Editing Olmecs (section)

==Notable innovations==
In addition to their influence with contemporaneous [[List of pre-Columbian civilizations|Mesoamerican cultures]], as the first civilization in Mesoamerica, the Olmecs are credited, or speculatively credited, with many "firsts", including the [[Bloodletting in Mesoamerica|bloodletting]] and perhaps [[Mesoamerica#Human Sacrifice|human sacrifice]], writing and [[epigraphy]], and the invention of [[popcorn]], [[0 (number)|zero]] and the [[Mesoamerican calendars|Mesoamerican calendar]], and the [[Mesoamerican ballgame]], as well as perhaps the [[compass]].<ref>See Carlson for details of the compass.</ref> Some researchers, including artist and [[art historian]] [[Miguel Covarrubias]], even postulate that the Olmecs formulated the forerunners of many of the later Mesoamerican [[deities]].<ref>Covarrubias, p. 27.</ref>

===Bloodletting and sacrifice speculation===
[[File:La Venta Altar 5 (Ruben Charles).jpg|thumb|Altar 5 from La Venta. The inert were-jaguar baby held by the central figure is seen by some as an indication of [[Human sacrifice in pre-Columbian cultures|child sacrifice]]. In contrast, [[:Image:Altar 5 from La Venta, left side (Ruben Charles).jpg|its sides show bas-reliefs of humans holding quite lively were-jaguar babies]].]]

Although the archaeological record does not include explicit representation of Olmec [[Bloodletting in Mesoamerica|bloodletting]],<ref>Taube (2004), p. 122.</ref> researchers have found other evidence that the Olmec ritually practiced it. For example, numerous natural and ceramic [[stingray]] spikes and [[Agave americana|maguey thorns]] have been found at Olmec sites,<ref>As one example, see Joyce ''et al.'', "Olmec Bloodletting: An Iconographic Study".</ref> and certain artifacts have been identified as bloodletters.<ref>See Taube (2004), p. 122.</ref>

The argument that the Olmec instituted human sacrifice is significantly more speculative. No Olmec or Olmec-influenced sacrificial artifacts have yet been discovered; no Olmec or Olmec-influenced artwork unambiguously shows sacrificial victims (as do the ''danzante'' figures of [[Monte Albán]]) or scenes of human sacrifice (such as can be seen in [[:File:BeheadingPanelSBCTajin.JPG|the famous ballcourt mural]] from [[El Tajín]]).<ref>Pool, p. 139.</ref>

At El Manatí, disarticulated skulls and femurs, as well as the complete skeletons of newborns or fetuses, have been discovered amidst the other offerings, leading to speculation concerning infant sacrifice. Scholars have not determined how the infants met their deaths.<ref>Ortiz et al., p. 249.</ref> Some authors have associated infant sacrifice with Olmec ritual art showing limp werejaguar babies, most famously in La Venta's [[La Venta#Altars 4 & 5|Altar 5]] (on the right) or [[Las Limas Monument 1|Las Limas figure]].<ref>Pool, p. 116. Joralemon (1996), p. 218.</ref> Any definitive answer requires further findings.

===Writing===
{{See also|Cascajal Block}}
The Olmec may have been the first civilization in the Western Hemisphere to develop a writing system. Symbols found in 2002 and 2006 date from 650&nbsp;BCE<ref>See Pohl et al. (2002).</ref> and 900&nbsp;BCE<ref>{{cite news |title=Writing May Be Oldest in Western Hemisphere. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/15/science/15writing.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date= 15 September 2006|access-date=2008-03-30 }}</ref> respectively, preceding the oldest [[Zapotec writing]] found so far, which dates from about 500&nbsp;BCE.<ref>{{cite news |title='Oldest' New World writing found |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5347080.stm |publisher=[[BBC]] |date= 14 September 2006|access-date=2008-03-30 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Oldest Writing in the New World |url=http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/313/5793/1610|journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |access-date=2008-03-30 }}</ref>

