While the history and cultural legacy of Aztecs and Mayans are relatively well known, the same can not be said about the Olmec–the precursor of those two groups and the first known civilization of the Americas. Much about them remains a mystery but this month, the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park will provide a rare opportunity to explore and experience the art and culture of this ancient society in their new exhibition, “Olmec: Colossal Masterworks Of Ancient Mexico.”

Opening on Feb 19 and ending May 8, 2011, the exhibition will feature over 140 objects drawn primarily from Mexican national collections with additional loans from over 25 museums. The Olmec exhibition was organized by the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco in conjunction with the Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia of Mexico, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, where it just recently concluded its run last month. These exhibits marks the first time such a collection has been shown on the West Coast. Though previous collections were exhibited on the East Coast fifteen years ago, they are unmatched to the size and scale of “Olmec.”

Kathleen Berrin, the Curator-in-Charge for the de Young Museum, has worked over three years on “Olmec” and is equally proud and excited that people will be able to see these monuments and artifacts for the first time.

“Their extraordinary art style which is so powerful, charismatic and beautiful is amazing to me,” she said. “The fact that so much of what they did in stone using volcanic stone on a colossal level is amazing and overpowering aesthetic experience.”

The Olmec flourished in what is now Veracruz and Tabasco, the Gulf states of Mexico, from 1400 to 400 BC. They are best known for their huge basalt head sculptures that weigh up to several tons. Some of these giant sculptures were found up to 80 miles away from the volcanic mountain where they originated. It’s an impressive feat especially considering primitive carving tools, absence of wheels and the lack of beasts of burden. All of it was orchestrated with ingenuity and intense human labor.

The name Olmec is a loose term to refer an ancient style of art that was discovered by farmers in the 1860s. The word Olmec actually means “the rubber people” in Nahuatl—the ancient language of the Aztecs. It originally referred to the people in the 15th and 16th centuries that created rubber in the valley where the artifacts were originally found. Scholars are unsure if the Olmecs were one group of people or made up of many different ones. It is hard to know since they left no written history. Only the objects they left behind offer clues, which are still debated by scholars.

Scholars do agree however that the Olmec are the “mother culture” of Mesoamerica—giving birth to the basic traits of the Aztec and Mayan cultures that continued throughout the centuries.

“They were a religious people and water and maize were important in their belief system,” Berrin said. “These Olmec urban centers contained impressive mounds, temples, plazas, ball courts and hydraulic systems.”

Some of the objects included in the exhibit are large carved stone head that weighs over eight tons, an eight-foot high naturalistic sculpture of a female in a pleated skirt and figures of Olmec rulers praying to a feline-jaguar deity.

In addition, many smaller artifacts have been newly unearthed by archaeologists, some of which consist of votive axes as well as other offerings to the gods.

“Olmec: Colossal Masterworks Of Ancient Mexico” opens Feb 19 and ends May 8 at the de Young Museum. Admission is $25 adults, $22 seniors 65+, $21 students with current ID, $15 youth 6–17, and free for members and children 5 and under. There is a $5 discount for purchasing tickets in advance.