Early Maya Civilization

The Early Preclassic Era is the time period when the beginnings of agriculture emerge in Maya culture. The earliest evidence of agricultural field burning and cultivation of maize along with other crops dates well before the beginning of the Early Preclassic period. Agriculture was already being practiced in some areas of Guatemala that were settled by distinctively Maya groups.
The very roots of Maya civilization are obscure at best. However as our understanding of new and old discoveries increases, we're more able to paint a vague picture of their early beginnings. By around 2000 BC, the southern Maya area had already been occupied by early speakers of Mayan languages. We know that this area was occupied by archaic Maya groups prior

Fish, meat from hunting and other gathered foods still made up for the majority of their diet.[3] The Maya at Cuello subsisted primarily on shell fish, deer, several small mammals, corn, beans, squash and a variety of other plants. So even though these Maya settlements had transitioned into early preclassical agriculture, they retained a degree of their archaic hunter-gathering practices.
When agriculture gradually began to develop, so did the appearance of basic pottery. The Maya developed this early pottery in simple design using a type of ceramics called "swasey." This type of pottery is relatively simple in form and predominantly red in color. These ceramic artifacts are what help us date these settlements specifically to the early preclassic era, the dawn of Maya society.
North of the progressing Maya, in the area of modern day Tabasco, Mexico, the Olmec culture was advancing. The presence of these Olmecs would have a profound impact on Maya society and culture. The early Maya began trading and interacting with the more advanced Olmec over a prolonged period. This contact altered the Maya way of life in almost every aspect.
The Olmecs were the first significant civilization to develop in Mesoamerica. They are essentially the mother culture of pre-Hispanic Mexico. The Olmec people were also known by other groups as the "rubber

A monolithic undertaking for a post stone age / early agricultural people. These stone monolith faces have noticeably negroid facial features, even though they are uniquely Olmec in origin.
Olmec Colossal Head 3 in San Lorenzo. [239]

The Colossal Heads also appear to be wearing helmets, something that has puzzled researchers ever since they were discovered. The first Olmec head was discovered at Tres Zapotes where 'Stelae C' was discovered at the same time. Stelae C bears the long count date of 31 BC giving a probable date for the placement of the Colossal Head.
More gigantic heads in addition to a number of massive stone altars and stelae have been discovered at the La Venta site. This was the Olmec people's most important cultural center. It was their capital city, the cultural heart of their society. These massive stone works were somehow floated via waterways to La Venta, which is located on an island near the Gulf Coast in the present-day Mexican state of Tabasco.
The Olmec center at La Venta share essential characteristics of all Mesoamerican centers later built by different cultures. The site is laid out along a north-south axis with a huge clay and earth pyramid its most prominent