Olmecs and the Civilizations of the Gulf of Mexico

The Olmecs represent one of the most ancient civilizations of pre-Columbian America, only discovered in the early 20th century. They have been dated from 2500 BC to 400 BC, the date of their disappearance. A civilization of profound artistic sensibility that stretched along the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, with La Venta and San Lorenzo as its main cities. This civilization is still very mysterious. We will attempt to provide answers to the many mysteries surrounding this vanished people. Their writing in the form of glyphs, their calendar, their enormous heads found at La Venta, their religious customs, in which the jaguar was already the object of worship, and many others.

Statues, objets d'art and everyday objects, and a model of an Olmec town highlighting the richness of its culture and its spread through time and space, are all on display at the Pointe-à-Callière museum in Montreal, and Beaux Arts Éditions has published a catalog of the exhibition.

Published by Beaux-Arts & cie. 66 pages