Tabla de Contenidos
The Olmecs were characterized by:
- To be considered as “the mother culture” of the Mesoamerican region.
- Be the first to build ceremonial buildings.
- Form an organized social structure for the construction of great monuments.
- Master the technique of carving on stone.
- Perform a ritual or ball game (solid rubber).
- Develop a calendar and writing system, precursor to hieroglyphics.
Olmec art
The Olmecs were talented artists who produced stone carvings, wood carvings, and cave paintings, they made sculptures of all sizes, from small axes and figures to huge stone heads. The masonry is made of many different types of stone such as basalt and jadeite, and only very few pieces of wooden sculptures and busts excavated from a swamp remain, at the archaeological site called “El Manatí”. The cave paintings are found mainly in the mountains in the State of Guerrero, Mexico.
The extraordinary Olmec heads
The most striking pieces of Olmec art that have survived throughout all these years are undoubtedly the colossal heads. These heads are carved from basalt roses that were quarried many kilometers from where the carvings were finally placed. They represent huge male heads wearing a kind of helmet, the largest head was found in the archaeological site called “La Cobata” it is almost ten feet high and weighs around 40 tons, even the smallest of the heads still has more than four feet tall. In total, seventeen Olmec colossal heads have been discovered at four different archaeological sites, 10 of them are in San Lorenzo and are believed to represent kings or rulers.
thrones
Olmec sculptors also made many huge thrones, large square blocks of basalt with sculptures carved into the sides that are believed to have been used as platforms or thrones by nobility or priests. One of the thrones shows two chubby dwarfs holding a flat table while others show scenes of humans carrying baby jaguars. The purpose of the thrones was discovered when a cave painting of an Olmec ruler seated on a throne was found.
statues and stelae
Olmec artists sometimes made statues or stelae, a famous set of statues was discovered at the site of “El Azuzul” near San Lorenzo, it consists of three pieces: two identical twins facing a jaguar. This scene is interpreted as a representation of some kind of Mesoamerican myth, the heroic twins play an important role in the Popol Vuh, which is the sacred book of the Mayans.
The Olmecs created several statues and another meaning is that they are located near the summit of the San Martín Pajapan volcano. As for the stelae, the Olmecs created relatively few, however some significant pieces have been found at the sites of La Venta and Tres Zapotes.
Celts, figures and masks
In total some 250 examples of monumental Olmec art such as colossal heads and statues are known, however there are innumerable smaller pieces such as figurines, small statues, axes (small pieces with designs more or less the shape of an ax head). ), masks and ornaments. A famous small statue is “el luchador”, a realistic representation of a cross-legged man with his arms raised, another small statue of great importance is Las Limas monument 1 which represents a seated young man carrying a baby jaguar.
Symbols of four Olmec gods are inscribed on its legs and shoulders, making it a highly valuable artifact. The Olmec were also avid mask makers, producing life-size masks, possibly used during ceremonies and others used as ornaments.
Paintings
To the west of the traditional Olmec lands, in the mountains of the State of Guerrero Mexico, two caves have been discovered containing several paintings attributed to the Olmecs, they associated the caves with the earth dragon, one of their gods and it is likely that the caves were sacred places. The Juxtlahuaca cave contains a depiction of a feathered serpent and a lunging jaguar, but one of the best paintings is a colorful Olmec ruler, standing next to a smaller figure and kneeling, the ruler holding a wavy-shaped object in a hand (a serpent?) and a three-pronged device in the other, possibly a weapon, the ruler is clearly bearded which is a rarity in Olmec art.
The Oxtotitlán cave paintings show a man with a detailed headdress in the style of an owl, a crocodile monster, and an Olmec man standing behind a jaguar.
Although Olmec-style cave paintings have been discovered in other caves in the region, those of Oxtotitlán and Juxtlahuaca are the most important and well-known.
Importance of Olmec art
As artists the Olmecs were centuries ahead of their time, many modern Mexican artists draw on the Olmec heritage as it has many admirers. It is very common to find replicas of colossal heads all over the world, one of them is at the University of Austin, Texas, for example. You can even buy a small replica of a colossal head to keep as a keychain or collectible, among many other things.
As the first great Mesoamerican civilization, the Olmecs were extremely influential and many other cultures like the one we mentioned used to be based on them.
