The Olmec heartland is the southern portion of Mexico's
Gulf Coast region between the
Tuxtla mountains and the
Olmecarchaeological site of
La Venta, extending roughly 80 km (50 mi) inland from the
Gulf of Mexico coastline at its deepest. It is today, as it was during the height of the
Olmec civilization, a tropical lowland forest environment, crossed by meandering rivers.
Most researchers consider the Olmec heartland to be the home of the Olmec culture which became widespread over
Mesoamerica from 1400
BCE until roughly 400 BCE. The area is also referred to as Olman or the Olmec Metropolitan Zone.[3]
Coe, Michael D. (1989). "The Olmec Heartland: Evolution of Ideology" in Robert J. Sharer and David Grove (eds.), Regional Perspectives on the Olmec. Cambridge University Press.
ISBN978-0-521-36332-7.
Diehl, Richard A. (2004). The Olmecs: America's First Civilization. Thames & Hudson, London.
ISBN978-0-500-28503-9.
Kubler, George (1984). The Art and Architecture of Ancient America: The Mexican, Maya and Andean Peoples. Pelican History of Art, Yale University Press.
ISBN0-300-05325-8.