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The earliest of the major Meso-American civilizations was the
Olmec culture, which is often regarded as the fostering
influence behind the Mayan, Aztec, and other later societies.
The Olmec were prominent in eastern coastal Mexico between 1200
and 400 B.C. and are remembered for constructing massive earthen
mounds, sculpting giant basalt heads, and building large and
prosperous cities that existed for hundreds of years. As the
Olmec declined, the Mayans rose to prominence. Historical
evidence seems to indicate the presence of a Mayan culture in
present day Mexico at least as far back as 1800 BCE, but their
greatest influence was exerted between 200 B.C. and A.D. 1000.
Settlement was extensive in the Yucatán Peninsula and stretched
southward into Central America. Unlike the later Aztecs, the
Mayans did not exercise strong administrative control over an
empire, but instead developed as a series of largely autonomous
city-states, such as Palenque, T