Mother Culture

Olmec

One of the greater debates amongst archaeologists is whether the Olmec were a mother culture or a sister culture to the other Mesoamerican cultures. The term “mother culture” refers to an “earlier people’s culture that has great and widespread influence on some later cultures and people”, while the term “sister culture” refers to “many cultures whose interactions through the region produced shared attributes or religion, art, political structure and hierarchical society” (Wilford, 2005). Groups who are believe that the formative cultures of Mesoamerica were more or less equal in power and sophistication at the same time are on the sister culture side of the debate, while those who believe that the Olmec were earliest and held much power and influence over Mesoamerica are on the mother culture side. The Olmec were not only the first civilization of Mesoamerica, but they also laid the cultural ground work for later prominent civilizations.

The Olmec lived in an area along the Gulf of Mexico with a myriad of rivers, swamps, and fields more than 3,000 years ago. Their cultural influence throughout ancient Central America is dominant. Their influence covers several areas including, but not limited to, art, sports, engineering, technology, and religion. As time progressed, the cultures and civilizations that lived in that era, over hundreds of years, continued to show strong similarities to the original ancient civilization of Central America.

Culture, as defined by Merriam Webster dictionary, is “the beliefs, customs, and arts, of a particular society, group, place or time”. Cultural influences are geographical, historical, as well as familial factors that may create cultures or affect existing ones. These influences are composed of what is considered to be typical to the society.

RELIGION. Cultures and societies are most often connected by behaviors and agreements to live cohesively. In the era of the Olmec, est 1200 to 400 BC, religion was key...