Olmec Archaeology and Early Mesoamerica: An Early Complex Society in Mesoamerica (Cambridge World Archaeology)

Outstanding overview of the rise of the Olmec.

This was a gift to a family member who is professor of linguistics and interested in teh anthropology and status of understanding the language as of today and he was most pleased the book and the great illustrations.

For an amateur, as I am, this book served as a very current, detailed review of Olmec archaeology in all its ramifications and controversies. The author tries not to take sides, and seems to provide detailed references for almost every statement he makes. I have seldom read a book on any subject that is such a complete even tempered review of its subject.I enjoyed reading the book but did not find it at all exciting. The author never relaxes his iron discipline to make any comments on the broader ramifications for mankind and civilization of what he is discussing at the moment. The result is a book that seems to be a level plain with no mountains or valleys.This book seems to be a very competent review of a subject that is of interest to me. I would hazard that the professional archaelogist will find it useful compendium of current controversies over the Olmec, complete with the names and references of all the important players; also the book will be useful reading for student archaeologists that want to absorb the maximum amount of information about the Olmec with a modest amount of effort.

The intro was nothing but gobbldy-gook. When I got into the detail the author hid behind lists of items to hide the fact that he knew very little about the Olmecs. Some authors can make a civiization come alive but after reading this the Olmecs remained a dead civilization. If this is typical of the Cambridge series I would be leary buying anything in it.

It has no less than 3 stars because the text was informative and well written. A great part of archaeology is the interpretation of objects and sites. This book fails many times in presenting a professional image that offers this opportunity to the reader. Many of the photos lack contrast, resolution, and general clarity. All images in the book are in black and white. As a result some images such as the murals from Guerrero (figure 6.15) suffer greatly.For an example of an image that did not suffer as much as many, compare the cover photo with Figure 4.5 of the twin El Azuzul monuments.It is not a book for your first venture into the world of the Olmecs. Fortunately, I am an archaeologist and I have the benefit of other books in my personal library that correct the poor imaging.

If you are interested in a quick guide to the subject look elsewhere. On the other-hand, if yo are looking for an authoritative introduction to the topics and players in discovering who the Olmecs were, this is a great book. Not a fast read, but a good one. From here one would have to go to the many cites research papers.

The media could not be loaded. Christopher A. Pool, Olmec Archaeology and early MesoAmerica, is a well written book that provides an overview of the Olmec civilization in relation to other formative MesoAmerican societies. Pool recognizes Olmec as an art style and culture. The book is academically oriented and often hard to follow if you lack a background in MesoAmerican archaeology.Controversy surrounds the impact of the Olmec on Mexican civilization. To many researchers, like Coe and Diehl , the Olmec civilization is "la cultura Madre" (Mother Culture) of MesoAmerica. Whereas, Coe argues for an autochthonous origin for the Olmecs ,Pool believes in a continuous sequence of cultural development in Olman of the Olmec civilization.J.E.Clark argues for the Olmecization of the Mokaya. Contrary to this view, Pool argues that continuity exist between "Pre-Olmec" cultures and the Olmec civilization.Although Olmec civilization first appears at San Lorenzo and later rises in LaVenta, Pool maintains that Tuxtla and the Papaloapan basins are early Olmec sites. But he provides no current archaeological research that links these sites to San Lorenzo.In Olmec Archaeology and early MesoAmerica, Pool attempts to connect the Olmec civilization to the Mokaya traditions of Chiapas and cultures in the Mexican highlands. The major problem with this idea is that the Chiapas cultures belong to Initial Formative period 2000-1500BC, while the Olmec civilization comes on the scene around 1300-1200BC. The archaeological data presented by Pool does not support his conclusion, it provides little support for a relationship between Olmecs at San Lorenzo and LaVenta, and the Mokaya cultures of Soconusco.Overall, Olmec Archaeology and Early MesoAmerica, is a good reference source on formative MesoAmerican archaeology. It provides a good discussion of the early sites and will be useful to anyone interested in ancient Mexican civilizations.Pool believes that the Olmec spoke a Mije-Sokean language. This is not supported by the evidence which indicates that the Olmec originated in Africa and spoke a Mande language. In this film we look at the best evidence supporting an African origin of the Olmecs.

Provides good information for a research project.