0:00:05 > 0:00:09This cave in southern Mexico was once thought to lead to
0:00:09 > 0:00:12the underworld, where the spirits of the long-dead resided.
0:00:17 > 0:00:20It's thought that this painting of a powerful figure
0:00:20 > 0:00:25dressed in jaguar skins is inspired by a culture 3,000 years old
0:00:25 > 0:00:29who believed in the power of supernatural transformation
0:00:29 > 0:00:32and of human-jaguar beasts, and who created some of the most
0:00:32 > 0:00:34astonishing artworks in the Americas.
0:00:37 > 0:00:41Arising out of the tropical wetlands of southern Mexico,
0:00:41 > 0:00:43around 1,200 BC, they were one of
0:00:43 > 0:00:47the first civilisations of the Americas.
0:00:48 > 0:00:50They built the first pyramid
0:00:50 > 0:00:54and the first planned city in this part of the Americas.
0:00:54 > 0:00:57Devised one of the earliest known systems of writing.
0:00:57 > 0:01:01Believed their rulers had supernatural powers.
0:01:01 > 0:01:04And played one of the world's oldest ball games.
0:01:05 > 0:01:09They are known as the Olmec, and they reached their height
0:01:09 > 0:01:12over 1,000 years before the Maya and the Aztecs did.
0:01:18 > 0:01:20My name is Jago Cooper.
0:01:20 > 0:01:23I'm a specialist in the archaeology of the Americas.
0:01:24 > 0:01:26In this series I will be exploring
0:01:26 > 0:01:29the rise and fall of forgotten civilisations.
0:01:30 > 0:01:34From the crystal-clear seas of the Caribbean
0:01:34 > 0:01:37to the New World's most impressive pyramids.
0:01:38 > 0:01:41Over the smoking volcanoes of Costa Rica
0:01:41 > 0:01:44and deep underground in the caves of central Mexico.
0:01:49 > 0:01:52I'll travel in the footsteps of these peoples
0:01:52 > 0:01:56to reveal their secrets, to unearth the astonishing cultures that
0:01:56 > 0:02:00flourished among some of the most dramatic landscapes in the world.
0:02:07 > 0:02:11The Olmec were one of this continent's great civilisations.
0:02:11 > 0:02:13But two millennia ago, they vanished.
0:02:17 > 0:02:19This is a detective story.
0:02:19 > 0:02:23One where fragments of art and archaeology have to be
0:02:23 > 0:02:26pieced together to understand a people lost to time.
0:02:26 > 0:02:30To understand how the Olmecs arose, how they ruled 3,000 years ago,
0:02:30 > 0:02:34and why they created this astonishing art
0:02:34 > 0:02:38is to understand the rise of civilisation itself.
0:02:58 > 0:02:59In the 1940s,
0:02:59 > 0:03:03archaeologists investigated rumours of a giant stone eye,
0:03:03 > 0:03:07staring up out of the ground in the jungles of southern Mexico.
0:03:13 > 0:03:16They were astonished by what they discovered.
0:03:27 > 0:03:31They unearthed evidence of a highly-developed civilisation,
0:03:31 > 0:03:34far older and more advanced than anyone had imagined.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41Somehow, in the unforgiving tropics of Mexico,
0:03:41 > 0:03:44an extraordinary culture arose and thrived.
0:03:53 > 0:03:56The story begins a few miles from where the giant stone heads
0:03:56 > 0:03:59were found, on the Gulf Coast of Mexico.
0:04:01 > 0:04:05Legends of a lost people are part of local folklore here.
0:04:07 > 0:04:10There's an old poem in the indigenous Nahuatl language
0:04:10 > 0:04:12that tells of a legendary land of mist,
0:04:12 > 0:04:17a place that is now forgotten, where once there was a civilisation.
0:04:21 > 0:04:25But this environment of extremes obscured their story for centuries.
0:04:29 > 0:04:32This is a swelteringly hot and humid part of the world,
0:04:32 > 0:04:35prone to hurricanes and potential downpours.
0:04:35 > 0:04:40Inland from here are endless expanses of swamps and jungles
0:04:40 > 0:04:44and, in the wet season, half a metre of rain can fall in just a month.
0:04:44 > 0:04:47The terrain can be flooded for miles around.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50And so, it's not the sort of place you might imagine a civilisation
0:04:50 > 0:04:54evolving, but this is where the story of the Olmec begins.
0:04:59 > 0:05:03Humans first arrived in Mesoamerica, the narrow strip of land
0:05:03 > 0:05:07connecting North and South America, over 12,000 years ago.
0:05:08 > 0:05:10They were hunter-gatherers who fished
0:05:10 > 0:05:12and foraged along the coastline.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20But the network of rivers and lagoons drew them inland
0:05:20 > 0:05:22in search of more sustenance.
0:05:26 > 0:05:28Into the swamps and wetlands.
0:05:32 > 0:05:35Into an environment that would change the way they existed.
0:05:36 > 0:05:41As a result of the intense rainfall, the rivers and lakes here overflow.
0:05:41 > 0:05:44It provides an effect that's similar to the Gift of the Nile.
0:05:44 > 0:05:47The annual flood waters provide tonnes of fresh
0:05:47 > 0:05:49silt along these river banks,
0:05:49 > 0:05:52creating a fantastically fertile growing environment.
0:06:08 > 0:06:127,000 years ago, the river banks here, inland from the Gulf Coast,
0:06:12 > 0:06:16were one of the first places in the Americas where maize was farmed.
0:06:19 > 0:06:22It was a crop that transformed the lives of those first
0:06:22 > 0:06:26hunter-gatherers, who gave up their nomadic existence
0:06:26 > 0:06:28and started cultivating fields.
0:06:29 > 0:06:32Sustained by a crop that could be harvested three times a year
0:06:32 > 0:06:37in this region, gradually, between 4,000 BC and 3,000 BC,
0:06:37 > 0:06:39the population of the Gulf Coast grew.
0:06:41 > 0:06:45But the early Mesoamericans started growing more than just maize.
0:06:45 > 0:06:49Crops that, in combination, did something quite remarkable.
0:06:50 > 0:06:53These three plants of maize, beans and squash
0:06:53 > 0:06:56have an incredibly complimentary effect
0:06:56 > 0:06:58when they're grown together.
0:06:58 > 0:07:00The maize is a hardy plant that can grow in tough conditions,
0:07:00 > 0:07:03providing a nice, straight stalk.
0:07:03 > 0:07:05The beans are a vine which grow around it,
0:07:05 > 0:07:07fixing nitrogen in the soil.
0:07:07 > 0:07:09And the squash grows around both,
0:07:09 > 0:07:12providing these broad leaves that keep down weeds.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15But what's perhaps more important is what's inside,
0:07:15 > 0:07:17because these plants, when eaten together,
0:07:17 > 0:07:20provide all of the sustenance that people need.
