Werejaguars and Giant Heads: The Olmec culture of

Meso-America

“Mother culture” of Meso-American societies?

Ethnic/Culture group or cultural horizon?

Centers for political, trade or religious purposes?

Why does the culture “vanish?”

What is with the huge heads?

The Olmec Enigma…

Name given by archaeologists

Comes from Aztec/Mexica name for an older culture◦ Referred to their harvest of rubber

from trees

Also : “Jaguar Mouth people”

Called themselves : Xi

Olmec = “rubber people” in Nahuatl

Rubber ball from Olmec site

1400 BCE (abt 3500 yrs. ago) to 400 BCE (2400 y.a.)

170 monuments in Olmec ‘heartland’◦ 80% in the 3 largest centers: La Venta, San Lorenzo

and Laguna de los Cerros◦ 10% are large basalt heads (17 so far)

10 at San Lorenzo 4 at La Venta 2 at the Tres Zapotes 1 at Rancho la Cobata

#1(firsts)◦ Ritual centers◦ Ball courts◦ Math◦ Invention of “zero,” ◦ Calendar / “long count”

The Olmec by the Numbers

Isthmus of Tehuantepec ◦ Tropical Lowland,

Southeast Mexico

◦ Modern States of Veracruz and

Tabasco

◦ River Basins Swampy lowland Volcanic soils

Tehuantepec= “Hill of the Jaguar”

Location

Centers control specific resources◦ La Venta (eastern)

Coastal estuaries Cacao Rubber Salt

◦ San Lorenzo (central) Floodplain and basin of Coatzacoalos River Agricultural products

◦ Laguna de los Cerros (western;Tuxtlas Mts.) Basalt: sculpture, manos and metates (food processing

equip.)

Olmec Centers

San Lorenzo Tenochtitlan- oldest (1400 BCE- 900 BCE) Really 3 sites: San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán, Potrero Nuevo and Loma del

Zapote

◦ Began as village, 1700 BCE Agriculture (corn) Fishing Hunting

◦ By 1250 BCE Olmec pottery Modification of natural mesa*

◦ 1250-1150 BCE Monument carving (basalt chips) Olmec black and white pottery

Beginnings

1150-900 BCE◦ Earthen mounds and plaza◦ Elite residences◦ 8 heads and other monuments◦ Stone “Drain” system- Aqueducts

drinking water Some stones in system are monuments – sacred purpose too

Ball court at nearby site El Manati

New building stops abt. 900 BCE; Monuments destroyed 950 BCE*

◦ By the Olmec themselves

San Lorenzo

Throne, not altar Priest ruler

depicted in niche

La Venta ‘altar’

Werejaguar Child : depicted as limp, being held by male figure

900- 400 BCE Succeeds San Lorenzo Clay and earth pyramids,

platforms◦ “Great Pyramid”◦ Plazas, mosaics of greenstone

blocks Planned city

◦ Symmetrical layout of buildings

4 Stone heads Large # offerings- jade, magnetite

La Venta The Abuela figure, with bowl

Figures w/ mix human/jaguar traits◦ depicted as

infants/children

Assoc. w/ jaguar rain/water god◦ Also with leadership

Werejaguars

Similar images seen Ecuador, Peru (Chavin de Hauntar)

Related to Shamanic beliefs◦ Transformation?◦ Spirit guide

/protector (nagual)

Jaguar and spirituality

Represent people who have variant of Down’s Syndrome

Represent genetic condition in the leading dynasty

Represent belief in a human/jaguar hybrid

No evidence in the population based on mortuary remains

Same leader appears with and without jaguar traits on diff. objects

No evidence of a “dynastic line”

Some of the objects aren’t werejaguars, but other spirits/ spirit creatures◦ Caiman◦ Toads◦ Feathered Serpents◦ Maize god

Interpretations / Counter.

Settled about 1400 BCE

Regional center by 1200 BCE

100+ mounds 47 associated sites

◦ stone workshops◦ Villages

No complete stone heads

Laguna de los Cerros

Huehueteotl: “Old God” in Nahuatl- god of fire and hearth

The Olmec Heads

Past◦ Images of ball players (helmets)◦ Images of leaders who were ball

players◦ African or Chinese migration

Now:◦ Look like people of region◦ Glyphs on “helmet” name the

person depicted◦ Stones = stylized depictions or

memorial to leader ◦ No evidence migration of new

people

Interpretations

Most Olmec live in villages◦ Farmers◦ Only elites in centers◦ Ctr. for trade, religious ceremonies etc.

Leadership = theocracy ◦ Shaman/priest/King◦ Chosen by strength spiritual power?

Thrones destroyed/recycled into heads on death of leader

Some heads made from thrones

Artisan class- specialized art work, trade goods◦ Supported by elite, trade

Everyday Life

No “Disappearance”◦ Change in leadership, beliefs◦ Abandonment of centers

Smaller settlements remain No one sponsoring artists= no more monuments

What this means:

◦ Spoke Mixe-Zoquean Clues from glyphs Still spoken in region

◦ Olmec pottery, art style show up all over Meso-Am. Some clearly trade Some local copying

◦ So: Olmec = ethnic/cultural group Influence, interaction (trade) through Meso-America Influence of religion

Diffusion of Maize growing techniques?

Later groups, such as Aztec, revered Olmec objects and curated them

Ethnic grp vs. culture horiz.?

No ◦ “Sisterculture”◦ Maya writing system at same time/slightly ahead◦ Other cultures show complexity too.

Monument building as measure of civilization from Euro-centric/ethnocentric ideas.

Yes◦ Olmec Pantheon is basis for later Meso-American

religion◦ Ritual of bloodletting spreads to later cultures◦ Originate the ball game as central cultural

metaphor◦ Trade spread Olmec influence

Final Mystery: ‘Motherculture’?