Despite all the attention given to the Mayas, and Aztecs, Incas, and Teotihuacan, the first known emerging civilization in Mesoamerica is that of the Olmecs. It was just fifty years ago that this ancient culture was discovered, and when suspicions first began to surface over the Olmecs' influence on Mesoamerica and their position in history. Who were the Olmecs and why is it difficult to trace their origins? For nearly a century of archaeological work of Mesoamerica the Olmecs place and influence remained virtually unknown. It was widely accepted that the Classic Maya were the originators of complex civilization in Mesoamerica, due largely to the magnificence of archaeological finds dating back to the nineteenth century and the writings of post-Spanish Conquest monks and colonists. Much controversy arose, therefore, over discoveries made in the late 1930s of this "quiet" beginning of ancient Mesoamerican civilization. It severely upset the touchstone of the intellectual community's findings of Classic Maya civilization. According to the text Ancient Civilizations: The Near East and Mesoamerica, by C.C. Lamberg-Karlovsky and Jeremy Sabloff, "In many ways, the scientific discovery of the Olmec civilization is as engrossing and exciting as Schliemann's discovery of Troy, although it is not so nearly well known." Smithsonian scholar Matthew Stirling made these initial findings of the Olmecs after studying sites at Tres Zapotes and La Venta between 1939-1942. When he published what he had found, one would have thought Stirling had committed heresy. The response from Mayanists alone was scathing. In fact, it was not until the late 1950s during excavation and research by archaeologists Phillip Drucker and Robert Hetzer, assisted by the employment of radiocarbon dating techniques unavailable to Stirling that Stirling's findings and suppositions became grounded in undeniable fact. The Olmecs preceded the Classic Maya, had begun hieroglyphic writing and clearly were utilizing a complex calendric system. The treasure trove of architecture uncovered fine art and sculpture unearthed during Stirling's and the Drucker-Hetzer excavations left little doubt that the Olmecs were involved in a sophisticated and complex culture prior to any other known complex civilization in Mesoamerica. One must wonder, prior to the availability of technology, just how the archaeological and anthropological community ever agreed on anything. For assuredly, the most popular-but not necessarily the most correct-theories were supported by the most renowned and powerful experts of the day who had vested interests in their own reputations and their own theories.
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