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Article: The Ancient Olmecs; Monumental Art, Mysterious End
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- July 10, 1996
- Author:
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About 2,500 years ago, when ancient Olympians were running around
naked during the Golden Age of Greece, a mysterious, complex
civilization in this hemisphere -- the first in the Americas -- was
approaching its decline.
Little is known of the culture now known as Olmec except that it
appears to have given rise to the Maya, Aztec and other great
pre-Columbian civilizations of Mexico. The Olmecs left no written
records.
Instead, strange and extraordinary works of art are the chief
legacy of this vanished society -- colossal heads carved in stone,
monster gods and images of men morphing into jaguars.
Now on display at the National Gallery of Art's East Wing, these
artworks offer a tantalizing ...