Chapter 2 - Olmecs

The Olmecs were one of the earliest civilizations of South America. They had many political and religious beliefs. One concept developed by the Olmecs were the Olmec heads. These were large stone structures built by the commoners of the Olmec society. These carved heads were the heads of political leaders to show how much power a leader had. Many of these heads were found by urban centers in the capital, San Lorenzo. Many things about the Olmecs are still being discovered since there aren't many written texts from their time to teach us about their culture, lifestyle and beliefs.


This is an image of an Olmec head.

Here is a link for additional information:  

Example of the Sumerian Script.

As I was reading about the Mesopotamians, I learned about people called the Sumerians. The Sumerians are believed to have created the basic foundation of the Mesopotamian civilization. Mesopotamians are believed to have also created the writing system of cuneiform used by ancient Mesopotamians. Sumerians also came up with the basic ideas and concepts of a religion which was later followed by Mesopotamians. Then in 2900 B.C.E. people named Semitics were found on the land of the Sumerians. From then on, Semitics slowly invaded the land of the Sumerians. Although Semitics adapted to many beliefs and ideas of the Sumerians, Sumerians were very little in population since the dominating people were those of the Semitic culture. http://history-world.org/sumeria,%20dress.htm