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A major 1965 Olmec-oriented exhibition was entitled "The Jaguar's Children" and referred to the werejaguar as "the divine power of the Olmec civilization". [ 8 ] This paradigm was undermined, however, by the discovery that same year of Las Limas Monument 1 , a greenstone sculpture that displayed not only a werejaguar baby, but four other ...
Most of what is known about Olmec religion is speculative, but certain patterns do emerge at La Venta that are certainly symbolic and might have ritual meaning. For example, the crossed bands symbol, an X in a rectangular box, is often repeated in stone at La Venta, other Olmec sites, and continued to have significance to the cultures inspired ...
This Mural [6] is situated above the mouth to the south grotto, and portrays what is most likely a ruler seated upon a throne similar to La Venta's Altar 4 or 5.The eyes of a primal cave monster, showing Olmec iconic crossed-bars, can be seen on the top edge of the throne (note that the ruler is also wearing a crossed-bars pectoral, perhaps linking him directly with the monster).
Some Olmec art, however, is surprisingly naturalistic, displaying an accuracy of the depiction of human anatomy perhaps equaled in the pre-Columbian New World only by the best Maya Classic era art. Olmec art forms emphasize monumental statuary and small jade carvings. A common theme is to be found in representations of a divine jaguar.
Curators and scholars refer to "Olmec-style" face masks but, to date, no example has been recovered in an archaeologically controlled Olmec context. They have been recovered from sites of other cultures, including one deliberately deposited in the ceremonial altepetl (precinct) of Tenochtitlan in what is now Mexico City .
The Olmec (1500–400 BCE), who lived on the gulf coast, were the first civilization to fully develop in Mesoamerica. Their culture was the first to develop many traits that remained constant in Mesoamerica until the last days of the Aztecs: a complex astronomical calendar, the ritual practice of a ball game , and the erection of stelae to ...
The young lord wears a huge boxy headdress, the front of which is covered with what is apparently a mask. [3] The mask shows the cleft head, the almond eyes, and the downturned mouth characteristic of the Olmec were-jaguar supernatural, implying that the human had become, or was acting under the authority and/or the protection of, the ...