Olmec

The Olmecs have often been regarded as the bearers of the mother culture of Mesoamerica. The beginnings of writing and calendrical calculation, the ball game and the building of temple pyramids in the Americas are attributed to them. The culture radiated out to the later cultures of the Maya in the east and the Zapotecs in the west. The debate about a mother culture has since died down, however, as there is insufficient evidence that the Olmecs really brought a large territory under their rule.