Text Mapping as a Strategy for Understanding Intent

The Decline of the Olmec Civilization

The Olmec culture was Mesoamericas first great civilization. It thrived along Mexicos Gulf coast from approximately 1200 - 400 B.C. and is considered the mother culture of societies that came later, such as the Maya and Aztec. Many of the intellectual accomplishments of the Olmec, such as a writing system and calendar, were eventually adapted and improved by these other cultures. Around 400 B.C. the great Olmec city of La Venta went into decline, taking the Olmec Classic era with it. Because this civilization declined two thousand years before the arrival of the first Europeans into the region, no one is absolutely certain which factors led to its downfall. What Is Known About the Ancient Olmec The Olmec civilization  was named after the Aztec word for their descendants, who inhabited Olman, or the land of rubber. It is primarily known through  the study of their architecture and stone carvings. Although the Olmec had a writing system of sorts, no Olmec books have survived to modern day. Archaeologists have discovered two great Olmec cities: San Lorenzo and La Venta, in the present-day Mexican states of Veracruz and Tabasco respectively. The Olmec were talented stonemasons, who built structures and aqueducts. They were also gifted sculptors, carving stunning colossal heads without the use of metal tools. They had their own religion, with a priest class and at least eight identifiable gods. They were great traders and had connections with contemporary cultures all over Mesoamerica. The End of the Olmec Civilization Two great Olmec cities are known: San Lorenzo and La Venta. These are not the original names the Olmec knew them by: those names have been lost to time. San Lorenzo flourished on a large island in a river from about 1200 to 900 B.C., at which time it went into decline and was replaced in influence by La Venta. Around 400 B.C. La Venta went into decline and was eventually abandoned altogether. With the fall of La Venta came the end of classic Olmec culture. Although the descendants of the Olmecs still lived in the region, the culture itself vanished. The extensive trade networks the Olmecs had used fell apart. Jades, sculptures, and pottery in the Olmec style and with distinctly Olmec motifs were no longer created. What Happened to the Ancient Olmec? Archaeologists are still collecting clues that will unravel the mystery of what caused this mighty civilization to go into decline. It likely was a combination of natural ecological changes and human actions. The Olmecs relied on a handful of crops for their basic sustenance, including maize, squash, and sweet potatoes. Although they had a healthy diet with this limited number of foods, the fact that they relied so heavily on them made them vulnerable to climate changes. For example, a volcanic eruption could coat a region in ash or change the course of a river: such a calamity would have been disastrous to the Olmec people. Less dramatic climate changes, such as a drought, could severely affect their favored crops. Human actions likely played a role as well: warfare between the La Venta Olmecs and any one of a number of local tribes could have contributed to the societys downfall. Internal strife is also a possibility. Other human actions, such as over farming or destroying forests for agriculture could well have played a role as well. Epi-Olmec Culture When the Olmec culture went into decline, it didnt disappear entirely. Rather, it evolved into what historians refer to as Epi-Olmec culture. The Epi-Olmec culture is a link of sorts between the classic Olmec and the Veracruz Culture, which would begin to thrive to the north of the Olmec lands about 500 years later. The most important Epi-Olmec city was Tres Zapotes, Veracruz. Although Tres Zapotes never reached the grandeur of San Lorenzo or La Venta, it nevertheless was the most important city of its time. The people of Tres Zaptoes did not make monumental art on the scale of the olossal heads or the great Olmec thrones, but they nevertheless were great sculptors who left behind many important works of art. They also made great strides forward in writing, astronomy, and calendrics. Sources Coe, Michael D and Rex Koontz. Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs. 6th Edition. New York: Thames and Hudson, 2008 Diehl, Richard A. The Olmecs: Americas First Civilization. London: Thames and Hudson, 2004.

Self-confidence Confidence and Self-assurance Free Essays

Self-assurance In our life, there are two words between you and your success. Than if you reached to this words, I am sure you are successful person and you can make the success one after another in anywhere. In addition I am sure you will accept knowledge and experience more than others. We will write a custom essay sample on Self-confidence: Confidence and Self-assurance or any similar topic only for you Order Now In this essay I am going to define these two words which called self-assurance, which basis of the successful person. Everybody have abilities and decisions also have potentials, but all of this needs confidence to be prominent. In my assay I will discuss about concept of self-assurance, I will compare between it and vanity, and the positive effects of it†¦ For that reason we need to compare between them, with example from reality. First one _ self-assurance _ comes from several factors which are: repeat successes, has the ability to override the difficulties and embarrassing situations and wisdom in dealing. In addition self-assurance programmed the person to accept the result whatever. For that, I am like most people’s which think it is something positive. On another hand, the vanity means feeling of greatness and dust perfection. So, the different between them is the self-assurance is estimate of possibilities available. But, the second is loss or abuse of this estimate. For example: the vanity person doesn’t listen to others except him and he always talking about himself. He cannot believe that he may makes mistakes. He believes that he can be in the right place rather than others. But, the achievements are talking about the confident person. Therefore, the one of the greatest common mistakes is to say that vanity is the same self-confidence or even confuse them. That is because vanity is demolition agent rights while confidence flying the rights. he very unfortunate to say that, the self-assurance can be grow to the point that see to its owner – in him self- he has ability on everything . Then, here turning to vanity. So, we can say there is one hair between self-assurance and vanity. So, the more human self-confidence whenever intensified that hair and approached the drop! In my opinion we ca n say the self-assurance is something such as motivation on the person to highlights of his abilities, decisions and potentials. Also, self-assurance almost means the esteem of self, and faith of this, can be reached this self to the success. Because of the person respect himself so, the others will respect him. Less an example of that, When I was in elementary school. I read in one publication in my school which was published weekly contest held for the speech. I was very eager to participate in the contest so I read many articles in order to gain a range of skills to enable me to participate in the competition and won in it . Therefore, I went to the teacher Responsible for the competition to ask him to add my name to the list of participants in the competition but he refuse to add my name. He said that my age didn’t allowed me to join the competition. But I was confident of my ability to participate in the contest. Finally, because of my insistence, my teacher agreed to join with the participants in the competition. And already I participated in the competition and managed to win in it within creative students. Finally ,self-confidence is gaining and evolve not generate self-confidence with when it appears to the human life, those people who know you they are confidence and the can control of the concern, and have no difficulties in dealing and coping at any time or in any place are people who have gained self-confidence. How to cite Self-confidence: Confidence and Self-assurance, Essay examples