0:07:20 > 0:07:25That diet of these, which are called the three sisters,
0:07:25 > 0:07:27has provided the foundation
0:07:27 > 0:07:30of Mexican diets for thousands of years.
0:07:32 > 0:07:34This agricultural breakthrough,
0:07:34 > 0:07:38an ability to grow all the sustenance needed to survive,
0:07:38 > 0:07:42allowed the early predecessors of the Olmec to produce a food surplus.
0:07:44 > 0:07:47The first building block in the rise of a civilisation.
0:07:49 > 0:07:53It allowed villages and farming communities to develop.
0:07:56 > 0:08:01And, by 1,500 BC, one settlement began to evolve
0:08:01 > 0:08:04that was different from anything Mesoamerica had seen before.
0:08:05 > 0:08:08And it's the first evidence we have of Olmec culture.
0:08:11 > 0:08:15I'm now 25 miles inland from the Gulf Coast
0:08:15 > 0:08:18to see if I can find traces of the first Olmec settlement.
0:08:18 > 0:08:20But, this is a hugely challenging environment
0:08:20 > 0:08:22to investigate anything in.
0:08:24 > 0:08:26Low-lying land here floods during the rainy season
0:08:26 > 0:08:30and the reed and mud-walled structures the Olmec built
0:08:30 > 0:08:31have all rotted away.
0:08:34 > 0:08:39But archaeologists have discovered that, in 1,200 BC,
0:08:39 > 0:08:42this plateau, which rises 20 metres out of the wetlands,
0:08:42 > 0:08:46was at the centre of the earliest Olmec settlement.
0:08:49 > 0:08:51It's called San Lorenzo.
0:08:52 > 0:08:55What's different about San Lorenzo is its sheer scale.
0:08:55 > 0:08:59Archaeological surveys tell us that the site was over 700 hectares.
0:08:59 > 0:09:01That's more than three square miles,
0:09:01 > 0:09:04with a population of around 10,000 people.
0:09:07 > 0:09:09There would have been houses grouped together,
0:09:09 > 0:09:11split up by pools and streams.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14Rafts and canoes navigating through these watercourses.
0:09:16 > 0:09:17And, for as far as you can see,
0:09:17 > 0:09:20there would have been well-irrigated fields packed with crops.
0:09:23 > 0:09:26It was a boom town and no-one ever went hungry.
0:09:28 > 0:09:31And it wasn't just the scale of San Lorenzo
0:09:31 > 0:09:33that surprised archaeologists.
0:09:33 > 0:09:36On the heights of the plateau, they unearthed something
0:09:36 > 0:09:40that had never been seen before so early in Mesoamerican history.
0:09:43 > 0:09:47I got a map of the plateau, made during the excavations of the site.
0:09:47 > 0:09:49It marks their discoveries.
0:09:51 > 0:09:54And beneath my feet are the remains of a structure
0:09:54 > 0:09:57that was very different to the mud and thatched houses
0:09:57 > 0:09:58that most Olmec lived in.
0:10:03 > 0:10:06This one had stone foundations and massive columns.
0:10:07 > 0:10:11Archaeologists think it's the first royal residence in Mesoamerica.
0:10:14 > 0:10:18The excavation has been backfilled to protect the structure.
0:10:18 > 0:10:20It was called the Red Palace,
0:10:20 > 0:10:22and it occupied the very heart of San Lorenzo.
0:10:24 > 0:10:28Around this Red Palace were the lower status residences
0:10:28 > 0:10:30and, below them, further down the slopes,
0:10:30 > 0:10:32you found the labourers and the farmers.
0:10:32 > 0:10:36It's that classic realisation of a stratified society with
0:10:36 > 0:10:40the elite people literally higher, looking down on everyone else.
0:10:45 > 0:10:48San Lorenzo was controlled from here.
0:10:48 > 0:10:51And this kind of centralised social organisation
0:10:51 > 0:10:53is a hallmark of civilisation.
0:10:57 > 0:11:00No other emerging civilisation in Mesoamerica
0:11:00 > 0:11:04had an elite class as privileged as the Olmec rulers.
0:11:09 > 0:11:13And they made their mark on society in a very striking way.
0:11:37 > 0:11:39These are the colossal Olmec heads,
0:11:39 > 0:11:43and they're three-dimensional representations of individuals.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46Ten of them were found on a processional way leading
0:11:46 > 0:11:48up to the Red Palace at San Lorenzo.
0:11:50 > 0:11:53It's thought that they're rulers or heroes.
0:11:53 > 0:11:56But the way they're carved, using stone tools,
0:11:56 > 0:11:59displays an exquisite level of craftsmanship.
0:12:02 > 0:12:06There is no clue to their names, or when they lived and died,
0:12:06 > 0:12:09but what makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up is
0:12:09 > 0:12:13the realisation that these could be the actual faces of the Olmec elite.
0:12:18 > 0:12:21To have had such impressive sculpture dedicated to them
0:12:21 > 0:12:23is testimony to their status.
0:12:24 > 0:12:26And it begs the question,
0:12:26 > 0:12:30what was it that made these individuals so special?
0:12:31 > 0:12:34For people to accept a ruler to sit above them,
0:12:34 > 0:12:37to control their lives, there has to be something really
0:12:37 > 0:12:40ingrained in their imagination, their psyche, to make it acceptable.
0:12:40 > 0:12:42So, were the Olmec doing this willingly or were
0:12:42 > 0:12:44they forced to do so?
0:12:49 > 0:12:53Evidence for why the Olmec elite were so revered by their people
0:12:53 > 0:12:57can be seen in other sculptures unearthed near San Lorenzo.
0:12:57 > 0:13:02It suggests that the rulers occupied an almost supernatural role.
0:13:02 > 0:13:04Roberto Nuno Gomes is an archaeologist
0:13:04 > 0:13:08based here at the Xalapa Museum in Veracruz.
0:13:08 > 0:13:10He has been studying the art of the Olmec
0:13:10 > 0:13:13and its meaning for over 20 years.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16This group of statues were all excavated
0:13:16 > 0:13:20together near San Lorenzo and form a tableau, or scene.
0:13:21 > 0:13:26It shows two Olmec figures crouching before two jaguars.
0:14:59 > 0:15:02There is a huge volume of Olmec art dedicated to illustrating
0:15:02 > 0:15:07their rulers' ability to assume the power of the jaguar.
0:15:07 > 0:15:11To become half human, half beast, or were-jaguar.
0:15:13 > 0:15:17They would have been seen daily by the Olmec people
0:15:17 > 0:15:20at sites like San Lorenzo. A public display of power.
0:15:22 > 0:15:25This sculpture shows a ruler in mid-transformation,
0:15:25 > 0:15:28turning into a jaguar before our very eyes.
0:15:29 > 0:15:33The infant in this greenstone figure also hints at lineage,
0:15:33 > 0:15:38the passing down of power within the elite. Inherited legitimacy.
0:15:42 > 0:15:45The public art suggested that the leaders possessed
0:15:45 > 0:15:49supernatural powers, their rituals and ceremonies
0:15:49 > 0:15:52seemed to have reinforced that impression yet further.
