A selection of tiny naturalistic Olmec ceramic figurines from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The hunchback at center is less than 3 inches (7.6cm) tall.An archetypical baby-face figurine from Las Bocas.
Olmec figurines are archetypicalfigurines produced by the Formative Period inhabitants of Mesoamerica. While not all of these figurines were produced in the Olmec heartland, they bear the hallmarks and motifs of Olmec culture. While the extent of Olmec control over the areas beyond their heartland is not yet known, Formative Period figurines with Olmec motifs were widespread in the centuries from 1000 to 500 BCE, showing a consistency of style and subject throughout nearly all of Mesoamerica.
These figurines are usually found in household refuse, ancient construction fill, and, outside the Olmec heartland, graves.[1][2] However, many Olmec-style figurines, particularly those labelled as Las Bocas- or Xochipala-style, were recovered by looters and are therefore without provenance.
The vast majority of figurines are simple in design, often nude or with a minimum of clothing, and made of local terracotta. Most of these recoveries are mere fragments: a head, arm, torso, or a leg.[3] It is thought, based on wooden busts recovered from the water-logged El Manati site, that figurines were also carved from wood, but, if so, none have survived.
More durable and better known by the general public are those figurines carved, usually with a degree of skill, from jade, serpentine, greenstone, basalt, and other minerals and stones.
Baby-face figurines
The "baby-face" figurine is a unique marker of Olmec culture, consistently found in sites that show Olmec influence,[4] although they seem to be confined to the early Olmec period and are largely absent, for example, in La Venta.[5]
These ceramic figurines are easily recognized by the chubby body, the baby-like jowly face, downturned mouth, and the puffy slit-like eyes. 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.
Also called "hollow babies", these figurines are generally from 25–35cm (9.8–13.8in) high[9] and feature a highly burnished white- or cream-slip. They are only rarely found in archaeological context.[10]
Archaeologist Jeffrey Blomster divides baby-face figurines into two groups based on several features. Among the many distinguishing factors, Group 1 figurines more closely mirror the characteristics of Gulf Coast Olmec artifacts. Group 2 figurines are also slimmer than those of Group 1, lacking the jowly face or fleshy body, and their bodies are larger in proportion to their heads.[11]
Given the sheer numbers of baby-face figurines unearthed, they undoubtedly fulfilled some special role in the Olmec culture. What they represented, however, is not known. Michael Coe, says "One of the great enigmas in Olmec iconography is the nature and meaning of the large, hollow, whiteware babies".[12]
An "elongated man" figurine, dark green serpentine. Inlays, since lost, once animated the eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.
Elongated man
Another common figurine style features standing figurines in a stiff artificial pose and characterized by their thin limbs, elongated, bald, flat-topped heads, almond-shaped eyes, and downturned mouths. The figurines' legs are usually separated, often straight, sometimes bent. Toes and fingers, if shown at all, are frequently represented by lines.
It has been theorized that the elongated, flat-topped heads are reflective of the practice of artificial cranial deformation, as found in the Tlatilco burials of the same period or among the Maya of a later era.[14] No direct evidence of this practice has been found in the Olmec heartland, however.
The ears often have small holes for ear flares or other ornaments. These figurines may have therefore once worn earrings and even clothes made of perishable materials. It has been proposed that these figurines had multiple outfits for different ritual occasions– as Richard Diehl puts it, "a pre-Columbian version of Barbie's Ken".[15]
These figurines are usually carved from jade and well under 1ft (30cm) in height. For another example, see this Commons photo.
Offering 4 at La Venta
At the La Venta archaeological site, archaeologists found what they subsequently named "Offering 4". These figurines had been ritually buried in a deep, narrow hole, and covered over with three layers of colored clay. At some point after the original burial, someone dug a small hole down just to the level of their heads and then refilled it.[16]
Offering 4 consists of sixteen male figurines positioned in a semicircle in front of six jade celts, perhaps representing stelae or basalt columns. Two of the figurines were made from jade, thirteen from serpentine, and one of reddish granite. This granite figurine one was positioned with its back to the celts, facing the others. All of the figurines had similar classic Olmec features including bald elongated heads. They had small holes for earrings, their legs were slightly bent, and they were undecorated– unusual if the figurines were gods or deities– but instead covered with cinnabar.[17]
Interpretations abound. Perhaps this particular formation represents a council of some sort—the fifteen other figurines seem to be listening to the red granite one, with the celts forming a backdrop. One of the most striking offerings found at La Venta, the celts in Offering Number 4, depict a person with a ceremonial headdress “flying” and also the maize deity. There appears to be a definite symbolic link here, but it is unclear whether it is tied to the Olmec rudimentary writing system.[18] To the red granite figurine's right, there seems be a line of three figurines filing past him. Another researcher has suggested that the granite figure is an initiate.
