They also built earthen mounds and pyramids, and ceramics of several types that became common throughout a broad region influenced by the Olmec civilization. They may have been the originators of the Mesoamerican ball game, a ceremonial team sport played throughout the region for centuries. The Olmec created massive monuments, including colossal stone heads, thrones, stela (upright slabs), and statues. Maize and other crops were a later addition to their foodstuffs. The Olmec diet initially included foods from fishing and hunting. Research at these and other sites has led to the following insights. La Venta, east of San Lorenzo and closer to the Gulf Coast (15 kilometers/9 miles) in the modern Mexican state of Tabasco, reached its height in about 900–500 C.E. San Lorenzo, about 56 kilometers (35 miles) south of the Gulf of Mexico in the modern Mexican state of Veracruz, was at its height around 1150 to 900 C.E. There are several Olmec sites thought to be important centers of activity, of which San Lorenzo and La Venta are the most significant. Derived from the Nahuatl (Aztec) word “Olmecatl”, which means “inhabitant of the rubber country”, Olmec is a reference to the rubber production in the area where many of the artifacts have been found. The name Olmec was actually invented by scholars. In the case of the Olmec, archaeologists think artifacts found primarily on the northern half of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Mesoamerica from 1200–500 C.E. What is known about archaeological cultures is based on artifacts, rather than texts. This means there is a collection of artifacts thought by archaeologists to represent a particular society.

The Olmec civilization is what is known as an archaeological culture.