0:15:55 > 0:16:00This exquisite face is made of solid jadeite, a rare greenstone,
0:16:00 > 0:16:01and was worn as a mask.
0:16:57 > 0:17:00These masks directly link their wearer to the successful harvest,
0:17:00 > 0:17:04a fundamental aspect of Olmec society.
0:17:20 > 0:17:24Key to deciphering Olmec belief systems and the status of their
0:17:24 > 0:17:28leaders is the understanding that the elite were viewed as different.
0:17:28 > 0:17:31They were thought to have a special relationship
0:17:31 > 0:17:35with powerful beasts and supernatural forces.
0:17:35 > 0:17:37Their power, the Olmec believed,
0:17:37 > 0:17:42created the conditions for fertile soils and an abundant food supply.
0:17:44 > 0:17:47This is an altar stone or throne found in one of
0:17:47 > 0:17:49San Lorenzo's public plazas.
0:17:49 > 0:17:51The elite would have stood or sat cross-legged on top
0:17:51 > 0:17:54during ceremonies, and here you can see what we think
0:17:54 > 0:17:57are footholds to let them climb up on top.
0:17:57 > 0:18:00At the front, we see a figure, cross-legged,
0:18:00 > 0:18:03half in and half out of a cave or portal,
0:18:03 > 0:18:07representing the transition between this world and another dimension.
0:18:07 > 0:18:10This object encapsulates the spectacle with which the elite
0:18:10 > 0:18:14could enthrall the public and demonstrate their ability
0:18:14 > 0:18:17to communicate with the spiritual world.
0:18:25 > 0:18:29Through public and ceremonial art, the Olmec were expressing a shared
0:18:29 > 0:18:34belief system, one that kept their social structure and order in place.
0:18:34 > 0:18:38This is another defining element of civilisation.
0:18:40 > 0:18:43The process of creating all this monumental stone sculpture
0:18:43 > 0:18:46tells us even more about them.
0:18:47 > 0:18:50The craftsmanship required to carve it is one thing,
0:18:50 > 0:18:53but acquiring the stone is quite another.
0:18:56 > 0:18:58There is no source of rock or quarries
0:18:58 > 0:19:00in the Olmec marshland around.
0:19:03 > 0:19:05The heads are made of volcanic basalt rock
0:19:05 > 0:19:10and the nearest source lies 40 miles northwest of San Lorenzo
0:19:10 > 0:19:12at a place called Llano Del Jicaro.
0:19:16 > 0:19:18We're just entering into the foothills
0:19:18 > 0:19:21of the Tuxtla Mountains, and this is the first outcrop of basalt
0:19:21 > 0:19:23that you find near San Lorenzo.
0:19:27 > 0:19:31So somewhere around here is meant to be the quarry where we know
0:19:31 > 0:19:35lots of stone monuments of the Olmec at San Lorenzo were made.
0:19:42 > 0:19:45Hidden in this dense bushland,
0:19:45 > 0:19:48are hundreds of boulders of volcanic basalt rock.
0:19:50 > 0:19:53So, here, you can start to see some of the bigger basalt boulders
0:19:53 > 0:19:55and, standing on this, you feel like you could be
0:19:55 > 0:19:57standing on the top of one of those Olmec heads.
0:20:01 > 0:20:04Olmec labourers weren't just digging the boulders out of the ground
0:20:04 > 0:20:08here, they were beginning the process of shaping them.
0:20:09 > 0:20:12You can see how this boulder is starting to be shaped.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15You get these corners which have been hacked out
0:20:15 > 0:20:18into a humanly created form.
0:20:18 > 0:20:22Three, four vertical edges creating a square shape.
0:20:23 > 0:20:26Ready to be transformed into a piece of Olmec art.
0:20:29 > 0:20:33The boulders were being preformed here,
0:20:33 > 0:20:36and part of an organised supply line of the raw material required
0:20:36 > 0:20:40for a huge volume of public art.
0:20:40 > 0:20:45This is a 3,000 year-old quarrying site, and the sheer extent of work
0:20:45 > 0:20:49going on here shows how important stone working was to the Olmec.
0:20:51 > 0:20:56Between here and San Lorenzo is a swampy, riverine landscape
0:20:56 > 0:21:00over which Olmec labourers would have had to transport
0:21:00 > 0:21:0310-20 tonne boulders using rafts, log rollers
0:21:03 > 0:21:04and sheer brute strength.
0:21:06 > 0:21:11It's been estimated that it would have taken 1,500 men
0:21:11 > 0:21:13three to four months to transport
0:21:13 > 0:21:16a preformed colossal head from here to San Lorenzo.
0:21:18 > 0:21:21The effort involved in immortalising members of the elite tells us
0:21:21 > 0:21:25how strongly the Olmec must have believed in their leaders' ability
0:21:25 > 0:21:29to influence nature and provide for the people.
0:21:31 > 0:21:34But the Olmec weren't just immortalising themselves in stone.
0:21:44 > 0:21:46Stored in an air-conditioned facility
0:21:46 > 0:21:49in the Museum of Santiago in the Tuxtla Mountains
0:21:49 > 0:21:51is an astonishing and very rare set of artefacts
0:21:51 > 0:21:56that I'm getting extremely privileged access to examine.
0:21:59 > 0:22:03As far as Olmec artworks go, they're one of a kind.
0:22:03 > 0:22:05HE SPEAKS SPANISH
0:22:09 > 0:22:11And they offer another fragment of evidence to help us
0:22:11 > 0:22:14understand Olmec belief systems.
0:22:17 > 0:22:21These exquisite faces and heads have been carved from wood,
0:22:21 > 0:22:24a material that would normally have rotted away.
0:22:24 > 0:22:26But these were discovered, preserved,
0:22:26 > 0:22:28in the mud of a bog near San Lorenzo.
0:22:32 > 0:22:34These objects have been really beautifully made.
0:22:34 > 0:22:37You can see some of the cut marks from some of the tools and then
0:22:37 > 0:22:40these faces have been polished down to a really fine level.
0:22:40 > 0:22:42But because they were waterlogged, some of them
0:22:42 > 0:22:44have been crushed during the time of being in the bog,
0:22:44 > 0:22:47so you get these quite distorted faces.
0:22:47 > 0:22:50It's incredibly rare to find wooden artefacts like this
0:22:50 > 0:22:54in the Olmec region but, in reality, these wooden objects,
0:22:54 > 0:22:56these organic materials, would have made up a huge part of
0:22:56 > 0:22:59the everyday objects that the Olmec would have used.
0:23:02 > 0:23:04But, unlike the colossal stone heads,
0:23:04 > 0:23:09these wooden representations of the Olmec weren't for public display.
0:23:11 > 0:23:14Instead, they were deliberately thrown into the waters of the bog.
0:23:20 > 0:23:24They were cast in as an offering to the spirit world.
