2. Ancient America’s most striking civilization monuments
The most familiar aspect of the Olmecs is their artwork， particularly the aptly named "colossal heads". The Olmec civilization was first defined through artifacts which collectors purchased on the pre-Columbian art market in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Olmec artworks are considered among ancient America’s most striking.
古代美洲最引人注目的文明古迹
最熟为人知的奥尔梅克文明古迹就是他们的艺术作品，尤其是恰如其名的“巨石头像”。奥尔梅克文明是第一个于19世纪末至20世纪初在前哥伦布艺术市场购买收藏的史前古器物而命名的文明。奥尔梅克艺术作品被公认为古代美洲最引人注目的文明古迹。
Art：The colossal heads are the most recognizable feature ofOlmec culture
The Olmec culture was first defined as an art style， and this continues to be the hallmark of the culture. Wrought in a large number of media–jade， clay， basalt， and greenstone among others–much Olmec art， such as The Wrestler， is surprisingly naturalistic. Other art expresses fantastic anthropomorphic creatures， often highly stylized， using an iconography reflective of a religious meaning. Common motifs include downturned mouths and a cleft head， both of which are seen in representations of were-jaguars. In addition to making human and human-like subjects， Olmec artisans were adept at animal portrayals， for example， the fish vessel or the bird vessel.
While Olmec figurines are found abundantly in sites throughout the Formative Period， the stone monuments such as the colossal heads are the most recognizable feature of Olmec culture. These monuments can be divided into four classes： Colossal heads； Rectangular "altars"； Freestanding in-the-round sculpture； and Stelae. The stelae form was generally introduced later than the colossal heads， altars， or free-standing sculptures. Over time， the stelae changed from simple representation of figures， such as Monument or La Venta Stela， toward representations of historical events. This trend would culminate in post-Olmec monuments.
艺术：巨石头像是奥尔梅克文化的最显著特征
奥尔梅克文化第一次被定义为一种艺术风格，这种风格一直成为该文化的标志。奥尔梅克艺术品在玉、黏土、玄武岩、绿岩等很多介质上进行锻造，涌现出如《摔跤手》这类令人惊叹的自然主义作品。奥尔梅克文明的其他艺术表现了出色的拟人化动物，它们往往被高度风格化了，使用影像反射出一种宗教意义。这类作品的共同风格包括向下撇的嘴巴和裂开的头颅，这两者都可以在曾经的美洲豹的表征中看到。除了制作人类和类似人类的物体，奥尔梅克工匠们还善于制作动物形象，例如渔船或鸟容器。
人们发现了整个形成期的奥尔梅克雕像遗迹，例如石头纪念碑，特别是巨石头像，它们展示了奥尔梅克文化的最显著的特征。这些古迹可分为四类：巨石头像，矩形的“祭坛”，自立式的圆形雕塑和石柱。石柱形式通常是在巨石头像、祭坛或自立式的雕塑之后推出的。随着时间的推移，石柱从简单的人物描述，转为为历史事件的表述，这一趋势终结于后奥尔梅克纪念碑。
Writing：Hieroglyphs known as“Epi-Olmec”
The Olmec may have been the first civilization in the Western Hemisphere to develop a writing system. Symbols found in 2002 and 2006 date to 650 BC and 900 BC respectively， preceding the oldest Zapotec writing dated to about 500 BC.
