The mysterious Olmec civilization. Olmec

Mysterious disappearances. Mysticism, secrets, clues Dmitrieva Natalia Yurievna

Olmec

The Olmec civilization has undoubted evidence of its existence in the form of archaeological finds. However, the mysteries of its origin and death have not yet been solved by scientists. The name “Olmec” itself is conventionally taken from the historical chronicles of the Aztecs, where one of the tribes of this civilization is mentioned with this name. The word "Olmec" translated from the Mayan language means "inhabitant of the land of rubber."

The Olmecs lived in what is today southern and central Mexico. The most ancient traces of civilization date back to 1400 BC. e. In the city of San Lorenzo, the remains of a large (probably the main) Olmec settlement were discovered. But there were other settlements, the largest of which were in the places of La Venta and Tres Zapotes.

Many researchers consider the Olmecs to be the ancestors of other Meso-American civilizations, which is confirmed by Indian legends. What is certain is that the Olmecs are one of the earliest cultures of Central America.

Based on the discovered artifacts, it can be judged that the Olmecs developed construction, art, and trade. Their pyramids, courtyards (probably intended for some kind of ceremonies), tombs, temples, mounds, water supply systems and huge monuments in the form of stone heads have reached us. The first such head was discovered in 1862 near the settlement of Tres Zapotes, after which a research “boom” began regarding the Indian culture discovered in the forests of Mexico (although immediately after the discovery it was believed that this was the “head of an African,” or, as it is called this day, "the head of an Ethiopian"). This famous head was only completely excavated in 1939–1940. It turned out that the height of the stone head is 1.8 m, and the circumference is 5.4 m, and this huge monument is carved from a single piece of basalt. Still remains open question, how such a large piece of rock was delivered to the place where the statue is now located, if the nearest basalt deposit is located tens of kilometers from this place (the Olmecs, according to archaeologists, did not know the wheel and did not have draft animals). Subsequently, 16 more such heads were found, up to 3 m high and weighing up to 20 tons each. Most scholars are inclined to believe that these heads depicted the leaders of the Olmec tribes. But some modern researchers believe that the giant heads could not have been made by the Olmecs, but by representatives of earlier civilizations: for example, the legendary Atlanteans, while the Olmecs themselves were only the descendants of these civilizations and the “guardians” of huge statues.

In the first half of the 20th century, Mexican archaeologists discovered the city of Sin Cabezas, which means “Headless”. The scientists themselves gave this name to the found city because of the numerous headless statues located in this ancient settlement. However, some stone giants have survived to this day completely intact. In addition to heads and statues, Olmec sculpture is represented in stone altars and carved steles, as well as in small jade and clay (less often granite) figurines depicting people and animals.

Various expeditions that were sent to search for and study artifacts in the first half of the 20th century led to many new discoveries, but some evidence of the existence of the Olmec culture was first erroneously attributed to the Mayan culture due to the similarity of faces.

Archaeologists had to get to the remains of ancient settlements and stone sculptures through impenetrable jungles, tropical rivers and swamps, and climb mountains: by that time, traces of ancient civilization were already quite cut off from modern settlements and roads. This complicated the research, but gradually, based on new information, scientists discovered an increasingly clear picture of the existence of the Olmec civilization. Stylized masks and human figures carved on steles and stone boxes, according to researchers, are images of gods revered by the Olmecs. And in the luxurious tomb found in La Venta, presumably, the Olmec ruler, who lived 9-10 centuries before the Aztecs appeared in these places, is buried. Archaeologists have found jewelry, figurines, and unusual tools in sarcophagi and tombs.

The Olmec pyramids probably served as temple complexes. They were arranged not in the “usual” pyramidal shape, but with a round base, from which several round “petals” “departed.” Scientists explain this shape by its resemblance to volcanic hills preserved after eruptions: the Olmecs believed that fire gods lived in volcanoes, and temple complexes in honor of the same gods were built in the likeness of extinct volcanoes. The pyramids themselves were made of clay and lined with lime mortar.

The appearance of the Olmecs can presumably be reconstructed from the numerous sculptures found: Mongoloid-type eyes, a flattened nose, plump, flattened lips. The sculptures have purposefully deformed heads. More accurate information could be obtained from the remains of the Olmecs discovered in the tombs, but not a single complete skeleton was preserved.

According to Aztec legends, the Olmecs arrived in their habitat by boat from the northern shore. In the place where the city of Panutla is now located, they left the boats and followed the instructions of the gods to the area of ​​Tamoanchan (translated from the Mayan language - “land of rain and fog”), where they founded their civilization. Other Indian legends do not explain the appearance of the Olmec civilization: they only say that the Olmecs lived in those places since ancient times.

According to the Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl, the Olmec civilization could have been brought to Central America from the Mediterranean and Ancient Egypt. This is indicated not only by Indian legends, but also by the similarity of Olmec buildings, writing, and the art of mummification with similar evidence of Old World cultures. Such an assumption would explain the fact that during archaeological research no signs of the evolution of the Olmec civilization were found: it seemed to have arisen in an already prosperous form and just as suddenly ended its existence. However, this is also just a guess. Many scientists are still confident that civilizations in different parts of the Earth could have developed in a similar pattern, being in absolute isolation from each other.

The emergence of the Olmec culture dates back to approximately the second millennium BC. e. According to later archaeological research, it may have developed from the early agricultural cultures of Central America, which gradually evolved from nomadic cultures as a result of changes in natural conditions. The most ancient nomadic tribes of South and Central America, according to scientists, came from Asia at a time when there was still a land connection between these continents. According to paleoanthropologists, the territory of Central America during the last ice age Representatives of the Negroid race could also enter. This goes some way to explaining the facial features reflected in the giant Olmec heads. Other researchers believe that ancient Australians and Europeans could have entered the Meso-American territory by water. Perhaps the Olmec civilization appeared entirely as a result of the mixing of people from different continents.

In 1200-900 BC e. the main Olmec settlement (at San Lorenzo) was abandoned: probably as a result of internal rebellion. The “capital” of the Olmec kingdom moved to La Venta, located 55 miles to the east, among the swamps near the Tonala River. An Olmec settlement at La Venta existed from 1000-600. BC e. or in 800–400. BC e. (according to various research data).