0:23:27 > 0:23:30In the Olmec realm of swamps, lagoons
0:23:30 > 0:23:34and rivers that surrounded San Lorenzo, water was everywhere.
0:23:41 > 0:23:44Their sacred jaguars hunted in it.
0:23:44 > 0:23:48It made their crops grow, so had life-giving power.
0:23:48 > 0:23:51And so springs and pools were sacred places.
0:23:54 > 0:23:56This is an ancient volcanic crater lake
0:23:56 > 0:23:59and locals believe this water to be bottomless.
0:23:59 > 0:24:03To the Olmec, bodies of water like this were entrance ways to the
0:24:03 > 0:24:05underworld and to break its surface
0:24:05 > 0:24:07is to enter into another dimension.
0:24:10 > 0:24:14This underworld was where the Olmec believe their ancestors resided.
0:24:14 > 0:24:18By casting objects like the wooden heads into a lake like this
0:24:18 > 0:24:21or a watery bog, they were making offerings to them.
0:24:24 > 0:24:26This practice tells us that the
0:24:26 > 0:24:29Olmec worshipped their ancestors and that by remembering them,
0:24:29 > 0:24:32they empowered and legitimised their civilisation.
0:24:34 > 0:24:38Other artefacts recovered from these Olmec underworlds have made
0:24:38 > 0:24:43it possible to see even more clearly how sophisticated their society was.
0:24:49 > 0:24:53Archaeologist, David Morales Gomez, is responsible for the care
0:24:53 > 0:24:57of thousands of artefacts found in this region.
0:24:57 > 0:24:58But at this storage facility,
0:24:58 > 0:25:02his team look after a set of unique items.
0:25:14 > 0:25:17These spheres are made of solid rubber and along with the
0:25:17 > 0:25:23wooden busts, were made as offerings to the underworld, 3,500 years ago.
0:26:16 > 0:26:19This is the first time that these balls have ever been filmed
0:26:19 > 0:26:21or seen on television
0:26:21 > 0:26:24and they represent something much more than just an offering.
0:26:27 > 0:26:30This is one of the earliest rubber balls in the world.
0:26:30 > 0:26:34It dates to 1,600 BC.
0:26:34 > 0:26:37People were using rubber in the Americas over 3,000
0:26:37 > 0:26:39years before it was introduced into Europe.
0:26:39 > 0:26:43And the Olmec were playing one of the world's first sports.
0:26:43 > 0:26:46This example is the start of an incredibly important
0:26:46 > 0:26:49tradition here in the region, the Mesoamerican ball game.
0:26:54 > 0:26:56The Mesoamerican ball game was still being
0:26:56 > 0:27:00played in Mexico in the 1970s when this footage was shot.
0:27:02 > 0:27:04The object was to keep the ball in play,
0:27:04 > 0:27:08moving it in the air at all times using your hips or arms.
0:27:10 > 0:27:14But for the Olmec, it served a greater purpose than just sport.
0:27:51 > 0:27:53Incredible.
0:27:53 > 0:27:55So this is one of the largest rubber balls and very,
0:27:55 > 0:27:59very difficult to conserve, but it gives you a sense of the scale
0:27:59 > 0:28:02of this sport and this would have been used as one of the balls
0:28:02 > 0:28:04played between two people in one of these ball courts,
0:28:04 > 0:28:06bouncing it from side to side,
0:28:06 > 0:28:09but the weight of the ball must have left some serious bruising
0:28:09 > 0:28:12on the hips and shoulders which they would have been using to play with.
0:28:12 > 0:28:14But it's amazing.
0:28:22 > 0:28:26The legacy of the Olmec ball game can be seen today in modern
0:28:26 > 0:28:29Mexico, where the ritual of ball sport remains just
0:28:29 > 0:28:33as much a part of society as it was 3,000 years ago.
0:28:35 > 0:28:39The rubber balls really represent the earliest sport in
0:28:39 > 0:28:43the Americas, but sport is crucial, I think, to any society.
0:28:43 > 0:28:46Within the Olmec, we start to see the origins of that sport
0:28:46 > 0:28:49play out, because as societies grow, as populations grow,
0:28:49 > 0:28:51we need other people to represent us,
0:28:51 > 0:28:54represent our communities and that is what football teams do,
0:28:54 > 0:28:57they represent communities, regions, countries even.
0:28:57 > 0:28:59And so the Mesoamerican ball game is
0:28:59 > 0:29:02so much more than just a sport, it's a mechanism for playing
0:29:02 > 0:29:07out relationships between communities, between city states.
0:29:07 > 0:29:11In some ways, it allows individuals to live vicariously through
0:29:11 > 0:29:12those who represent them.
0:29:18 > 0:29:20I've been invited to represent a local team.
0:29:28 > 0:29:31We don't know if the Olmec just played among themselves
0:29:31 > 0:29:34or against neighbouring societies, but later,
0:29:34 > 0:29:38Mesoamerican cultures used the ball game as a form of proxy warfare.
0:29:41 > 0:29:45As there is very little evidence that the Olmec were ever engaged in
0:29:45 > 0:29:49military conflict, it may have been that to them, their ball game
0:29:49 > 0:29:53was a means of resolving disputes as well as a ritual spectacle.
0:29:58 > 0:30:01WHISTLE BLOWS
0:30:04 > 0:30:08The development of organised sport within Olmec society has led
0:30:08 > 0:30:10to an even greater appreciation of how
0:30:10 > 0:30:12sophisticated their civilisation was.
0:30:20 > 0:30:24When you take in the complexity of Olmec art,
0:30:24 > 0:30:28their spiritual beliefs and social organisation, you really do
0:30:28 > 0:30:33have to remind yourself that this was happening 3,000 years ago.
0:30:39 > 0:30:41Yet in 900 BC,
0:30:41 > 0:30:45the Olmec raised their culture to even greater heights, by planning
0:30:45 > 0:30:49and building a new city, one that put San Lorenzo in the shade.
0:30:59 > 0:31:03The Olmec chose a site 30 miles northeast of San Lorenzo
0:31:03 > 0:31:06for the city, at a place called La Venta.
0:31:14 > 0:31:17And they built it from scratch to a very specific design.
0:31:19 > 0:31:23Like at San Lorenzo, at La Venta we have these complexes of low
0:31:23 > 0:31:27earthen platforms and mounds, but what's different is
0:31:27 > 0:31:30there has been careful urban planning at this site.
0:31:32 > 0:31:35The whole cityscape sits exactly eight degrees
0:31:35 > 0:31:37off a north/south axis.
0:31:37 > 0:31:39We don't know why it's on this line,
0:31:39 > 0:31:42but it tells us it was constructed this way deliberately.
0:31:43 > 0:31:46But what dominates this city, is that.
0:31:50 > 0:31:52This is a man-made pyramid.
0:31:54 > 0:31:58Constructed from 100,000 cubic metres of clay,
0:31:58 > 0:32:00it was the first pyramid in ancient Mexico...