The 2002 find at the [[San Andrés (Mesoamerican site)|San Andrés]] site shows a bird, speech scrolls, and glyphs that are similar to the later [[Maya script]].<ref>Pohl et al. (2002).</ref> Known as the [[Cascajal Block]], and dated between 1100 and 900&nbsp;BCE, the 2006 find from a site near San Lorenzo shows a set of 62 symbols, 28 of which are unique, carved on a serpentine block. A large number of prominent archaeologists have hailed this find as the "earliest pre-Columbian writing".<ref>Skidmore. These prominent proponents include [[Michael D. Coe]], [[Richard Diehl]], [[Karl Taube]], and [[Stephen D. Houston]].</ref> Others are skeptical because of the stone's singularity, the fact that it had been removed from any archaeological context, and because it bears no apparent resemblance to any other Mesoamerican writing system.<ref>Bruhns, et al.</ref>

There are also well-documented later hieroglyphs known as the [[Isthmian script]], and while there are some who believe that the Isthmian may represent a transitional script between an earlier Olmec writing system and the Maya script, the matter remains unsettled.{{citation needed|date=February 2024}}

===Mesoamerican Long Count calendar and invention of the zero concept===
{{See also|0 (number)#History|l1=History of zero}}

[[File:Estela C de Tres Zapotes.jpg|thumb|'''The back of Stela C from [[Tres Zapotes]]'''<br />This is the second oldest Long Count date yet discovered. The numerals 7.16.6.16.18 translate to 3 September 32&nbsp;BCE (Julian). The glyphs surrounding the date are one of the few surviving examples of [[Epi-Olmec script]].<ref>Diehl, p. 184.</ref>|176x176px]]

The [[Mesoamerican Long Count calendar|Long Count calendar]] used by many subsequent Mesoamerican civilizations, as well as the concept of [[zero (number)|zero]], may have been devised by the Olmecs. Because the six artifacts with the earliest Long Count calendar dates were all discovered outside the immediate Maya homeland, it is likely that this calendar predated the Maya and was possibly the invention of the Olmecs. Indeed, three of these six artifacts were found within the Olmec heartland. But an argument against an Olmec origin is the fact that the Olmec civilization had ended by the 4th century&nbsp;BCE, several centuries before the earliest known Long Count date artifact.<ref>"Mesoamerican Long Count calendar & invention of the zero concept" section cited to Diehl, p. 186.</ref>

The Long Count calendar required the use of zero as a place-holder within its [[vigesimal]] (base-20) positional numeral system. A shell glyph –[[File:MAYA-g-num-0-inc-v1.svg]] – was used as a zero symbol for these Long Count dates, the second oldest of which, on Stela C at [[Tres Zapotes]], has a date of 32&nbsp;BCE. This is one of the earliest uses of the zero concept in history.<ref>Haughton, p. 153. The earliest recovered Long Count dated is from Monument 1 in the [[Maya Civilization|Maya]] site [[El Baúl]], [[Guatemala]], bearing a date of 37&nbsp;BCE.</ref>

===Mesoamerican ballgame===
The Olmec are strong candidates for originating the [[Mesoamerican ballgame]] so prevalent among later cultures of the region and used for recreational and religious purposes.<ref>Miller and Taube (1993) p. 42. Pool, p. 295.</ref> A dozen rubber balls dating to 1600&nbsp;BCE or earlier have been found in [[El Manatí]], a [[bog]] {{convert|10|km|mi|0|abbr=on}} east of San Lorenzo Tenochtitlan.<ref>Ortiz C.</ref> These balls predate the earliest ballcourt yet discovered at [[Paso de la Amada]], c. 1400&nbsp;BCE, although there is no certainty that they were used in the ballgame.<ref>See Filloy Nadal, p. 27, who says "If they [the balls] were used in the ballgame, we would be looking at the earliest evidence of this practice".</ref>