The Olmecs abandoned the eastern parts of their lands around 400 BC. e. Possible reasons include climate change, volcanic eruptions and the capture of some of the Olmecs by representatives of other civilizations. Archaeologists date the dates carved by the Olmecs on stone steles and figurines to the last centuries BC. These are the oldest written dates found in Central America, older than the writing of the Mayan civilization. When Olmec artifacts with dates were discovered, researchers, after much debate, came to the conclusion that the Mayans borrowed their writing and their calendar from the Olmecs.

Interestingly, many stone statues and giant heads belonging to the Olmec culture were deliberately damaged in ancient times: perhaps by the Olmecs themselves. In addition, some statues at the same ancient time were clearly moved from their original places or were also purposefully covered with earth, after which the “grave” was lined with tiles or multi-colored clay.

Some studies suggest that the Olmec civilization flourished in the 1st century BC. e. - I century AD e. It is from this period that all examples of Olmec writing, as well as the most advanced objects of art, are dated. Thus, the Olmecs and Mayans coexisted next to each other for some time.

Researcher Michael Ko believes that the ancestors of the Mayans once lived in the territory of the Olmecs: when the culture of San Lorenzo and La Venta declined, the bulk of the Olmecs moved to the east and gradually turned into the Mayan civilization. According to other researchers, the Mayans and Olmecs developed simultaneously and, despite the existing family ties between these two civilizations, the Mayans cannot be descendants of the Olmecs. The latter assumption is supported by data from the most recent archaeological research. But in this case, where and for what reason did the Olmecs disappear? Scientists have yet to answer this question.

Ecology of Cognition: All these heads are carved from solid blocks of basalt. The smallest have a height of 1.5 m, the largest is about 3.5 m. Most Olmec heads are about 2 m. Accordingly, the weight of these huge sculptures ranges from 10 to 35 tons!

All these heads are carved from solid blocks of basalt. The smallest have a height of 1.5 m, the largest is about 3.5 m. Most Olmec heads are about 2 m. Accordingly, the weight of these huge sculptures ranges from 10 to 35 tons!

When you look at the heads, many questions immediately arise to which you still want to get a clear answer from the all-knowing science. The facial features of each of the 17 giant heads are not individual and they all have one common feature– characteristic negroid features. Where did blacks come from in pre-Columbian America, if, according to official science, there could have been no contacts between Africa and America before Columbus? And the Olmecs themselves did not look like blacks at all, as follows from numerous other figurines and figurines. And only these 17 heads are endowed with Negroid features.

With the help of what tools, in the absence of metal (again, according to the official version), basalt, one of the strongest stones, from which the heads are made, was processed with such precision and detail? Is it really a different stone?

How were multi-ton blocks, some weighing up to 35 tons, transported to the processing site 90 km from the place of their extraction through the jungle over rough terrain? Despite the fact that (according to the same version) the Olmecs did not know wheels (by the way, it has already been proven that they knew).

Why make them so big? After all, the Olmecs have many other sculptures, including heads of quite normal size and quite American (Indian) appearance. And only these 17 black faces are an exception. Why are they so honored? Or is it life-size?Now let's try to answer these questions...

The Olmec civilization is considered the first, “mother” civilization of Mexico. Like all other first civilizations, it appeared immediately and in a “ready-made form”: with developed hieroglyphic writing, an accurate calendar, canonized art, and developed architecture. According to ideas modern researchers, the Olmec civilization arose around the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. and lasted for about a thousand years. The main centers of this culture were located in the coastal zone of the Gulf of Mexico in the territory of the modern states of Tobasco and Veracruz. But the Olmec cultural influence can be traced throughout Central Mexico. Until now, nothing is known about the people who created this first Mexican civilization. The name "Olmec", meaning "people of rubber", was given by modern scientists. But where did this people come from, what language did they speak, where did they disappear centuries later - all these main questions remain unanswered after more than half a century of research into Olmec culture.

The Olmecs are Mexico's oldest and most mysterious civilization. These peoples settled along the entire Gulf Coast around the third millennium BC.
The Coatzecoalcos was the main river of the Olmecs. Its name translated means “Sanctuary of the Snake.”

According to legends, it was in this river that farewell to the ancient deity Quetzalcoatl took place. Quetzalcoatl or the Great Cuculan, as the Mayans called him, was a feathered serpent and mysterious person. This snake had a powerful physique, noble facial features, and, in general, a completely human appearance.
I wonder where he came from among the red-skinned and beardless Olmecs? According to legends, he came and left on the water. It was he who taught the Olmecs all the crafts, moral principles and keeping track of time. Quetzalcoatl condemned sacrifices and was against violence..

The largest Olmec monuments are San Lorenzo, La Venta and Tres Zapotes. These were real urban centers, the first in Mexico. They included large ceremonial complexes with earthen pyramids, an extensive system of irrigation canals, city blocks and numerous necropolises.

The Olmecs achieved real perfection in stone processing, including very hard rocks. Olmec jade products are rightfully considered masterpieces of ancient American art. Olmec monumental sculpture included multi-ton altars made of granite and basalt, carved steles, and human-sized sculptures. But one of the most remarkable and mysterious features of this civilization are the huge stone heads.

The first such head was found back in 1862 in La Venta. To date, 17 such giant human heads have been discovered, ten of them come from San Loresno, four from La Venta, and the rest from two more monuments of Olmec culture. All these heads are carved from solid blocks of basalt. The smallest are 1.5 m high, the largest head, found at the Rancho La Cobata monument, reaches 3.4 m in height. The average height of most Olmec heads is about 2 m. Accordingly, the weight of these huge sculptures ranges from 10 to 35 tons!

