The Olmecs were good traders too. They had set up trade routes with other Mesoamerican cultures. From around 1200 BC, the Olmec city of San Lorenzo arose as a major trading centre. The city developed long distance trade networks with other regions.
The Olmecs mainly traded pottery, ornaments, statues and figurines for basalt, serpentine, salt, feathers and seashells. By 900 BC, the city of La Venta replaced San Lorenzo, as the biggest trading centre.
A major trading partner of the Olmec was their neighbour the Mokaya. The Tlatilcos of central Mexico was another culture that had trade relations with the Olmecs. There was a great expansion in the inter regional trade routes in the Olmec period. Exotic green stones and seashells were traded between distant places.
The archeologists believe that La Venta exported more goods than it imported, since it was a centre of skilled craftsmen.
