dential functions, and perhaps also as marketplaces. At regular inter-
vals, the whole community convened for ritual observances at the
religious-civic centers of towns such as San Lorenzo and La Venta.
These centers were the formative architectural expressions of the
structure and ideals of Olmec society.
OLMEC RULER PORTRAITSAt La Venta, low clay-and-
earthen platforms and stone fences enclosed two great courtyards.
At one end of the larger area was a mound almost 100 feet high.
Although now very eroded, this early pyramid, built of earth and
adorned with colored clays, may have been intended to mimic a
mountain, held sacred by Mesoamerican peoples as both a life-
giving source of water and a feared destructive force. (Volcanic erup-
tions and earthquakes still wreak havoc in this region.) The La Venta
layout is an early form of the temple-pyramid-plaza complex
aligned on a north-south axis that characterized later Mesoamerican
ceremonial center design.
Four colossal basalt heads (FIG. 14-2), weighing about 10 tons
each and standing between 6 and 10 feet high, face out from the
plaza. More than a dozen similar heads have been found at San
Lorenzo and Tres Zapotes. Almost as much of an achievement as the
carving of these huge stones with stone tools was their transportation
across the 60 miles of swampland from the nearest known basalt
source, the Tuxtla Mountains. Although the identities of the colossi
are uncertain, their individualized features and distinctive headgear
and ear ornaments, as well as the later Maya practice of carving mon-
umental ruler portraits, suggest that the Olmec heads portray rulers
rather than deities. The sheer size of the heads and their intensity of
expression evoke great power, whether mortal or divine.Mesoamerica 36714-2Colossal head, Olmec, La Venta, Mexico, ca. 900–400 BCE. Basalt,
9 4 high. Museo-Parque La Venta, Villahermosa.
The identities of the Olmec colossi are uncertain, but their individual-
ized features and distinctive headgear, as well as later Maya practice,
suggest that these heads portray rulers rather than deities.14-3Ceremonial ax in the form of a were-jaguar, Olmec, from
La Venta, Mexico, ca. 900–400 BCE.Jadeite,11^1 – 2 high. British Museum,
London.
Olmec celts were votive offerings to the gods. The composite human-
animal representations may reflect the belief that religious practitioners
underwent dangerous transformations on behalf of the community.JADE CELTS The Olmec also made paintings in caves, fash-
ioned ceramic figurines, and carved sculptures in jade, a prized, ex-
tremely hard, dark-green stone they acquired from unknown
sources far from their homeland. Sometimes the Olmec carved jade
into ax-shaped polished forms art historians call celts,which they
then buried as votive offerings under their ceremonial courtyards
or platforms. The celt shape could be modified into a figural form,
combining relief carving with incising. Olmec sculptors used stone-
tipped drills and abrasive materials, such as sand, to carve jade.
Subjects represented include crying babies (of unknown signifi-
cance) and figures combining human and animal features and pos-
tures, such as the were-jaguarillustrated here (FIG. 14-3). The
Olmec human-animal representations may refer to the belief that
religious practitioners underwent dangerous transformations to
wrest power from supernatural forces and harness it for the good of
the community.1 ft.
1 in.