All heads are made in the same stylistic manner, but it is obvious that each of them is a portrait of a specific person. Each head is topped with a headdress that most closely resembles an American football player's helmet. But all hats are individual, there is not a single repetition. All heads have carefully detailed ears with decorations in the form of large earrings or ear inserts. Ear piercing was a typical tradition for all ancient cultures of Mexico. One of the heads, the largest one from Rancho La Cobata, depicts a man with his eyes closed; all the other sixteen heads have their eyes wide open. Those. each such sculpture was supposed to depict a specific person with a characteristic set of individual traits. It can be said that Olmec heads are images of specific people. But despite the individuality of their features, all the giant Olmec heads are united by one common and mysterious feature.

The portraits of the people depicted in these sculptures have pronounced Negroid features: a wide flattened nose with large nostrils, full lips and large eyes. Such features do not fit in with the basic anthropological type ancient population Mexico. In Olmec art, whether sculpture, relief or small sculptures, in most cases, the typical Indian appearance characteristic of the American race is reflected. But not on giant heads. Such Negroid features were noted by the first researchers from the very beginning. This led to the emergence of various hypotheses: from assumptions about the migration of people from Africa to claims that such racial type was typical for the oldest inhabitants Southeast Asia, who were part of the first settlers to America. However, this problem was quickly put to rest by representatives of official science. It was too inconvenient to consider that there could have been any contacts between America and Africa at the very dawn of civilization. The official theory did not imply them.

And if so, then the Olmec heads are images of local rulers, after whose death such original memorial monuments were made. But Olmec heads are truly a unique phenomenon for ancient America. In the Olmec culture itself there are similar analogies, i.e. sculpted human heads. But unlike the 17 “Negro” heads, they depict portraits of people of a typical American race, are smaller in size and made in accordance with a completely different pictorial canon. There is nothing like this in other cultures of ancient Mexico. In addition, one can ask a simple question: if these are images of local rulers, then why are there so few of them, if we speak in relation to the thousand-year history of the Olmec civilization?

And how should we deal with the problem of Negroid traits? Whatever the dominant theories in historical science may claim, in addition to them there are also facts. The Anthropological Museum of the city of Jalapa (Veracruz state) houses an Olmec vessel in the form of a sitting elephant.

It is considered proven that elephants in America disappeared with the end of the last glaciation, i.e. approximately 12 thousand years ago. But the Olmec knew the elephant, so much so that it was even depicted in figured ceramics. Either elephants still lived in the Olmec era, which contradicts paleozoological data, or Olmec craftsmen were familiar with African elephants, which contradicts modern historical views. But the fact remains that you can, if not touch it with your hands, then see it with your own eyes in a museum. Unfortunately, academic science diligently avoids such awkward “trifles.” In addition, in the last century, in different areas of Mexico, at monuments with traces of the influence of the Olmec civilization (Monte Alban, Tlatilco), burials were discovered, the skeletons of which anthropologists identified as belonging to the Negroid race.

Giant Olmec heads pose many paradoxical questions to researchers. One of the heads from San Lorenzo has an internal tube connecting the sculpture's ear and mouth. How could such a complex internal channel be made in a monolithic basalt block 2.7 m high using primitive (not even metal) tools? Geologists who studied the Olmec heads determined that the basalt from which the heads at La Venta were made came from quarries in the Tuxtla Mountains, the distance to which, measured in a straight line, is 90 kilometers. How did the ancient Indians, who did not even know wheels, transport monolithic stone blocks weighing 10-20 tons over rough terrain? American archaeologists believe that the Olmecs could have used reed rafts, which, along with cargo, were floated down the river into the Gulf of Mexico, and along the shore they delivered basalt blocks to their urban centers. But the distance from the Tuxtla quarries to the nearest river is about 40 km, and it is a dense swampy jungle.

In some myths about the creation of the world, which have survived to this day from various Mexican peoples, the emergence of the first cities is associated with newcomers from the north. According to one version, they sailed by boat from the north and landed at the Panuco River, then walked along the coast to Potonchan at the mouth of Jalisco (the ancient Olmec center of La Venta is located in this area). Here the aliens destroyed the local giants and founded the first of those mentioned in legends. Cultural Center Tamoanchan.

According to another myth, seven tribes came from the north to the Mexican Highlands. Two peoples already lived here - the Chichimecs and the Giants. Moreover, the giants inhabited the lands east of modern Mexico City - the regions of Puebla and Cholula. Both peoples led a barbaric lifestyle, obtained food by hunting and ate raw meat. The newcomers from the north drove out the Chichemeks and destroyed the giants. Thus, according to the mythology of a number of Mexican peoples, giants were the predecessors of those who created the first civilizations in these territories. But they could not resist the aliens and were destroyed. By the way, a similar situation took place in the Middle East and it is described in sufficient detail in the Old Testament.

Mentions of a race of ancient giants who preceded historical peoples, are found in many Mexican myths. So the Aztecs believed that the earth was inhabited by giants in the era of the First Sun. They called the ancient giants “kiname” or “kinametine”. The Spanish chronicler Bernardo de Sahagún identified these ancient giants with the Toltecs and believed that it was they who erected the giant pyramids in Teotehuacan and Cholula.

Bernal Diaz, a member of the Cortez expedition, wrote in his book “The Conquest of New Spain” that after the conquistadors gained a foothold in the city of Tlaxcala (east of Mexico City, Puebla region), local Indians told them that in very ancient times people had settled in this area enormous height and strength. But since they had a bad character and bad customs, the Indians exterminated them. To confirm their words, the residents of Tlaxcala showed the Spaniards the bone of an ancient giant. Diaz writes that it was a femur and its length was equal to the height of Diaz himself. Those. the height of these giants was more than three times the height of an ordinary person.

In the book “The Conquest of New Spain,” he describes how the Indians told them that in ancient times people of enormous stature settled in these places, but the Indians did not agree with their characters and killed everyone. Quote from the book:

“They also reported that before their arrival the country was inhabited by giants, rude and wild, who then either died out or were destroyed. As proof, they showed the femur of such a giant. Indeed, she was the size of my full height, and I’m not small. And there were a fair number of such bones; We were amazed and horrified at such a breed of past times and decided to send samples to His Majesty in Spain.”

(quote taken from the chapter “Friendship with Tlaxcala.”)

