Jacques Soustelle discusses the lack of extant examples of Olmec writing; notes that if the Olmecs had books, they would have been lost to the ravages of time, being made of paper, cloth, or animal skin.
- Type
- Book
- Source
- Jacques Soustelle Non-LDS
- Hearsay
- Direct
- Reference
Jacques Soustelle, The Olmecs: The Oldest Civilization in Mexico (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1985),161
- Scribe/Publisher
- University of Oklahoma Press
- People
- Jacques Soustelle
- Audience
- Reading Public
- Transcription
Did the Olmecs, who were the first civilized people in this America, possess a system of writing? Did this people that invented monumental architecture, sculpture, altars, stelae, hidden offerings, also invent glyphs?
Not a single race of a book remains to help us answer this question. If the Olmecs had books, which were no doubt kept in the hands of priests, soothsayers, and magicians, these fragile works made of paper, cloth, or animal skins did not withstand the ravages of time. All we have left are bas-reliefs, carved stones, decorated vessels, terra cotta seals.
- Citations in Mormonr Qnas
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