Question

The Olmec can be described as
a. a mystery culture—leaving little evidence and no legacy.
b. ruling over a great empire.
c. a great military power.
d. the first civilization of Peru
e. never having an empire, but influencing regions by controlling commodities such as jade.

Answer 1

The Olmec were in mexico so this rules out d, and we do know about their culture through art so not A, not a military power c or b, so it must be E.

Answer 2

This is a tricky question. I'm tempted to say (E) also, but the answer implies economic leverage in shaping policy. The Olmecs did pass on certain things that later civs like the Mayans and the Aztecs adopted - the ball game, pyramid building, and even blood sacrifice. But those were passed on long after they had disappeared. They weren't in a position to dictate policy via control of any commodity because they were just gone. We're not even sure how their economy had even worked to any great detail or how the common Olmec lived.

That's what makes them such a mystery today. We have their art and monuments, but there's literally nothing else that we know about them other than through educated guesses. We know they had a small empire but it wasn't huge but we're not sure if they were militarily powerful or even how their military was organized. And I agree that they certainly weren't in Peru. But did they have a writing system? Who were their gods? How did they live? What were their rulers like? To these and many other questions, no one has any idea.

So to me, the answer that makes the most sense would be (A), but that's the tricky part. They left behind little evidence to tell us anything about their lives, but their legacy lived on in the bits and pieces of what the Mayans and Aztecs picked up from them.

Answer 3

okay thank you both :)