There was no point in lying to the author, the matters being discussed were much more important than long-extinct and non-dangerous giants, and this was said and shown by the Indian casually, as a matter of course. And the book is about something completely different. And if a modern TV channel can still be suspected of falsifying facts in order to increase ratings, then a person who publicly promised 500 years ago to send “non-existent” giant human bones to the king can only be suspected of idiocy. Which is very difficult to do after reading his book.
Traces of giants have been found in this area and in the manuscripts of the Aztecs (Aztec codices), who later lived in the same places, in the form of drawings, and in many Mexican myths.

Drawing from an Aztec manuscript. Judging by how many people can pull one big man, he is also very heavy. Maybe it's his head etched in stone?

In addition, from various sources it is clear that the ancient giants inhabited a certain territory, namely the eastern part of central Mexico all the way to the Gulf Coast. It is quite reasonable to assume that the giant heads of the Olmecs symbolized victory over the race of giants and the victors erected these monuments in the centers of their cities in order to perpetuate the memory of their defeated predecessors. On the other hand, how can such an assumption be reconciled with the fact that all the giant Olmec heads have individual facial features?

Maybe those researchers are right who believe that the giant heads were portraits of rulers? But the study of paradoxical phenomena is always complicated by the fact that such historical phenomena rarely fit into the system of conventional logic. That's why they are paradoxical. Moreover, myths, like any historical source are subject to influences dictated by the current political situation. Mexican myths were recorded by Spanish chroniclers in the 16th century. Information about events that happened tens of centuries before this time could have been transformed several times. The image of giants could be distorted to please the victors. Why not assume that giants were rulers of the Olmec cities for a time? And why not also assume that this ancient people of giants belonged to the Negroid race?

The ancient Ossetian epic “Tales of the Narts” is entirely imbued with the theme of the struggle of the Narts with the giants. They were called uaigi. But, what is most interesting, they were called black uaigs. And although the epic does not mention the skin color of the Caucasian giants anywhere, the adjective “black”, in relation to the Uaigs, is used in the epic as a qualitative, and not as a figurative concept. Of course, such a comparison of facts relating to the ancient history of peoples so distant from each other may seem too bold. But our knowledge about distant eras is too scanty.

It remains only to remember the great poet A.S. Pushkin, who used the rich heritage of Russian folklore in his work. In "Ruslan and Lyudmila" main character encounters the head of a giant standing alone in an open field and defeats it. The same theme of defeating ancient giants and the same image of a giant head. And such a coincidence cannot be a mere coincidence.

Graham Hancock in the book “Traces of the Gods” writes: “The most amazing thing was that Tres Zapotes was not a Mayan city at all. It was completely, exclusively, undeniably Olmec. This meant that it was the Olmecs, and not the Mayans, who invented the calendar, that it was the Olmec culture, and not the Mayans, that was the “progenitor” of the cultures of Central America... The Olmecs are much older than the Mayans. They were a skillful, civilized, technically advanced people, and it was they who invented the dot and dash calendar, which begins with the mysterious date of August 13, 3114 BC.”

Most Olmec stone heads depict a man with Negroid facial features. But 2000 years ago there were no black Africans in the New World; the first of them appeared much later than the Conquest, when the slave trade began. However, there is solid evidence from paleoanthropologists that one of the migrations to the territory of the American continent during the last ice age actually included people of the Negroid race. This migration took place around 15 thousand years BC.

At San Lorenzo, the Olmecs created an artificial hill over 30 meters high as part of a huge structure 1,200 meters long and 600 meters wide. Archaeologist Michael K ou During excavations in 1966, he made a number of finds, including over twenty artificial reservoirs connected by a very complex network of gutters lined with basalt. Part of this network was built into the watershed. When this place was excavated, water again began to flow from there in heavy rains, as it had done for more than three thousand years. The main drainage line ran from east to west. Three auxiliary lines were cut into it, and the connections were made very competently from a technical point of view. Having carefully examined the system, archaeologists were forced to admit that they could not understand the purpose of this complex system water pipelines and other hydraulic structures.

The Olmecs still remain a mystery to archaeologists. No traces of Olmec evolution could be found, as if this people appeared out of nowhere. Nothing is known about the social organization, rituals and belief system of the Olmecs, what language they spoke, what ethnic group they belonged to, and not a single Olmec skeleton has survived.

The Mayans inherited their calendar from the Olmecs, who used it a thousand years before the Mayans. But where did the Olmecs get it from? What level of technical and scientific development of civilization is required to develop such a calendar? published

Three thousand years ago, an Indian empire known as the Olmec civilization arose on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico. The name itself is “Olmec””, which is translated from the Aztec language as “rubber people,” was given to the ancient people in honor of a small area located in the same place, on the Gulf Coast, where rubber was produced. The Olmec civilization developed scientific knowledge over several centuries, inventing the Olmec calendar, having formed their own ideas about mathematics and astronomy, and leaving their descendants a rich mythological and cultural heritage, unfortunately, practically unpreserved. The Olmec religion is also considered the crown of civilization, which, centuries before the formation of the Mayan and Aztec cultures, managed to move from the worship of totem animals to the veneration of gods who are the embodiments of the forces of nature. Known fact, WhatOlmec godsbecame the first humanoid deities in the history of the American continent.

Olmec calendar and other lost knowledge of the ancient state.

The ancient Olmec civilization, dating back to the second millennium BC, disappeared approximately 50-100 AD, which is one and a half thousand years before the Spaniards arrived off the coast of America. During the short period of their existence, the Indians managed to develop science to unprecedented heights, ultimately inventing the Olmec calendar, their own complex calendar system based on astronomical knowledge.

As you might guess, the Olmec civilization is the oldest people in the Central, Southern and North America. It is not for nothing that the Olmec Indians, who created the Olmec calendar, are considered the forefathers of all the peoples of Central America, and the Olmec culture is the founder of fashions and orders, which were followed and imitated by all Indian tribes without exception. Speaking of orders and calendar system ancient people. Olmec calendar, in fact, is the predecessor of the famous Mayan calendar. It was also built on the cyclical nature of the universe, containing epochs of a long count lasting approximately 5 thousand years, knowledge about the duration of the earth's day, year, and the cycles of the moon and Venus. The Olmec calendar is the first chronicle system that was able to interpret astronomical phenomena to suit its needs. The Olmecs, the long count calendar created by them, is a unique and inimitable phenomenon not only for American, but also for world history.

