of these images where an engraving of a toad appears on its
head. Th e venom of the toad species Bufo marinus has hallu-
cinogenic properties, and toad bones discarded in trash heaps
at the Olmec ceremonial site of San Lorenzo support its reli-
gious use by the Olmec. Some small stone and ceramic Olmec
fi gures also portray individuals in strangely contorted posi-
tions resembling yoga and other postures that some schol-
ars interpret as facilitating altered states of consciousness by
comparison to spiritual practices from other cultures. Other
images seem to show the king identifi ed with the World Tree,
the center of the shamanic universe, representing his ability
to mediate between this world and the supernatural realms
above and below.
Colossal Olmec stone sculptures and a cave painting
show rulers emerging from the mouths of fanged reptilian or
j a g u a r l i k e m o n s t e r s. S o m e w e a r b i r d c o s t u m e s , p e r h a p s r e p r e -
senting “fl ying” in a hallucinatory trance. Based on the beliefs
of the later Maya, many archaeologists interpret these mon-
ster mouths as symbolizing caves, seen by many Mesoameri-
can peoples as entrances to the underworld. Th ese sculptures
may represent Olmec kings journeying to the world of ances-
tral spirits magically to assist their subjects. Since raindrops
and corn plants are also shown in these scenes, their goal was
probably to bring rain and maintain agricultural fertility.
Th e architecture of the Olmec ritual centers seems to
symbolize a multitiered concept of the cosmos similar to
later Native American cosmologies. At La Venta (ca. 900–ca.
400 b.c.e.) a colossal clay pyramid may represent the central
axis of the world. It may also symbolize the fi rst mountain
of later Maya and Aztec myth, which emerged from watery
chaos at the beginning of time. Huge mosaic pavements of
serpentine, a mottled green stone, deliberately buried under
a plaza at the site could signify the waters of the underworld
upon which the earth fl oats in later Mesoamerican cosmolo-
gies. Another mosaic and a stone sarcophagus in the form
of a crocodile-like dragon buried at higher levels might sym-
bolize the reptilian earth monster of later Aztec myth, repre-
senting the earth fl oating on the underworld sea. Th e court
itself, bounded on the north end by tombs, may have been
intended to represent the world of ancestors. Th e Olmec may
have designed the site as a model of the cosmos that, with the
proper performance of rituals, not only represented but also
magically sustained the universe. We must be cautious and
skeptical, of course, in assessing models of what the Olmec
thought or intended based on the beliefs of other Mesoameri-
can cultures documented up to more than 2,000 years aft er
these sites were constructed.
Similar problems make it diffi cult to identify which dei-
ties the Olmec conceived as inhabiting their universe. Olmec
sculpture shows a range of strange mythical beings that com-
bine the features of humans with animals, including jaguars,
crocodiles, and eagles. Interpretations of what these creatures
might have represented range from nature spirits to a pan-
theon of distinct deities. For those scholars who believe in
the second model, several theories attempt to distinguish dif-
ferent gods in Olmec art by their distinctive features. Some
art historians agree that the crocodilian monster depicted on
the La Venta sarcophagus was an important mythic being,
now referred to as the Olmec Dragon. Th e creature combines
reptilian with toad, jaguar, and bird features, like harpy eagle
feathers above its eyes. It represented the earth—plants are
shown growing from its back on the sarcophagus—and its
mouth formed the entrance to the underworld. Th e same or
another dragonlike deity may have symbolized the sky and
might also be the earliest version of the famous Feathered Ser-
pent of later Mexican mythology. According to an alternative
theory, an eaglelike bird deity was the Olmec god of the sky
and sun. A sharklike monster may represent an underworld
god. Th e most common fi gure in Olmec art, the “werejaguar,”
is a strange, childlike creature with a cleft forehead and a
snarling, downturned mouth and seems to have portrayed a
rain god. A similar being with vegetation growing out of his
head is commonly interpreted as a corn god.
Olmec ritual included human sacrifi ce. Th e bones of in-
fants are among the off erings deposited in a sacred spring at
El Manati near San Lorenzo, and images of rulers carrying
baby rain gods in their arms may also represent child sac-
rifi ce. Dwarfs and fetuses appear in Olmec sculpture, and it
is possible the Olmec equated deformities in children with
their deities. Olmec rulers apparently used stingray spines
and jade awls to let their own blood as off erings and perhaps
to help induce trance, like the later Maya. Not surprisingly
for a farming society, many of their rituals centered on water.
Th ey tossed off erings into springs and at San Lorenzo built
an elaborate system of drains, pools, and fountains, appar-
ently for religious purposes. Artistic images and actual rub-
ber balls indicate that the Mesoamerican ritual ball game had
been developed by Olmec times.
Mayan kings followed in the path of their Olmec prede-
cessors, taking on the role of chief ritual specialists for their
subjects. Despite older theories about Mayan theocracies, there
is no evidence for priests outside the ruling family among the
ancient Maya. Mayan gods known from much later inscrip-
tions and sources, like the maize god, Itzamna, and Chaak,
appear as giant plaster masks adorning royal pyramid temples
from the Late Formative (ca. 400 b.c.e.–ca. 150 c.e.). Th e maize
god fi gures in an ancient version of the epic Popol Vuh, dating
to the 16th century c.e. In this saga he is defeated in the ritual
ball game and killed by the gods of death, rulers of the under-
world. His sons, the Hero Twins, later defeat and destroy the
underworld gods in turn and resurrect their father, who then
creates the world in its present form by erecting the World
Tree, the axis of the universe. Th e story refl ects the life cycle
of corn and the hoped-for rebirth of the king as a god aft er
death. By the Late Formative, the Mayan rulers were already
identifi ed with the maize god, and recently discovered murals
at San Bartolo, Guatemala, show a king enacting the rebirth
of this deity. Itzamna, a sky and creator deity, was closely as-
sociated with the king’s shamanic role. A related entity, the
so-called Principal Bird Deity, also makes his appearance on864 religion and cosmology: The Americas