As the name implies, Offering 4 is one of many ritual offerings uncovered at La Venta, including the four Massive Offerings and four mosaics. Why such works would be buried continues to generate much speculation.
A small jade were-jaguar figurine. Stand-alone were-jaguar figurines are rare - most were-jaguar figurines show a were-jaguar baby accompanied by a human adult. Height: 8.6cm (3.4in).
"Were-jaguar" motif
The so-called were-jaguar motif runs through much of Olmec art, from the smallest jade to some of the largest basalt statues. The motif is found inscribed on celts, votive axes, masks, and on "elongated man" figurines.
Also termed, somewhat more neutrally, the "composite anthropomorph"[19] or the "rain baby",[20] the were-jaguar's body, if shown, is baby- or childlike. Its eyes are almond-shaped– or occasionally slit-like.[21] Its nose is human. Its downturned mouth is open, as if in mid-squall. The upper lip is everted and toothless gums are often visible. Olmec motifs associated with the were-jaguar include a cleft on the head or headdress, a headband, and cross-bars.[22]
Most were-jaguar figurines show an inert were-jaguar baby being held by an adult.
Olmec eagle transformation figure, 10th–6th century BCE Jade (albite), with cinnabar. Height: 4.5 inches (11cm).
Transformation figures
Many other Olmec figurines combined human and animal features. Although figurines showing such combinations of features are generally termed "transformation figures", some researchers argue that they represent humans in animal masks or animal suits, while others state that they likely represent shamans.[23]
This transformation figure[clarification needed] displays bat-like features. Most common, however, is the jaguar transformation figurine (see Commons photo), which show a wide variety of styles, ranging from human-like figurines to those that are almost completely jaguar, and several where the subject appears to be in a stage of transformation.[24]
Naturalistic figurines
Despite the many stylised figurines, Olmec-period artisans and artist also portrayed humans naturalistically with "a most extraordinary realistic technique".[25] The lead photo for this article shows a number of tiny naturalistic figurines.
A jade fetal-style figurine from Guerrero, Mexico. Height: 3.8 inches (9.7cm).
Dwarf or fetal-style figurines
Another pervasive Olmec figurine type features crouching figurines with thin bodies and over-large oval heads with small noses and receding chins.[26] Some researchers such as Miguel Covarrubias generally characterise these figurines as "dwarfs".[27] many others, also including Covarrubias, see evidence of "what looks like pre-natal posture".[28] In a 1999 article, Carolyn Tate and Gordon Bendersky analysed head-to-body ratios and concluded that these figurines are naturalistic sculptures of fetuses, and discuss the possibility of infanticide and infant sacrifice.[29]
Gallery
This rather unlively figurine belongs to Blomster's Group 2.
A baby-face figurine from the Museo Nacional del Jade, San Jose, Costa Rica.
↑ Pool, Christopher A. (Apr 2017). Insoll, Timothy (ed.). "Mesoamerica—Olmec Figurines". The Oxford Handbook of Prehistoric Figurines. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199675616.013.012.
The Olmecs were the earliest known major Mesoamerican civilization. Following a progressive development in Soconusco, they occupied the tropical lowlands of the modern-day Mexican states of Veracruz and Tabasco. It has been speculated that the Olmecs derived in part from the neighboring Mokaya or Mixe–Zoque cultures.
La Venta is a pre-Columbian archaeological site of the Olmec civilization located in the present-day Mexican state of Tabasco. Some of the artifacts have been moved to the museum "Parque - Museo de La Venta", which is in nearby Villahermosa, the capital of Tabasco.
The representation of jaguars in Mesoamerican cultures has a long history, with iconographic examples dating back to at least the mid-Formative period of Mesoamerican chronology.