Olmec religion - mythological knowledge of the ancient people.

But what about the inhabitants of the ancient empire, what else are they remembered for besides their scientific knowledge? Has the culture and religion of the Olmecs and another business card, namely giant stone heads depicting Africans. These structures suggest who the Olmecs were, how they lived, and what beliefs they held.

Sculptures of incredible size, weighing about 30 tons each, depict the heads of people with Negroid facial features. The Olmec religion created almost portrait images of the inhabitants of Africa. The earlobes are pierced, the faces are cut with deep wrinkles. The corners of the thick lips, which are not typical for Indians, are curved down.

The first stone head was discovered in 1930 by American archaeologist Matthew Stirling. In his report, the scientist wrote: “ Mexico, Olmecs, their art is amazing. The head is carved from a stone monolith, presumably basalt. The sculpture rested on a platform made of unprocessed stone layers. Freed from dirt, sand and the shackles of the earth, the head has a rather frightening appearance. Despite its size, the sculpture is delicately processed, its proportions are ideal, and its facial features are carefully drawn. The unique feature of the head that distinguishes it from other Indian sculptures is realism.”

Scientists are almost completely confident in the timing of the production of the heads, approximately 1000-1500 BC, which coincides with the heyday of the Olmec state. The dates were determined using pieces of coal found on and near the heads, but this is only the age of the coals themselves. It is possible that stone heads were created much earlier. Experts boldly assume the religious affiliation of the majestic sculptures. “The stone heads are the faces of the ancient gods who were born Olmec religion”- say the researchers. It is believed that in this way the Olmec Indians perpetuated the memory of their idols and themselves as great masters.

The Olmecs are the invisible heritage of an ancient people.

Surprisingly, the Olmecs left behind virtually no written or any other material evidence confirming the high development of this civilization. Scientists have been scouring for years in search of the heritage and signs of the evolution of this ancient people. But it's all to no avail. Literally dismantling all the habitats of the Olmecs stone by stone, archaeologists got the impression that this people appeared out of nowhere, as if they were already completely established. The reason for this may be the lightning-fast decline of the empire, as happened with the Mayans, or perhaps the humid climate of the Gulf of Mexico. Who knows?!

The Olmecs are a structural civilization. However, science has no facts at its disposal to confirm this theory, only the guesses of specialists. We know practically nothing about the social organization of the Olmecs, nor about their religion, nor about the mythology, nor about the rituals of this disappeared people. What is known is that the Olmecs, like the later Mayan and Aztec peoples, intensively practiced sacrifices.

The researchers' guesses and the few grains of information that were nevertheless discovered indicate that the Olmecs were the same agricultural civilization as the “corn people”, like more and more later cultures Mesoamerica. The fundamental spheres of life that allowed the Olmecs to prosper were agriculture and fishing.

It remains a mystery what language they spoke. , or what ethnic group they belonged to. There are hypotheses about the Olmec Indians belonging to the Mayan language group, but again, these are just hypotheses. Time and history have been merciless to the Olmec heritage. Not in the best possible way The overall picture also reflected the Spanish Conquest, during which Indian property was mercilessly destroyed.

What pleases is the architecture of the ancient people. The Olmecs built strong and durable structures. Yes, albeit in small quantities and far from in their original form, their structures have still survived to this day. Platforms, statues and ruins that were once pyramids and palace complexes indicate that the Olmecs were excellent engineers and architects for their time. The Indians knocked stone blocks out of the rocks and carved massive sculptures from them.

The Olmecs ceased to exist at the beginning of our era. However, even from the few data that have reached us after 2 thousand years, we can judge that the Olmecs, a culture moon calendar, did not disappear, but were organically absorbed and assimilated by the Mayan and Aztec civilizations.

After excavations and discoveries in the 30s and 40s of the 20th century, it became clear that in the first millennium AD, an unusually high culture existed in the swampy and humid jungles of the Gulf Coast, created by the Olmec people. They built tall pyramids and magnificent tombs, carved massive ten-ton heads of their rulers from stone, and many times depicted the figure of a ferocious jaguar god on huge basalt steles and elegant jade objects.

We still don’t know where the Olmecs came from to Veracruz and Tabasco, whether they were the original inhabitants of these places.

No less mysterious is the death of the Olmec culture, the creators of which suddenly disappeared without a trace from the historical arena seven centuries before Columbus saw the shores of the New World.

Later, in the mid-50s, when archaeologists began to widely use the radiocarbon method in their work to determine the age of ancient things, the Olmec civilization suddenly received a completely new light.

The fact is that, judging by a series of radiocarbon dates obtained during the excavations of La Venta in 1955, this most important center of the Olmec kingdom existed implausibly early - in 800-400 BC. e., that is, in an era when the cultures of early farmers still dominated in other areas of Mexico.

Based on this data, a group of Mexican scientists hypothesized that the Olmecs were the creators of the oldest civilization in the Americas and had a decisive influence on the origin and development of other civilizations in this area.

In turn, other archaeologists, citing the unreliability of radiocarbon dates, which have often failed archeology in the recent past, defend the idea that the Olmecs as a whole developed in parallel with the other peoples of Central America - the Mayans, Nahuas, Zapotecs, and so on. The future will show which of them is right.

Thus, the problem of origin and death big people, which at one time inhabited vast territories of Southern Mexico, and still remains main problem for all archaeologists, for all scientists involved in the ancient history of the New World. There are more than enough bold theories here. But everything is genuine Scientific research based on hard work. The work of a scientist is also impossible without elements of fantasy, but the main thing in it is a solid foundation of real facts and evidence.

The beginning of excavations in Mexico.

