Werejaguars and Giant Heads : The Olmec culture of Meso -Americ a

1. Werejaguars and Giant Heads: The Olmec culture of Meso-America

2. The Olmec Enigma… • “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?

3. Olmec = “rubber people” in Nahuatl • 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 Rubber ball from Olmec site

4. The Olmec by the Numbers • 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 TresZapotes • 1 at Rancho la Cobata • #1(firsts) • Ritual centers • Ball courts • Math • Invention of “zero,” • Calendar / “long count”

5. Location • Tehuantepec= “Hill of the Jaguar” • Isthmus of Tehuantepec • Tropical Lowland, Southeast Mexico • Modern States of Veracruz and Tabasco • River Basins • Swampy lowland • Volcanic soils

6. Olmec Centers • 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.)

7. Beginnings • 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

8. San Lorenzo • 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

9. La Venta ‘altar’ • Throne, not altar • Priest ruler depicted in niche Werejaguar Child : depicted as limp, being held by male figure

10. TheAbuelafigure, with bowl La Venta • 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

11. Werejaguars • Figures w/ mix human/jaguar traits • depicted as infants/children • Assoc. w/ jaguar rain/water god • Also with leadership

12. Jaguar and spirituality • Similar images seen Ecuador, Peru (Chavin de Hauntar) • Related to Shamanic beliefs • Transformation? • Spirit guide /protector (nagual)

13. Interpretations / Counter. • 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 • Represent people who have variant of Down’s Syndrome • Represent genetic condition in the leading dynasty • Represent belief in a human/jaguar hybrid

14. Laguna de los Cerros • Settled about 1400 BCE • Regional center by 1200 BCE • 100+ mounds • 47 associated sites • stone workshops • Villages • No complete stone heads Huehueteotl: “Old God” in Nahuatl- god of fire and hearth

15. The Olmec Heads

16. Interpretations • 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

17. Everyday Life • Most Olmeclive 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

18. What this means: • No “Disappearance” • Change in leadership, beliefs • Abandonment of centers • Smaller settlements remain • No one sponsoring artists= no more monuments

19. Ethnic grp vs. culture horiz.? • 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 curatedthem

20. Final Mystery: ‘Motherculture’? • 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