The Olmec's Impact On Mesoamerican Society

506 Words3 Pages
During the history of mankind, there have been few inventions that have had such an impact on technological growth and human advancement. The wheel was one of these inventions. However, one of the most fascinating things about Mesoamerican history is that the Olmec and their successors used the wheel, but never for transportation. Mann explains in his novel how a team of archaeologists found many animal toys with wheels attached to them but the wheels were used for nothing more than entertainment. With this, it is only right to question if the society was truly advanced. Today, individuals base a societies level of advancement or development on technology because technology is something that present day humans admire and care about. However, individuals need to recognize that the societies in the Americas were extremely successful without the invention of the wheel. Despite their understanding of the wheel, the Olmec were still extremely civilized and advanced. They did not need a wheel in order to succeed, Mann states on page 253 “the Americas lacked animals suitable for domestication” meaning that even if the Olmec had created a larger wheel, they would have no animals to help maneuver goods. One way the Olmec may have transferred larger items…show more content…
However, both societies had the same religious ideas where a chief God ruled them. Critics also judge a society by their architecture. China, Egypt and the Americas all contain extremely advanced architecture. Tikal, located in northern Guatemala, was named UNESCO World Heritage Site, as were the Great Pyramids in Giza (UNESCO). Therefore, the beautiful architecture in both the Americas and the Eastern Hemisphere shared many striking
Open Document