In the late autumn of 1938, from the port town of Alvarado, which stands on the ocean shore, near the mouth of the large Papaloapan River, an antediluvian paddle steamer set off up the river on its next voyage. On board, in addition to the usual passengers - Mexican peasants, merchants and minor officials - there was a group of people whose clothing and appearance identified them as foreigners. American explorer Matthew Stirling, the head of a joint archaeological expedition of the Smithsonian Institution and the US National Geographic Society, and his few employees, crowded along the side, eagerly examined the rapidly changing exotic landscapes of the tropics. The steamer passed emerald meadows with tall grass and entered an endless green tunnel formed by the spreading crowns of giant trees, closing their branches over the middle of the river. Jungle, endless jungle for hundreds of kilometers around. Sometimes they are cheerful, strewn with scarlet and white flowers, with the chirping of birds and the perky cries of monkeys, sometimes, on the contrary, they are dark and gloomy, immersed up to their shoulders in the viscous mud of bottomless swamps, where only snakes and huge iguana lizards patiently wait in the cool twilight for unwary prey.

Finally, after several days of travel, the misty peaks of the volcanic mountain ranges of Tuxtla appeared far on the horizon, at the foot of which were the ruins of unknown ancient cities. It was these that archaeologists had to study. There, on the fertile lands of the foothills and adjacent plains, many centuries ago a large and industrious people lived and flourished. An impregnable wall of mountain ranges protected this area from fierce hurricanes and winds from the Gulf of Mexico. And the fertile soil, even with minimal labor, produced incredible harvests, and twice a year.

History of the Olmec region.

What did we know until recently about the past of this region? The notes of the Spanish soldier Bernal Diaz, an eyewitness and direct participant in all the vicissitudes of the bloody epic of the Conquista, say that the Papaloapan River was discovered in 1518 by the brave hidalgo Pedro de Alvarado, the future associate of Cortes. At that time, the country was inhabited by warlike Indian tribes that came from somewhere in the west. The formidable legions of Indian warriors, lined up on the river bank in strict battle formation, were so impressive that the Spaniards (it was an exploration expedition under the command of Grijalva) hastened to leave.

From ancient Indian legends we also know that even before the arrival of the conquistadors, the entire coast of the Gulf of Mexico was under the rule of the great Aztec ruler Montezuma. One of the many duties of the local residents was that they had to deliver fresh fish daily to the court of the formidable emperor.

To cover this huge distance of several hundred kilometers, along the entire route - both in the jungle and on mountain passes - fleet-footed and hardy messengers were stationed, who, like a relay race, passed baskets of fish from one post to another. In one day they managed to run from the coast of the Gulf of Mexico to the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan.

According to other legends, the first inhabitants of these places were the Olmecs (the word “Olmec” literally means “inhabitants of the land of rubber”) - the creators of the most ancient civilization of Central America. “Their houses were beautiful,” says the legend, “houses with mosaic inlays of turquoise, elegantly plastered , were wonderful. Artists, sculptors, stone carvers, feather craftsmen, gongers and spinners, weavers, skilled in everything, they made discoveries and became capable of finishing green stones, turquoise ... "
But this prosperity did not last long. Unknown enemies who came from the west poured into the flourishing cities and villages of farmers in a black stream. The high Olmec civilization was destroyed, and the green jungle absorbed what the foreigners had not managed to destroy.

It fell to the lot of Matthew Stirling and his comrades to open the first page in the study of the mysterious Olmec culture, which was forcibly erased from human memory by the swords of the conquerors and the onslaught of the merciless jungle. Excavations began in 1939 ancient city Olmecs near the already familiar village of Tres Zapotes, in the state of Veracruz.

Olmec civilization. A city lost in the jungle

At first everything was mysterious and unclear. Dozens of artificial hills-pyramids that once served as the foundations for palace and temple buildings, countless stone monuments with bizarre faces of rulers and gods, fragments of painted pottery. And one hint as to who owned this abandoned city. The words spoken by the famous American traveler Stephens involuntarily came to mind about another ancient city lying in the jungles of Honduras, three hundred miles to the south:
“Architecture, sculpture and painting, all types of art that decorate life, once flourished in this virgin forest. Orators, warriors and statesmen; beauty, ambition and fame lived and died here, and no one knew of their existence or could tell about their past. The city was uninhabited. Among the ancient ruins there are no traces of the disappeared people with their traditions passed on from father to son and from generation to generation. He lay before us, like a ship wrecked in the middle of the ocean. Its masts were broken, its name was erased, and its crew died. And no one can say where he came from, who he belonged to, how long his journey lasted, or what caused his death.”

The mystery of stone sculptures

Nevertheless, archaeologists stubbornly continued their painstaking work, bringing to the surface more and more traces of the lost culture. First of all, the famous stone head was excavated, which, as it turned out, lay only 100 meters from the expedition camp. Twenty workers spent the whole day working around the fallen giant, trying to free him from a deep forest grave. Finally it was all over. The head, cleared of earth, seemed to come from some kind of fantastic, other world. Despite its impressive dimensions (height - 1.8 meters, circumference - 5.4 meters, weight - 10 tons), it was carved from a single stone monolith. Like the Egyptian sphinx, she silently looked with her empty eye sockets to the north, to where magnificent barbaric ceremonies were once performed in the wide city square, and the priests made bloody sacrifices in honor of the ugly pagan gods. Oh, if the stone lips of the idol could open and he could speak, many interesting pages American history would become as well known to us as the history of Egypt, Greece and Rome.

But how did the ancient inhabitants of Tres Zapotes deliver this huge block of basalt to their hometown, if the nearest stone deposit is several tens of kilometers away? Such a task would baffle even modern engineers. And 15-20 centuries ago, all this was done by the Olmecs without the help of wheeled transport and draft animals (they, like the rest American Indians, there was simply neither one nor the other), only the muscular strength of a person. And yet, a giant monolith, delivered by some miracle - and not by air, but by land, through the jungle, rivers, swamps and ravines - now proudly stands in the central square of the city as a majestic monument to the perseverance and work of unknown masters of antiquity.

Did the Olmecs invent the Mayan calendar? Sensation

On January 16, 1939, an event occurred in the life of the expedition that eclipsed in its significance all previous discoveries and finds. On this day, Matthew Stirling and a group of Indian workers went to look at the newly found stone stele, the edge of which barely protruded from the ground.