0:32:05 > 0:32:09..starting a tradition that would last 2,000 years.
0:32:11 > 0:32:14Building it would have been a massive civic project
0:32:14 > 0:32:17requiring thousands of labourers,
0:32:17 > 0:32:20all of whom would have needed food and sustenance.
0:32:21 > 0:32:24So this pyramid demonstrates that the Olmec were still
0:32:24 > 0:32:29generating huge food surpluses from their rich flood plain farmlands.
0:32:32 > 0:32:34It can be seen from miles around.
0:32:36 > 0:32:38It's clear that by 900 BC,
0:32:38 > 0:32:42the Olmec had become a supremely confident society.
0:32:43 > 0:32:47Rebecca Gonzales has been the lead archaeologist
0:32:47 > 0:32:49working at La Venta for the last 20 years.
0:32:52 > 0:32:59It's a huge site, the first urban planned city in Mesoamerica.
0:32:59 > 0:33:01It's a display of power, basically.
0:33:01 > 0:33:03The whole architecture, the whole layout of the site,
0:33:03 > 0:33:09it's telling you, we're here, we have the manpower,
0:33:09 > 0:33:14we have the ideas and the architects and everything to do this.
0:33:14 > 0:33:18One of the first things Rebecca did when she came here 20 years ago,
0:33:18 > 0:33:21was to create a map of the city's layout.
0:33:21 > 0:33:23This is the map.
0:33:23 > 0:33:26It gives you a sense of the scale of the site, because if you look
0:33:26 > 0:33:27at the scale, it's 200 metres,
0:33:27 > 0:33:29it's running for almost more than a kilometre.
0:33:29 > 0:33:33More than a kilometre. We're standing on the Acropolis
0:33:33 > 0:33:37facing a four hectare plaza which was probably used for public
0:33:37 > 0:33:40ceremonies and we cannot see the rest of the site
0:33:40 > 0:33:43because it's covered with vegetation, but it has been mapped.
0:33:43 > 0:33:45That gives you an idea that it would be hundreds,
0:33:45 > 0:33:48maybe thousands of people who could fit into that plaza
0:33:48 > 0:33:51in front of the pyramid, looking at the spectacle.
0:33:51 > 0:33:55There must have been a big population here.
0:33:55 > 0:33:59They estimate there might have been 10,000 people here.
0:33:59 > 0:34:00You can absolutely see it.
0:34:00 > 0:34:02It gives a sense of the urban environment
0:34:02 > 0:34:04and the creation of an urban landscape.
0:34:04 > 0:34:07You see so many things here that are continued on within wider
0:34:07 > 0:34:11- Mesoamerican cultures for thousands of years.- Yeah.
0:34:11 > 0:34:14What percentage of this site do you think has been excavated
0:34:14 > 0:34:17- scientifically?- Not even 1%, not even 1%.
0:34:17 > 0:34:20We have excavated very, very, very little.
0:34:23 > 0:34:26Rebecca's map of the site not only gives a sense of scale,
0:34:26 > 0:34:30but shows us how it was built to hold huge ceremonial gatherings.
0:34:32 > 0:34:35Dozens of pieces of art have been found here,
0:34:35 > 0:34:40some relating to or depicting Olmec rituals and ceremonies.
0:34:41 > 0:34:45And one set of finds tells us that at La Venta, the Olmec were
0:34:45 > 0:34:49making more extravagant ritual offerings than ever before.
0:34:49 > 0:34:52Tonnes and tonnes of serpentine rock,
0:34:52 > 0:34:55much of it shaped into beautiful axe heads,
0:34:55 > 0:34:59was buried in a massive offering pit at the foot of the pyramid.
0:34:59 > 0:35:04This huge pit that was dug between four and seven metres deep
0:35:04 > 0:35:07and then rows of serpentine blocks were deposited
0:35:07 > 0:35:10and these were placed...
0:35:10 > 0:35:13As they were filling it up, covered up, these were placed there
0:35:13 > 0:35:17and the massive offerings of these underground offerings of 1,000 tonnes
0:35:17 > 0:35:22of serpentine, it's huge amounts of stone that was brought in.
0:35:22 > 0:35:24Why do you think these offerings were taking place?
0:35:24 > 0:35:28They are obviously probably one of the most important tools
0:35:28 > 0:35:30that they used.
0:35:30 > 0:35:32They were stone working people.
0:35:32 > 0:35:38They were set up standing up like this or some were placed
0:35:38 > 0:35:42pointing to north, south, east, west, like this.
0:35:42 > 0:35:45Do you think they are making offerings to the rulers
0:35:45 > 0:35:47of the site or do you think it's the rulers making
0:35:47 > 0:35:49the offerings in order to show off their own wealth
0:35:49 > 0:35:51and their ability to make these offerings?
0:35:51 > 0:35:55It's again a show of power and a show of wealth and I like the idea
0:35:55 > 0:35:59that the massive offerings are offerings to Mother Earth.
0:35:59 > 0:36:03But serpentine rock isn't found anywhere near the Gulf Coast.
0:36:04 > 0:36:08Just as the Olmec sought basalt rock for their colossal heads,
0:36:08 > 0:36:11from La Venta, they were reaching out even further
0:36:11 > 0:36:13to source serpentine.
0:36:14 > 0:36:18- Where is this stone coming from? - We think it comes from Oaxaca
0:36:18 > 0:36:21which is in the western coast of Mexico.
0:36:21 > 0:36:24How, we don't know, but they were brought in, yes.
0:36:24 > 0:36:27There is a colossal amount of trade coming across hundreds of miles.
0:36:27 > 0:36:31- Yes.- It really says something about the importance of the site if you're
0:36:31 > 0:36:36getting this extent of interaction across the whole of Mesoamerica.
0:36:36 > 0:36:37Yeah.
0:36:39 > 0:36:41From here at La Venta,
0:36:41 > 0:36:44the Olmec were using the wealth they were generating from
0:36:44 > 0:36:49their rich farmlands to trade across the length and breadth of Mexico.
0:36:49 > 0:36:53But the cultures they encountered weren't as advanced as they were.
0:36:55 > 0:36:58Archaeologists never like to use the term "first"
0:36:58 > 0:37:01because you're always going to be proved wrong eventually.
0:37:01 > 0:37:03But this is the first pyramid in Mesoamerica,
0:37:03 > 0:37:06the first planned layout of a town.
0:37:06 > 0:37:09But what's so special about this site, is just the way it
0:37:09 > 0:37:12pulls in wealth from hundreds of miles away.
0:37:12 > 0:37:14You find stone resources from Guatemala,
0:37:14 > 0:37:17the central highlands of Mexico and Oaxaca.
0:37:17 > 0:37:20But what I want to know, is how does this site, how does this
0:37:20 > 0:37:24culture influence those regions hundreds of miles away?
0:37:31 > 0:37:35I'm travelling 400 miles west of La Venta on a journey that
0:37:35 > 0:37:39would have taken the Olmec the best part of a month on foot,
0:37:39 > 0:37:42to a gap in the mountains that allows access between east
0:37:42 > 0:37:45and west Mexico, called Chalcatzingo.
