Uncontacted contemporaries · 661 overlapping years

Olmec Civilization Phoenician City-States

For 661 years — from 1,200 BCE to 539 BCE — both civilizations existed simultaneously. Neither this dataset nor the historical record shows any documented trade, war, or diplomatic contact between them.

1,500 BCE 400 BCE

Olmec Civilization

1,500 BCE–400 BCE

Phoenician City-States

1,200 BCE–539 BCE

↑ Overlap begins, 1,200 BCE

Olmec Civilization

Gulf Coast, Mesoamerica

Considered the 'mother culture' of Mesoamerica, originating traits later inherited by the Maya and Aztec.

Phoenician City-States

Levantine coast

A network of maritime trading city-states whose alphabet became the ancestor of Greek, Latin, and most Western scripts.

Traits both developed independently

With no documented contact, any shared trait below represents independent development rather than transmission from one to the other.

Long-distance trade Astronomical record-keeping Urban planning

Olmec Civilization only

Monumental architecture
Irrigation agriculture

Phoenician City-States only

Bronze metallurgy
Iron metallurgy
Seafaring