The Olmec area, the tropical region of the Gulf Coast, was probably from early times a favoured region for settlement, and its river levees, seasonally flooded, were exceptionally productive for early agriculture.
It is therefore not surprising that it is in this area that many of the developments that characterized Mesoamerican civilization first appeared. Particularly impressive are the gigantic heads and massive earthworks of the ceremonial centre of San Lorenzo, created from around 1200 BC.
However, the Olmec area is singularly deficient in raw materials required both for everyday life and for the ritual activities that were becoming important in Mesoamerican life. To obtain these the Olmec established trading outposts in regions with important resources. This resulted in their characteristic pottery, figurines and carvings being distributed over much of Mesoamerica, and some scholars interpret this as evidence of an Olmec empire.
Others doubt that the Olmec politically dominated Mesoamerica. It seems more likely that Olmec objects were regarded as symbols of rank and that the wide distribution of Olmec style iconography reflects an underlying community of Mesoamerican beliefs rather than Olmec evangelism.
