This first Mesoamerican civilization likely also created the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, which has popularly become known as the Maya calendar.

这个第一个中美洲文明很可能还创造了中美洲长历法，它已被普遍称为玛雅历法。

The Olmecs also settled along an important old trade route, which helped them grow and develop into one of the earliest Mesoamerican civilizations.

奥尔梅克人还沿着一条重要的旧贸易路线定居，这帮助他们成长并发展成为最早的中美洲文明之一。

Their story continues to encourage archeologists and historians to dive deeper into these mysterious people and how their work impacted later Mesoamerican civilizations.

他们的故事继续鼓励考古学家和历史学家深入研究这些神秘人物，以及他们的工作如何影响后来的中美洲文明。

Either way, the Olmecs disappeared – but not before they had left their mark on Mesoamerican civilizations that would continue to impact the world today.

无论哪种方式，奥尔梅克人都消失了——但在他们在中美洲文明留下将继续影响当今世界的印记之前。

Soccer was a popular game in later ancient Mesoamerican civilizations, and although the game has lost its religious applications in modern times, it is still one of the most popular sports in the region today.

足球在后来的古代中美洲文明中是一种流行的运动，虽然这项运动在现代已经失去了宗教意义，但它仍然是当今该地区最受欢迎的运动之一。

Even though historians do not know everything about the Olmecs yet, they agree that this group made essential contributions to the development of the early Mesoamerican civilizations that have gone on to influence the world.

尽管历史学家尚不完全了解奥尔梅克人，但他们一致认为， 这个群体对影响世界的早期中美洲文明的发展做出了重要贡献。

Although most people think about the Aztecs or the Maya when they think of early Mesoamerican civilizations, there was a civilization that was even earlier than these groups that laid the foundation for most of the cultures to come.

尽管大多数人在想到中美洲早期文明时都会想到阿兹特克人或玛雅人，但有一种文明甚至比这些文明更早， 为后来的大多数文化奠定了基础。