Olmec Stone Mask
A History of the World in 100 Objects
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The History of the Olmecs
There are only a few Olmecs conscriptions or glyphs now surviving, and decipherment of their writing is tentative at best. Even if we can't yet read their writing, we can learn a lot from the buildings and cities that have recently been uncovered. Major cities like Laventa, near the Gulf of Mexico, had impressive steppe pyramids with temple monuments for the worship of the gods. The layout of the city typified not just Olmec, but most later Central American urban centers,. like the Mayas and the Aztecs.
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