyo Sonso (see photo).
• Las Limas Monument 1, found by two children looking for somewhere to crack nuts.
• San Martín Pajapan Monument 1, found high on the slopes of San Martin Pajapan

The Olmec heartland. The yellow dots represent ancient habitation sites, while the red dots represent isolated artifact finds unassociated with any ancient town or village.

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