0:38:01 > 0:38:04Situated in Mexico's central highlands, Chalcatzingo
0:38:04 > 0:38:07was a trading post community that controlled
0:38:07 > 0:38:10the flow of goods between east and west.
0:38:16 > 0:38:19The Olmec came to this area to acquire serpentine.
0:38:21 > 0:38:24They may have traded for it with agricultural produce,
0:38:24 > 0:38:28perhaps with jaguar pelts and with rubber which could only have
0:38:28 > 0:38:31been harvested from the Gulf Coast environment.
0:38:33 > 0:38:36And certainly there is evidence that the rubber ball game
0:38:36 > 0:38:39they seem to have originated, found its way here.
0:38:46 > 0:38:50So this is a classic example of a Mesoamerican ball court.
0:38:50 > 0:38:52Here in the middle is where the game would actually have been
0:38:52 > 0:38:56played with maybe two to four players on each side of the team
0:38:56 > 0:39:00and the rubber ball would have been bounced up and down this channel.
0:39:00 > 0:39:03What's quite interesting about this particular ball court, is it has
0:39:03 > 0:39:05these raised ramps.
0:39:06 > 0:39:08From up here, you can get a picture of what this game
0:39:08 > 0:39:10would have looked like.
0:39:10 > 0:39:11An audience perhaps up on this hill,
0:39:11 > 0:39:14looking down on the players, playing within this channel.
0:39:14 > 0:39:19The rubber ball bouncing up and down but it's more than just
0:39:19 > 0:39:22a relationship between the players and the spectators.
0:39:22 > 0:39:24It's about the positioning of this court itself.
0:39:24 > 0:39:27It's located in the heart of the ceremonial centre,
0:39:27 > 0:39:29just metres from this stepped pyramid.
0:39:29 > 0:39:32So it gives us a sense of how important the ball game is
0:39:32 > 0:39:36within Mesoamerican society and if we think back to the rubber balls
0:39:36 > 0:39:39we saw from Nahuati, 1,600 years before Christ,
0:39:39 > 0:39:42this game is something that lasts within
0:39:42 > 0:39:45Mesoamerica and Mesoamerican culture for thousands of years.
0:39:48 > 0:39:52Tellingly, it seems the Olmec came here as influential traders
0:39:52 > 0:39:55rather than military conquerors.
0:39:55 > 0:39:58Yet it seems they had a profound impact here
0:39:58 > 0:40:01and the evidence can be found carved into the mountainside.
0:40:08 > 0:40:11Here you have these three feline figures,
0:40:11 > 0:40:14maybe pumas or jaguars, but if you look at the mouth,
0:40:14 > 0:40:16they are almost fantastical in the way they are represented.
0:40:16 > 0:40:19Things like these cats, these feline figures,
0:40:19 > 0:40:22they aren't indigenous to this area, so we're getting the sense
0:40:22 > 0:40:27of iconography and art and ideas being brought into this region.
0:40:30 > 0:40:33There are over 30 elaborate carvings in the rock here
0:40:33 > 0:40:35at Chalcatzingo.
0:40:35 > 0:40:37But did the Olmec, who came here, create them
0:40:37 > 0:40:40or were they carved by the people of Chalcatzingo
0:40:40 > 0:40:43themselves, having been inspired by Olmec iconography?
0:40:45 > 0:40:47Archaeologists have spent years trying to find
0:40:47 > 0:40:52clues in the details of the 2,500-year-old carvings
0:40:52 > 0:40:55in an attempt to understand more about them.
0:40:56 > 0:40:58There is El Rey, the King.
0:41:00 > 0:41:03It's thought to be a cave entrance.
0:41:03 > 0:41:07The cave is an entrance to the underworld where the ancestors are.
0:41:08 > 0:41:12Travis Doering and Laurie Collins are currently conducting
0:41:12 > 0:41:15a two-year study to document the monuments at Chalcatzingo.
0:41:15 > 0:41:19This monument in particular shows a ruler who seems to be wielding the
0:41:19 > 0:41:24same power over the elements that the Olmec elite claimed they had.
0:41:24 > 0:41:27There is all kinds of iconography on here.
0:41:27 > 0:41:29These are rain clouds here
0:41:29 > 0:41:34and these are raindrops signifying that they can control the rain.
0:41:34 > 0:41:37They're spread out across the whole panel.
0:41:37 > 0:41:41They have control of the underworld where the ancestors
0:41:41 > 0:41:43live and also the natural world.
0:41:45 > 0:41:47But the evidence of Olmec iconography is
0:41:47 > 0:41:50disappearing before their eyes.
0:41:50 > 0:41:54You can see how much rock loss is happening and the cracking
0:41:54 > 0:41:57and the defoliation of the stone.
0:41:57 > 0:42:02We have air pollution, acid rain, tectonic activity.
0:42:02 > 0:42:04This site is on the 100 most imperilled archaeological
0:42:04 > 0:42:07sites on the World Monuments Fund list.
0:42:08 > 0:42:13Luckily, Travis and Laurie have a 21st-century tool to help them.
0:42:19 > 0:42:23This piece of kit is the latest in 3-D laser scanning technology.
0:42:23 > 0:42:27In the past, archaeologists might have photographed or taken
0:42:27 > 0:42:29a plaster cast of the carving,
0:42:29 > 0:42:33but now we can record it in a far more accurate way.
0:42:33 > 0:42:36It shoots out a beam, the beam is returned to the
0:42:36 > 0:42:40machine and it has an accuracy level of 2mm or less.
0:42:49 > 0:42:53We're capturing 360 degrees, so we're really taking in a lot
0:42:53 > 0:42:56of data all around us and then from here,
0:42:56 > 0:43:00if we kind of zoom in on this, there is El Rey right in front of us.
0:43:00 > 0:43:05What I've done is, I've gone in and highlighted all of the carved areas.
0:43:05 > 0:43:08The detail on the carved figure suddenly pop out.
0:43:08 > 0:43:10Those three clouds and the raindrops coming down,
0:43:10 > 0:43:12it completely pulls it out.
0:43:12 > 0:43:14We're seeing new things, basically.
0:43:14 > 0:43:17It makes it look almost like a piece of art rather than being
0:43:17 > 0:43:19part of the landscape.
0:43:20 > 0:43:23The resolution you're getting on these images is just exceptional.
0:43:23 > 0:43:26To what extent does that pull out different iconography and help
0:43:26 > 0:43:29you interpret it and understand some of the cultural links?
0:43:29 > 0:43:33We can actually computationally examine how similar or
0:43:33 > 0:43:35dissimilar things are.
0:43:35 > 0:43:38We can say, yes, this site is like this site
0:43:38 > 0:43:40because it's got this shared iconographic
0:43:40 > 0:43:42representation on the carving
0:43:42 > 0:43:45and it just speaks to the inter-relationships that were
0:43:45 > 0:43:47going on at this time period.
