Pyramidal mounds have been found in many of the Olmec settlements. The basalt used for these carvings came from a location 50 miles (80 kilometers) away and apparently had been floated on rafts to their destination. One of the most notable examples of Olmec culture is the sculptured heads of basalt, weighing as much as 40 tons and standing almost ten feet in height. The Olmec were renowned for their sculpting skills and distinctive motifs. For this reason, many anthropologists consider the Olmec civilization to be the cultura madre (mother culture) of the many Mesoamerican cultures that followed it. These settlements were probably the most complex "ceremonial" sites found in all of Mesoamerica at the time of their apogee. Several Olmec sites have been found in Veracruz, including San Lorenzo and Tres Zapotes. They occupied the coastal plains in the present-day states of Veracruz and Tabasco (southeast of Veracruz) sometime around 1000 to 300 B.C. The Olmecs were probably one of the first Indian groups to occupy Veracruz. Smith, and others) and Peter Gerhard's A Guide to the Historical Geography of New Spain are probably the two best works to consult.
For the researcher seeking to learn the detailed history of the individual communities of Veracruz, Aztec Imperial Strategies (by Frances F. The Olmecs, one of the oldest cultures in the Americas, became dominant in the southern part of Veracruz. The Huastecos and Otomíes occupied the north, while the Totonacs resided in the north-center. In the pre-Hispanic period, the modern-day state of Veracruz was inhabited primarily by four indigenous cultures. The history of the native peoples of the state of Veracruz is a very complex and fascinating story. The mountains contain relatively unexploited deposits of gold, silver, iron, and coal. However, the state's principal natural resource and dominant industry is oil. In the cooler regions in the west, one finds maguey, cactus and coniferous forests. From the tropical forests of the inland regions come dyewoods, hardwoods, and rubber. The state is a leading national producer of coffee, sugarcane, corn, and rice. Pico de Orizaba, inland from Veracruz, with an elevation of 18,793 feet above sea level, is the highest mountain in all of Mexico.Ībundant rainfall and extremely fertile soil in the coastal regions of Veracruz permit the cultivation of a wide range of crops. As a result, the state's climate is very assorted, evolving from cold, snow-topped mountain slopes that descend toward the warm western coastal areas. Veracruz has a very diverse and rapidly changing topography, witnessing a rise from the tropical coastal plains to temperate valleys and thence to the highlands of the Eastern Sierra Madre Mountains. Veracruz also shares 430 miles (690 kilometers) of its eastern boundary with the Gulf of Mexico. Veracruz shares common borders with the states of Tamaulipas (to the north), Oaxaca and Chiapas (to the south), Tabasco (to the southeast), and Puebla, Hidalgo, and San Luis Potosí (on the west). Politically divided into 203 municipios, the state has an area of 27,759 square miles (71,896 square kilometers). The state of Veracruz, located along the eastern Gulf Coast of the Mexican Republic, has a population of 6,856,415 people, representing 7.39% of Mexico's national population in 1990. History of Mexico - The State of Veracruz HISTORY OF MEXICO
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