The religion of the Olmec people significantly influenced the social development and mythological world view of Mesoamerica. Scholars have seen echoes of Olmec supernatural in the subsequent religions and mythologies of nearly all later pre-Columbian era cultures.
Chalcatzingo is a Mesoamerican archaeological site in the Valley of Morelos dating from the Formative Period of Mesoamerican chronology. The site is well known for its extensive array of Olmec-style monumental art and iconography. Located in the southern portion of the Central Highlands of Mexico, Chalcatzingo is estimated to have been settled as early as 1500 BCE. The inhabitants began to produce and display Olmec-style art and architecture around 900 BCE. At its height between 700 BCE and 500 BCE, Chalcatzingo's population is estimated at between five hundred and a thousand people. By 500 BCE it had gone into decline. The climate in Morelos is generally warmer and more humid than the rest of the Highlands. The Chalcatzingo center covers roughly 100 acres (0.40 km2). Evidence indicates that this was a site of ritual significance.
Tres Zapotes is a Mesoamerican archaeological site located in the south-central Gulf Lowlands of Mexico in the Papaloapan River plain. Tres Zapotes is sometimes referred to as the third major Olmec capital, but the Olmec phase is only a portion of the site's history, which continued through the Epi-Olmec and Classic Veracruz cultural periods.
Tlatilco was a large pre-Columbian village in the Valley of Mexico situated near the modern-day town of the same name in the Mexican Federal District. It was one of the first chiefdom centers to arise in the Valley, flourishing on the western shore of Lake Texcoco during the Middle Pre-Classic period, between the years of 1200 BCE and 200 BCE. It gives its name to the "Tlatilco culture", which also included the town of Tlapacoya, on the eastern shore of Lake Chalco.
Tlatilco culture is a culture that flourished in the Valley of Mexico between the years 1250 BCE and 800 BCE, during the Mesoamerican Early Formative period. Tlatilco, Tlapacoya, and Coapexco are the major Tlatilco culture sites.
Olmec alternative origin speculations are non-mainstream pseudohistorical theories relating to the formation of Olmec civilization which contradict generally accepted scholarly consensus, which holds that Olmec civilization is entirely indigenous to the region or at least to the New World. These origin theories typically involve contact with Old World societies. Although these speculations have become somewhat well-known within popular culture, particularly the idea of an African connection to the Olmec, they are not regarded as credible by mainstream researchers of Mesoamerica and are considered fringe theories.
The causes and degree of Olmec influences on Mesoamerican cultures has been a subject of debate over many decades. Although the Olmecs are considered to be perhaps the earliest Mesoamerican civilization, there are questions concerning how and how much the Olmecs influenced cultures outside the Olmec heartland. This debate is succinctly, if simplistically, framed by the title of a 2005 The New York Times article: “Mother Culture, or Only a Sister?”.
Oxtotitlán is a natural rock shelter and archaeological site in Chilapa de Álvarez, Mexican state of Guerrero that contains murals linked to the Olmec motifs and iconography. Along with the nearby Juxtlahuaca cave, the Oxtotitlán rock paintings represent the "earliest sophisticated painted art known in Mesoamerica", thus far. Unlike Juxtlahuaca, however, the Oxtotitlán paintings are not deep in a cave system but rather occupy two shallow grottos on a cliff face.
Remojadas is a name applied to a culture, an archaeological site, as well as an artistic style that flourished on Mexico's Veracruz Gulf Coast from perhaps 100 BCE to 800 CE. The Remojadas culture is considered part of the larger Classic Veracruz culture. Further research into the Remojadas culture is "much needed". The archaeological site has remained largely unexplored since the initial investigations by Alfonso Medellin Zenil in 1949 and 1950.
Las Limas Monument 1, also known as the Las Limas figure or the Señor de las Limas, is a 55 centimetres (22 in) greenstone figure of a youth holding a limp were-jaguar baby. Found in the State of Veracruz, Mexico, in the Olmec heartland, the statue is famous for its incised representations of Olmec supernaturals. It is the largest known greenstone sculpture.
The werejaguar was both an Olmec motif and a supernatural entity, perhaps a deity.
