Mexico’s first known society, the Olmecs, settled on the Gulf Coast near present-day Veracruz and prospered in pre-Classical Mesoamerica from around 1200 to 400 BC. The Olmecs were the parent culture of the subsequent Mayan and Aztec civilisations. Their influence spread as far south as Nicaragua, laying the foundations for many of the cultural activities of subsequent societies: the building of sacred complexes and massive stone structures, invention of drinking chocolate and also a type of ball game.<br><br>The Olmecs extracted latex from the Panama rubber trees growing in the region and mixed it with juice from a local vine to create rubber. The name Olmec derives from the word ‘Olmecatl’ which means ‘rubber people’ or ‘people of the rubber country’. The Olmecs were making rubber using primitive methods 3,000 years before Charles Goodyear invented his vulcanisation process for strengthening rubber in the mid-19th century.<br><br>The most striking legacy of the Olmecs is the colossal stone heads (the largest measuring nearly 10 feet tall and weighing 40 tons), carved from basalt boulders, mined several miles from their eventual location. Thought to depict kings or rulers, seventeen have been found at four different archaeological sites. <br><br>Around 400 BC the centre of their civilisation, the great city at La Venta, declined and the Olmecs seemed to simply fade away. They were possibly driven out by climate change or by other tribes, leaving behind ruined cities, giant stone carvings and a handful of wooden artefacts to provide insight into this complex civilisation.<br>