0:43:47 > 0:43:50Stylistically, you can see connections
0:43:50 > 0:43:52between this rock art and all across the Gulf Coast
0:43:52 > 0:43:54and the Olmec art land.
0:44:01 > 0:44:05These scans not only preserve a visual record of the carvings
0:44:05 > 0:44:08but help us see them much more vividly.
0:44:09 > 0:44:12They must have been a truly awe-inspiring sight to people
0:44:12 > 0:44:14here 2,500 years ago.
0:44:14 > 0:44:18But the Olmec weren't in control at Chalcatzingo.
0:44:18 > 0:44:21This isn't an Olmec ruler, it's a local one.
0:44:24 > 0:44:27Detailed studies of these carvings have shown them
0:44:27 > 0:44:32to be inspired by the Olmec but distinct to this region.
0:44:32 > 0:44:35It appears that the rulers of the developing culture in this
0:44:35 > 0:44:39region were between 800 and 500 BC,
0:44:39 > 0:44:43adopting the elite iconography of the Gulf Coast Olmec to
0:44:43 > 0:44:46justify their own claims to power and prestige.
0:44:48 > 0:44:52And that spread of Olmec iconography doesn't just end here.
0:44:53 > 0:44:55Across Mesoamerica,
0:44:55 > 0:44:59archaeologists have found examples of local communities
0:44:59 > 0:45:04and emerging civilisations imitating Olmec style imagery as far
0:45:04 > 0:45:08west as the Pacific Coast and south into modern day Guatemala.
0:45:10 > 0:45:13But one of the most extraordinary can be found in Oaxaca
0:45:13 > 0:45:15near the Pacific Coast of Mexico...
0:45:19 > 0:45:22..in a place that 2,500 years ago would have been desperately
0:45:22 > 0:45:24hard to get to.
0:45:24 > 0:45:26And even today, it's not easy.
0:46:05 > 0:46:08These caves are sacred places that chime with the Olmec view
0:46:08 > 0:46:12that water pools and fissures in the earth are entrance ways into
0:46:12 > 0:46:15the underworld, a portal into another dimension.
0:46:19 > 0:46:24By the looks of it, this cave was being used by people centuries ago.
0:46:28 > 0:46:32Down here, you can see a skeleton that has been fossilised over time.
0:46:32 > 0:46:35Now it's turned into this mineral remnants of what was once there
0:46:35 > 0:46:37but here you can see the femur,
0:46:37 > 0:46:39the leg bone coming up into the pelvis,
0:46:39 > 0:46:44a vertebrate going right up to the cranium at the top and over time,
0:46:44 > 0:46:46you can see the bones have become mineralised,
0:46:46 > 0:46:48covered in this calcified deposit
0:46:48 > 0:46:51that has come down from the water dripping down from the ceiling.
0:46:51 > 0:46:53We know it's old but it's impossible to date.
0:46:53 > 0:46:57It gives us a sense that people have been coming here for a very
0:46:57 > 0:47:00long time, right here into the heart of the cave.
0:47:04 > 0:47:06But this is not what I came here to find.
0:47:06 > 0:47:10I have to go further, nearly a mile down into this cave network.
0:47:13 > 0:47:16And the deeper I go, the less oxygen there is.
0:47:18 > 0:47:21And this can make you feel light-headed, euphoric
0:47:21 > 0:47:23and nauseous at the same time.
0:47:31 > 0:47:33OK, here it is.
0:47:34 > 0:47:37This cave painting or pictograph has always been associated
0:47:37 > 0:47:38with the Olmec.
0:47:38 > 0:47:41It's of this powerful figure that you can see with this cape,
0:47:41 > 0:47:44standing up with this red and yellow tunic.
0:47:44 > 0:47:47What I really like, though, is the details on the cape,
0:47:47 > 0:47:50the legs and the hands, the spotted yellow
0:47:50 > 0:47:54and black coverings which are clearly jaguar pelts.
0:47:54 > 0:47:57In the hands, holding some sort of rope, looking towards
0:47:57 > 0:48:02a figure just down there, either cowed or bent down, sitting down.
0:48:02 > 0:48:06This has been interpreted either as an evidence of power,
0:48:06 > 0:48:07this powerful elite figure,
0:48:07 > 0:48:11subjugating the poor little person next to them, or it's
0:48:11 > 0:48:16of lineage, someone coming here to accept the power of their ancestry.
0:48:18 > 0:48:21This is not a piece of public art.
0:48:21 > 0:48:27It feels like this is an exclusive sacred place. Were future leaders
0:48:27 > 0:48:31brought down into this underworld as part of an initiation ceremony?
0:48:32 > 0:48:35Perhaps to be taught about the lineage, that they
0:48:35 > 0:48:37were descended from the jaguar
0:48:37 > 0:48:40and that this was justification for their status as a ruler.
0:48:42 > 0:48:44You know, it's a bloody long way to get down to this cave.
0:48:44 > 0:48:48Why are these people coming down here to see these paintings
0:48:48 > 0:48:49on the walls?
0:48:49 > 0:48:53It has a real sense of people coming to tap in with their ancestors
0:48:53 > 0:48:56and understand the power of their culture.
0:49:02 > 0:49:061,000 years after the Olmec first began immortalising
0:49:06 > 0:49:10and empowering their rulers as half man, half jaguar beings,
0:49:10 > 0:49:15their ideas and iconography had filtered right across Mexico.
0:49:19 > 0:49:23And by 500 BC, Olmec art,
0:49:23 > 0:49:27sport and beliefs were spreading to the furthest corners of
0:49:27 > 0:49:29Mesoamerica to influence the development
0:49:29 > 0:49:31of other civilisations.
0:49:32 > 0:49:33But back on the Gulf Coast,
0:49:33 > 0:49:36the environment that had provided the Olmec with a stable
0:49:36 > 0:49:40foundation for their complex society was beginning to change.
0:49:55 > 0:49:57The Olmec had risen up,
0:49:57 > 0:50:01thanks to their ability to produce a food surplus.
0:50:01 > 0:50:05It had sustained a growing population and fed large workforces
0:50:05 > 0:50:10as they undertook civic projects and created colossal stone artworks.
0:50:12 > 0:50:14Their elite claimed that their supernatural power
0:50:14 > 0:50:17made this possible.
0:50:17 > 0:50:20But either gradually or quite suddenly, we simply don't know,
0:50:20 > 0:50:24the vast farmlands of the Olmec ceased being productive.
0:50:33 > 0:50:36There's an almost industrial scale of production clearing away
0:50:36 > 0:50:38all the vegetation,
0:50:38 > 0:50:41creating these huge fields reliant on irrigation channels.
0:50:41 > 0:50:45But that process of clearance leads to soil erosion that silts up those
0:50:45 > 0:50:49irrigation channels and creates huge problems with production.
0:50:49 > 0:50:53In some ways, the reasons for the rise of La Venta
0:50:53 > 0:50:55also sows the seeds of its destruction.
