I’ll give brainliest
Early Civilizations in the Americas Reference Library, 2005
In the early 1900s the Olmecs (pronounced OLE-mecks) were a little known cultural group (a
group of people who share customs, history, beliefs, and other traits) of ancient Mesoamerica.
Scholars had named the group based on the artistic style of a few of their artifacts (things
created or used by humans in past times), but no one knew when they had lived. In fact, most
people assumed the Olmecs had lived after the ancient Maya (pronounced MY-uh); some
believed they were simply a separate grouping of Maya people.
Ignorance about the Olmecs was based in part on the geography of their heartland (the central
region of a cultural group, where their traditional values and customs are practiced). The hot
and swampy jungles in which the Olmecs had lived were so inaccessible that few had ventured
there to seek answers about ancient societies. The jungle forests had long ago engulfed the
abandoned cities of the Olmecs, hiding them from sight. Over the centuries the heat and
moisture combined forces to decay thousands of artifacts and remains of the once-flourishing
society.
13. Why was so little known about the Olmec in the early 1900s?
a. Scholars named the group based on their art instead of their location
b. Most people thought the Olmec lived after the Maya
c. The jungles and heat made it hard for people to find artifacts where the
Olmecs lived
d. There were too many artifacts to study
