Page 7 - HP1A 004 Guatemalan History

have small villages of farmers who are from the Pre-Olmec culture.

kept on moving and did not live in Researchers believe that the Olmec

one place for a long time. However, culture was the first culture to

the recent monumental architecture connect many other cultures. They

discoveries from that period, like an were the ancestors of all the other

altar in La Blanca, proved it wrong. cultures in the region. Many sites

Citizens from The Pre-classic period in Guatemala were made based on

would stay in one place long enough the Olmecs. Temples in Petén or

to get resources and create huge Suchitepéquez were made similarly

altars. like the Olmec stones found in

Giant stone heads have been found in Escuintla.

Monte Alto in Escuintla, Guatemala. During the Classic period, the

These stones date back to 1800 Mayan civilization prevailed in

BC. It is believed that these stones Mesoamerica. Many sites have