They had to tinker a lot before they managed to pull the heavy monument to the surface. “The Indians, on their knees,” recalls Stirling, “began to clear the surface of the monument from viscous clay. And suddenly one of them shouted to me in Spanish: “Señor, there are some numbers here!”

These were indeed numbers. I don’t know how my illiterate workers figured this out, but there, on the smooth surface of the stele, were clearly carved perfectly preserved columns of dashes and dots - signs of the ancient calendar.

Choking from the unbearable heat, covered in sticky sweat, Stirling began feverishly copying the mysterious inscription. A few hours later, all the expedition members eagerly crowded around the table in their leader’s tent. Complex calculations and calculations followed, and now full text Ready inscriptions: 6 Etsiab 1 Io. According to the European calendar, this corresponded to November 4, 31 BC.

No one dared to dream of such a sensational discovery. On the newly discovered stele (later called “Stele C”), a date was carved according to the Mayan calendar system, which was more than three centuries older than any other dated monument from the Mayan region!

And there could be only one conclusion from here: the proud Mayan priests borrowed their amazingly accurate calendar from their western neighbors - the unknown Olmecs.

La Venta is the capital of the Olmecs.

On the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, among the vast mangrove swamps of the state of Tabasco, several sandy islands rise, the largest of which, La Venta, is only 12 kilometers long and 4 kilometers across. Here, next to a remote Mexican village, from which the entire island took its name, the remains of another Olmec city were discovered.
The ancient builders of La Venta knew the laws of geometry well. All the most important buildings of the city, standing on the tops of high pyramidal foundations, were oriented strictly to the cardinal points. The abundance of palace and temple ensembles, elaborate sculptures, steles and altars, numerous giant heads carved from basalt, the luxurious decoration of the tombs found here indicated that La Venta was once the largest center of Olmec culture, and perhaps the capital of the entire countries. Using calendar dates found on many stone sculptures, as well as the results of art historical analysis, scientists have established that the city’s greatest prosperity occurred in the 1st-7th centuries AD.

Then, like Tres Zapotes, he becomes a victim of an enemy invasion and perishes in the flames of fires amid the jubilant cries of the victors. Everything that could be destroyed was destroyed. Everything that could be robbed and carried away was carried away. The uninvited aliens sought to destroy literally everything that reminded them of the culture and religion of the defeated people. But the huge stone heads, columns and statues, sculpted from basalt as hard as steel, were not so easy to destroy. And then, in helpless rage, the ancient vandals smashed small sculptures, and deliberately disfigured and damaged the beautiful and expressive faces of large statues. Nevertheless, most of the amazing creations of the artists and sculptors of La Venta survived the centuries, and they were rediscovered for humanity in the middle of the 20th century by the skillful hands of archaeologists.

In the very center of the city, from the foot of the high pyramid and further to the north, there is a wide, flat square, bordered on all sides by vertically standing basalt columns. In the middle of it, above the thick grass and bushes, rose some strange structure in the form of a platform made of the same basalt columns. When the platform was completely cleared, a kind of basalt house, half buried in the ground, appeared before the archaeologists. Its long wall consisted of nine vertically placed stone pillars, and the short one - of five. From above this rectangular room was covered with a ramp of the same basalt pillars. The house had no door or windows. The ancient builders fit the giant stone columns together so skillfully that not even a mouse could slip between them. But each of them weighed almost two, or even three tons!

Using a hand winch and strong ropes, workers began to pull away the roof of the mysterious building. After removing the four columns, the hole in the roof became so wide that one could venture downstairs to where the thick black shadows hid the inside of a spacious room walled up by the priests of La Venta 15 centuries ago.

“First,” writes Matthew Stirling, “we came across an elegant little pendant in the shape of a jaguar’s fang, carved from green jade ... Then an oval mirror appeared from a carefully polished piece of obsidian. And further, in the back of the room, rose some kind of platform made of clay and lined with stone. A large spot of bright purple paint stood out clearly on its surface. Inside it we found the remains of human bones belonging to at least three of those buried.”

Next to the skeletons lay in a pile all sorts of items made of precious jade in green and bluish tones: funny little figurines in the form of sitting men with childish faces, dwarfs and freaks, frogs, snails, jaguars, strange flowers and beads.

In the southwestern corner of the burial platform, a strange headdress was discovered, more reminiscent of a “crown of thorns” than a symbol of the power and high position of its owner. Six long needles were strung on a strong cord sea ​​urchin, separated from each other by elaborate jade decorations in the form of outlandish flowers and plants. There were also two large jade spools - ear decorations and the remains of a wooden funeral mask inlaid with jade and shells. Not far from the platform, workers came across a cache hidden in the ground, which contained 37 polished jade and serpentine axes.

According to a legend still prevalent among the residents of La Vepta, the last Aztec emperor Montezuma was buried here, among the ruins of the ancient city. And when night falls on the earth, he leaves his tomb to dance in the ghostly rays of the moonlight with his entourage in the wide squares and deserted streets of the forever asleep capital of the Olmecs.

And although all this is just a figment of popular imagination, wonderful legend, the scientific significance of the basalt tomb is in no way diminished by the fact that instead of Montezuma, some other powerful ruler who lived 9-10 centuries before the Aztecs appeared in the Valley of Mexico is buried in it.

Olmec civilization. The Mystery of Sixteen Men.

In 1955, after a long break, excavations continued in the Olmec capital, La Venta. One after another, amazing finds were born: reliefs, mosaics, magnificent sculptures, steles and altars. And suddenly the worker’s shovel, having broken through the hard layer of cement covering the surface of the clay platform, fell down into the emptiness of a narrow and deep hole. When archaeologists finally got to its bottom, green spots of polished jade shone brightly in the sun’s rays against the background of yellow clay. Sixteen little stone men - participants in some unknown dramatic performance - solemnly froze in front of a fence of six vertically placed jade axes. Who are they? And why were they hidden at the bottom of a deep hole, arranged in a certain order, but incomprehensible to us?