0:50:59 > 0:51:03By 400 BC, La Venta had been abandoned
0:51:03 > 0:51:06and the demise of the city meant the demise
0:51:06 > 0:51:08of the Olmec elite themselves.
0:51:13 > 0:51:16It was their claimed ability to influence natural forces that
0:51:16 > 0:51:21had maintained them in positions of privilege and prestige.
0:51:21 > 0:51:24But in the face of failing crops, even famine,
0:51:24 > 0:51:28the Olmec elite at La Venta may well have been overthrown.
0:51:36 > 0:51:38This idea about La Venta tells us
0:51:38 > 0:51:41a fundamental truth about civilisation.
0:51:41 > 0:51:45I think that the Olmec allowed themselves to be ruled.
0:51:45 > 0:51:47It's the people who keep their rulers in place
0:51:47 > 0:51:50and if those rulers fail, they can be overthrown,
0:51:50 > 0:51:54but this wasn't the end of the Olmec civilisation,
0:51:54 > 0:51:56they rebuilt and entered a new phase.
0:52:01 > 0:52:06400 BC to 100 AD marked a period of adaptation for the Olmec.
0:52:08 > 0:52:11They reverted back to living in smaller spread out settlements.
0:52:14 > 0:52:16And although they stopped creating colossal
0:52:16 > 0:52:20heads in honour of their elite, the Olmec still produced works of art.
0:52:21 > 0:52:24They also developed a new way of communicating.
0:52:26 > 0:52:30I returned to the Xalapa Museum to see one last truly
0:52:30 > 0:52:33fascinating Olmec artefact that dates to the final
0:52:33 > 0:52:37phase of Olmec civilisation in the first century AD.
0:52:41 > 0:52:42This is the La Mojarra Stela.
0:52:51 > 0:52:54The stone not only features a carving of a remarkable
0:52:54 > 0:52:59figure in a headdress, it's also covered in hundreds of symbols.
0:52:59 > 0:53:02Archaeologist, Lourdes Budar,
0:53:02 > 0:53:05believes these represent another first for the Olmec.
0:53:35 > 0:53:39Although the leaders aren't being immortalised by colossal
0:53:39 > 0:53:42heads or depicted as supernatural beings,
0:53:42 > 0:53:45the Olmec still clearly maintained a ruling elite.
0:54:06 > 0:54:10Attempts at translating what the symbols actually say has
0:54:10 > 0:54:12provoked heated debate.
0:54:12 > 0:54:15But the carvings represent a hugely significant
0:54:15 > 0:54:17feature of cultural development.
0:54:19 > 0:54:23The power of the written word as a mechanism of order and as a
0:54:23 > 0:54:29device for recording a version of history is immense and symbolic.
0:54:29 > 0:54:33If it's carved in stone, it's permanent, indisputable.
0:54:50 > 0:54:54And perhaps the Olmec were trying to ensure that they weren't forgotten.
0:54:55 > 0:54:59These Olmec must have known that they were a shadow of what
0:54:59 > 0:55:00they had once been.
0:55:02 > 0:55:05But whilst the Olmec civilisation faded from history,
0:55:05 > 0:55:07their influence outlasted them.
0:55:15 > 0:55:19When archaeologists discovered the colossal heads, sculptures
0:55:19 > 0:55:22and carvings in the jungles of the Gulf Coast of Mexico,
0:55:22 > 0:55:25it was assumed they were Mayan.
0:55:25 > 0:55:28But over the decades, archaeologists have begun to discover
0:55:28 > 0:55:32and celebrate the uniqueness of Olmec culture and its antiquity.
0:55:33 > 0:55:36And this has led to a series of startling discoveries
0:55:36 > 0:55:40about the nature of the relationship between the Olmec and the Maya.
0:55:46 > 0:55:50This is the Maya city of Comalcalco just inland from the Gulf Coast
0:55:50 > 0:55:55and it lies only 50 miles east of the old Olmec centre of La Venta.
0:56:00 > 0:56:03But this settlement was built in 500 AD,
0:56:03 > 0:56:071,000 years after La Venta had collapsed, and here, the Maya
0:56:07 > 0:56:11constructed their monumental architecture using clay brick.
0:56:14 > 0:56:17There are carvings on display depicting shared beliefs.
0:56:19 > 0:56:21And it has large ceremonial plazas.
0:56:24 > 0:56:27Walking through this plaza, I can't help but be reminded
0:56:27 > 0:56:29of the Olmec site of La Venta,
0:56:29 > 0:56:32because this plaza has the same earthen mounds
0:56:32 > 0:56:35either side, the same demonstrations of public art
0:56:35 > 0:56:39and at the end, this imposing, dominating pyramid.
0:56:45 > 0:56:48There are dozens of pyramids in Mexico built by different
0:56:48 > 0:56:52Mesoamerican cultures but the Olmec are credited for building the first.
0:56:55 > 0:56:58The cultural innovations of the Olmec didn't disappear with them.
0:56:58 > 0:57:01They weren't reinvented by the Maya.
0:57:01 > 0:57:05City planning, the centralisation of economic and agricultural
0:57:05 > 0:57:09resources, the creations of elite power and divine religion
0:57:09 > 0:57:13and the affirmation of these through public art and ceremony.
0:57:13 > 0:57:17These social institutions of the Olmec remained with the people
0:57:17 > 0:57:20of this region, morphing through time to become
0:57:20 > 0:57:22ever more sophisticated and complex.
0:57:28 > 0:57:31Civilisation is a word that archaeologists have used to
0:57:31 > 0:57:36differentiate between different stages of social development.
0:57:36 > 0:57:38It certainly doesn't mean that the people who live in
0:57:38 > 0:57:43civilisations are any more civilised than hunter gatherer societies,
0:57:43 > 0:57:48but rather that they've undergone a set of key social transformations.
0:57:49 > 0:57:51They can produce a food surplus,
0:57:51 > 0:57:54they have a hierarchical social structure,
0:57:54 > 0:58:00cities and an economic system are in place, they express shared
0:58:00 > 0:58:05beliefs and ideas through art writing and ceremonial events.
0:58:05 > 0:58:08These are all traits that we recognise today,
0:58:08 > 0:58:10perhaps even take for granted.
0:58:10 > 0:58:12But here in the Americas,
0:58:12 > 0:58:17the Olmec developed these traits for the first time over 3,000 years ago.
0:58:18 > 0:58:21For too long, the Olmec have lain dormant and it's
0:58:21 > 0:58:24only now that the true power of their culture
0:58:24 > 0:58:25can be fully understood.
0:58:26 > 0:58:29The Olmec represent a turning point in human
0:58:29 > 0:58:33development of the Americas and their legacy of urban planning,
0:58:33 > 0:58:36sport, public art, complex social relationships
0:58:36 > 0:58:40have lasted thousands of years down through the generations
0:58:40 > 0:58:42and right up to the 21st century.