The Feathered Serpent is a prominent supernatural entity or deity, found in many Mesoamerican religions. It is still called Quetzalcoatl among the Aztecs, Kukulkan among the Yucatec Maya, and Q'uq'umatz and Tohil among the K'iche' Maya.
Classic Veracruz culture refers to a cultural area in the north and central areas of the present-day Mexican state of Veracruz, a culture that existed from roughly 100 to 1000 CE, or during the Classic era.
San Martín Pajapan Monument 1 is a large Olmec basalt sculpture found on top of the San Martin Pajapan volcano, in the Tuxtla Mountains of the Mexican state of Veracruz. It is notable for its original location and its Olmec iconography.
Olmec hieroglyphs are a set of glyphs developed within the Olmec culture. The Olmecs were the earliest known major Mesoamerican civilization, flourishing during the formative period in the tropical lowlands of the modern-day Mexican states of Veracruz and Tabasco. The subsequent Epi-Olmec culture, was a successor culture to the Olmec and featured the Isthmian script, which has been characterized as a full-fledged writing system, though with its partial decipherment being disputed.
The use of mirrors in Mesoamerican culture was associated with the idea that they served as portals to a realm that could be seen but not interacted with. Mirrors in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica were fashioned from stone and served a number of uses, from the decorative to the divinatory. An ancient tradition among many Mesoamerican cultures was the practice of divination using the surface of a bowl of water as a mirror. At the time of the Spanish conquest this form of divination was still practiced among the Maya, Aztecs and Purépecha. In Mesoamerican art, mirrors are frequently associated with pools of liquid; this liquid was likely to have been water.
The Olmec colossal heads are stone representations of human heads sculpted from large basalt boulders. They range in height from 1.17 to 3.4 metres. The heads date from at least 900 BC and are a distinctive feature of the Olmec civilization of ancient Mesoamerica. All portray mature individuals with fleshy cheeks, flat noses, and slightly-crossed eyes; their physical characteristics correspond to a type that is still common among the inhabitants of Tabasco and Veracruz. The backs of the monuments often are flat. The boulders were brought from the Sierra de Los Tuxtlas mountains of Veracruz. Given that the extremely large slabs of stone used in their production were transported over large distances, requiring a great deal of human effort and resources, it is thought that the monuments represent portraits of powerful individual Olmec rulers. Each of the known examples has a distinctive headdress. The heads were variously arranged in lines or groups at major Olmec centres, but the method and logistics used to transport the stone to these sites remain unclear. They all display distinctive headgear and one theory is that these were worn as protective helmets, maybe worn for war or to take part in a ceremonial Mesoamerican ballgame.
References
Bailey, Douglass (2005). Prehistoric Figurines: Representation and Corporeality in the Neolithic. Routledge Publishers. ISBN0-415-33152-8.
Blomster, Jeffrey (1998). "Context, Cult, and Early Formative Period Public Ritual in the Mixteca Alta, Analysis of a Hollow-baby Figurine from Etlatongo, Oaxaca". Ancient Mesoamerica. 9 (2): 309–326. doi:10.1017/S0956536100002017. S2CID163048092.(subscription required)
Blomster, Jeffrey (2002). "What and Where is Olmec Style? Regional perspectives on Hollow Figurines in Early Formative Mesoamerica". Ancient Mesoamerica. 13 (2): 171–195. doi:10.1017/S0956536102132196. S2CID161972379.(subscription required)
Bradley, Douglas E; Joralemon, Peter David (1993). "The Lords of Life: The Iconography of Power and Fertility in Preclassic Mesoamerica". Snite Museum of Art, University of Notre Dame.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
Castro-Leal, Marcia (1996). "The Olmec Collections of the National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City". In Benson, EP; de la Fuente, B. (eds.). Olmec Art of Ancient Mexico. Washington D.C.: National Gallery of Art. pp.139–143. ISBN0-89468-250-4.
Coe, Michael D (1989). "The Olmec Heartland: Evolution of Ideology". In Sharer, Robert J.; Grove, David (eds.). Regional Perspectives on the Olmec. Cambridge University Press. ISBN978-0-521-36332-7.
Scott, Sue (2000). "Figurines, Terracotta". In Evans, Susan (ed.). Archaeology of Ancient Mexico and Central America. Taylor & Francis. p.266. ISBN9780815308874. Retrieved 2012-12-14.
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