Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
"Olmec-style" face mask in jade. The Olmec civilization developed in the lowlands of southeastern Mexico between 1500 and 400 BC. [3] The Olmec heartland lies on the Gulf Coast of Mexico within the states of Veracruz and Tabasco, an area measuring approximately 275 kilometres (171 mi) east to west and extending about 100 kilometres (62 mi) inland from the coast. [4]
The Tres Zapotes site, on the western edge of the Olmec heartland, continued to be occupied well past 400 BCE, but without the hallmarks of the Olmec culture. This post-Olmec culture, often labeled the Epi-Olmec , has features similar to those found at Izapa , some 550 kilometres (340 mi) to the southeast.
The head is slightly pear-shaped, likely due to artificial cranial deformation. [6] They often wear a tight-fitting helmet not dissimilar to those worn by the Olmec colossal heads. [7] Baby-face figurines are usually naked, but without genitalia. [8] Their bodies are rarely rendered with the detail shown on their faces.
Through subsequent research, it became apparent that not every cleft head nor every downturned mouth represented a werejaguar. [9] Some researchers have therefore refined the werejaguar supernatural, specifically equating it with the Olmec rain deity, [10] a proposition that artist, archaeologist, and ethnographer Miguel Covarrubias had made as early as 1946 in Mexico South.
This is represented in Olmec "art" and those with elite status would have worn elaborate headdresses of feathers and other animal forms. [30] Ocean creatures were also sacred to the Olmec—Pohl (2005) found shark teeth and sting ray remains at feasting sites at San Andres and it is clear that those at La Venta shared in the same ideology.
The Pre-classic period was dominated by the highly developed Olmec civilization, which flourished around 1200–400 BCE. The Olmecs produced jade figurines, and created heavy-featured, colossal heads, up to 2 meters (6.6 ft) high, that still stand mysteriously in the landscape. The Mesoamerican tradition of building large ceremonial centres ...
"The Olmec Football Player" [30] is a 1980 short story by Katherine MacLean. In it, at least one of the Olmec colossal heads depicts an African-American college student who traveled back in time while wearing his football helmet. In The Mysterious Cities of Gold, the few remaining Olmecs are described as being descendants of Atlanteans.
Main page; Contents; Current events; Random article; About Wikipedia; Contact us; Pages for logged out editors learn more