It is possible that the key to solving this archaeological puzzle can be provided by the sixteenth participant in the ancient pagan ritual.
His solitary figure, carved from granite unlike the others, stands with his back to the flat surface of the fence. The remaining fifteen figures are made of jade and have a purely Olmec appearance. All of them, turning their heads in one direction, look intently at the person opposing them. From the right, a procession of four gloomy figures with frozen masked faces is approaching him. Who is this lonely man? The high priest presiding over a solemn pagan rite, or a victim who will be thrown down in a moment on the bloody altar of an unknown god?

And here the description of a terrible custom that was once widespread among many peoples of antiquity involuntarily comes to mind. According to their ideas, the king was considered the center magical powers that control the life of nature. He is responsible for a good crop harvest, for the abundant offspring of livestock, for the fertility of women of the entire tribe. He receives almost divine honors. He tastes all the blessings of life, enjoying luxury and peace. But one day the day comes when the king must pay a hundredfold for both his wealth and his exorbitant power. And the only payment that he is obliged to give to his people is his own life! According to ancient customs, the people cannot tolerate a weakened, sick or aging king for a minute, since the well-being of the entire country depends on his health. A tragic ending comes. The old ruler is killed. A. in his place they choose a young, full of strength successor. And this terrible cycle of murder and coronation continued in many countries for hundreds of years.
Who knows, maybe by chance we also managed to see in all its tragic completeness this terrible ritual performed by sixteen stone men from La Venta?

Olmec. Gold and jade

Among the civilized peoples of pre-Columbian America, unlike the Egyptians, Assyrians, Greeks, Romans and other inhabitants of the Old World, the main symbol of wealth was not gold, but jade. This fact so struck the imagination of the first Europeans who made their way into early XVI centuries through the ocean barrier to the unknown shores of the New World, that they repeatedly returned to it in their historical narratives and chronicles.

When Cortes landed on the deserted coast of Mexico in 1519, near modern city Veracruz, the local Indian ruler hastened to send a message about this extraordinary event to his supreme ruler, Emperor Montezuma. And a few days later, a magnificent procession of ambassadors and nobles from the Aztec emperor appeared in front of Cortez’s camp tent. Silently spreading several mats at the entrance to the tent, they laid out many expensive gifts on them.

“The first was a round dish,” recalls Berial Diaz, “the size of a cart wheel, with the image of the sun, all made of pure gold. According to the people who weighed it, it was worth 20,000 gold pesos. The second was a round dish, even bigger size than the first, made of solid silver, with the image of the moon; very valuable thing. The third was a helmet filled to the brim with gold sand worth no less than 3,000 pesos. There were many golden figurines of birds, animals and gods, 30 bales of thin cotton fabrics, beautiful feather cloaks, and in addition, four green stones, which are valued more among them than emerald among us. And they told Cortes that these stones were intended for our emperor, since each of them was worth a whole load of gold.”

If it is true that jade was valued more than gold among the Indians, then it is also true that the largest number of jade products is found in the Olmec country. And this is all the more amazing because there were no jade deposits on the marshy shores of the Gulf of Mexico, where the main Olmec cities are located. It was mined either
in the south, in the mountains of Guatemala, or in the west, in Oaxaca. Be that as it may, a large amount of this precious and unusually hard mineral found its way into the Olmec country, where rough pieces of stone were transformed under the hands of skilled Olmec jewelers into elegant statuettes of gods, intricate jewelry, beads and ritual axes. And from there, from the Olmec centers of La Venta, Tres Zapotes, Cerro de las Mesas, these magnificent jade items dispersed throughout Central America, from the northernmost regions of Mexico to Costa Rica.

Olmec - Fans of the Jaguar.

If all the works of ancient Olmec art were exhibited in the halls of one large museum, then its visitors would immediately pay attention to one strange detail. Of every two or three sculptures, one would necessarily depict either a jaguar or a creature combining the features of a human and a jaguar.

When you find yourself in the mysterious green twilight of the Mexican jungle, it is easy to understand why the Olmec masters tried with such fanatical persistence to capture the image of this ferocious beast.

One of the most powerful predators of the Western Hemisphere, the formidable ruler of the tropical forest - the jaguar was for the ancient Indians not just a dangerous beast, but also a symbol supernatural powers, revered ancestor and god. In the religion of various tribes of ancient Mexico, the jaguar is usually considered the god of rain and fertility, the personification of the fruit-bearing forces of the earth. Is it any wonder that the Olmecs, whose economy was based on agriculture, revered the jaguar god with special zeal, forever capturing him in their monumental art.

Even today, four centuries after the Spanish conquest and a thousand years after the destruction of the Olmec civilization, the image of the jaguar still evokes superstitious horror among the Indians, and ritual dances in its honor are widespread among the inhabitants of the Mexican states of Oaxaca and Veracruz. What tricks did the ancient Olmecs resort to so that the formidable ruler of the forests and heavenly waters would provide them with a good harvest. They built magnificent temples in his honor, carved his image on reliefs and steles, and gave him the most precious gift on earth - human lives.

During excavations of the main square of La Venta, almost six meters deep, archaeologists found a perfectly preserved mosaic in the form of a stylized jaguar's face. The overall dimensions of the mosaic are about five square meters. It consists of 486 carefully hewn, polished blocks of bright green serpentine, attached with bitumen to the surface of a low stone platform. The beast's empty eye sockets and mouth were filled with orange sand, and the top of its angular skull was decorated with stylized diamond-shaped feathers.
Exactly the same mosaic was subsequently discovered at the other end of the city’s sacred square. But there, in addition to the image of the predator himself, in the depths of the stone platform, they managed to find the richest gifts in his honor: a pile of precious Things and jewelry made of jade and serpentine.

The earthly rulers, wanting to somehow strengthen the already extensive royal power, considered the jaguar their divine ancestor and patron. On reliefs, frescoes and steles they are constantly depicted wearing clothes made of jaguar skin or sitting on thrones made in the form of a figure of this beast. Jaguar fangs and claws are constantly found in the richest and most magnificent burials, not only among the Olmecs, but also among most other cultural peoples of pre-Columbian Mexico.

First great culture Central America originated in the swampy jungles of the south. 1250 BC e. people began to build majestic religious centers where there were only miserable villages. