Plate XXVI
Chapter III The Middle Civilizations
The influence of the Mayan civilization when at its height (400 to 600 A. D.) may be traced far beyond the limits of the Mayan area. Ideas in art, religion, and government that were then spread broadcast served to quicken nations of diverse speech and a series of divergent cultures resulted. Most of these lesser civilizations were at their best long after the great Mayan civilization had declined, but one or two were possibly contemporary. It will be the aim in the present chapter to emphasize the indebtedness of these lesser civilizations to the Mayas as well as to comment upon their individual characters.
We will first proceed northwest into Mexico and then southeast into the Isthmus of Panama. The environment under which the Mayas developed their arts of life continues in narrowing bands westward along the Gulf of Mexico and southward across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. The most westerly Mayan city of importance seems to have been Comalcalco. But there is also a large ruin near San Andres Tuxtla and it may be significant that the earliest dated object of the Mayas (the Tuxtla Statuette) came from this region. In other words, the cradle of Mayan culture may have been in this coastal belt where arid and humid conditions exist side by side and where the figurines of the archaic type are found together with those of the Mayas. Unfortunately, the archæology of this part of Mexico has been little studied.
The Olmeca or Rubber People
The Olmeca may be placed in the humid region of southern Vera Cruz and western Tabasco which the Aztecs of later times called Nonoalco. This region is frequently mentioned in the most ancient of the Mexican traditions, doubtless symbolizing in a general way the civilizing contacts with the Mayas. Rubber is called olli in the Mexican language and while the earliest known specimens of rubber are those found in the Sacred Cenote at Chichen Itza, the ceremonial and practical uses of the material are mostly mentioned in connection with the Olmeca and Totonac peoples. Rubber was used for incense, for water-proofing purposes, to tip drumsticks, etc. A large rubber ball was also used in a sacred game which may be compared to basket ball since the goals were rings set high up in the parallel walls of a specially constructed court.
According to Ixtlilxochitl’s history the Olmeca came before the Toltecs and were the first to extend their civilizing rule over parts of the Mexican highlands. Some authorities think the Olmeca were a Mayan tribe but it is quite possible that they spoke Mexican. They may have fled south at the breakdown of the Toltec empire for we find in Nicaragua at the time of the Conquest a group of this name with traditions pointing to the far north. The ruins found in 1927 by the writer at Cerro de las Mesas, west of Alvarado Lagoon, may possibly be ascribed to this people. The site contains seventeen monuments, several of which are dedicated to Quetzalcoatl and must be referred to the thirteenth century. Bars and dots are used in connection with day signs to record dates which may belong to the calendarial system appearing on Zapotecan monuments.
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