Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures

2016 Edition
| Editors: Helaine Selin

Ceramics: Rethinking Olmec Pottery

Reference work entry
First Online:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7747-7_9740
How to cite
After 1200 BCE (years presented in this entry are uncalibrated), distinctive ceramic vessels – Olmec pottery – appeared at select sites across the vast region that anthropologists refer to as Mesoamerica (southern Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and eastern Honduras; Fig. 1). While exchange and interaction between regions existed prior to this time, in the case of Olmec pottery, the ceramic vessels display a consistent iconography that often contrasts with local pottery traditions. The iconography exhibited on Olmec pottery may represent developing religious beliefs, cosmology, and ideology, elements of which can be found in subsequent Mesoamerican groups. While features of religion and cosmology existed prior to 1200 BCE, Olmec pottery synthesizes and abstracts these concepts on durable materials. As such, understanding the origin and spread of Olmec pottery has important implications on the nature of Mesoamerican civilization.
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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2016

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Department of AnthropologyGeorge Washington UniversityWashingtonUSA