Olmec Civilization Social Political Environment Lived in towns and cities centered on temple mounds that they built Invented Many different writing systems Tracked the orbit of planets Created a 365 day calendar Wrote down histories in Accordion-folded books made of fig-tree bark Concept of Zero Didn?t appear in europe until 12th century Culture Practiced Human Sacrifice As did the god of Abraham Economics Classic Era Culture and Society in Mesoamerica, 200-900 Social Teotihuacan Elites able to keep control of city since worship and appeasement of gods kept everyone sane Political Teotihuacan Existed between the years 100-750 At height, population became as large as many European cities (150,000) Collapse is unclear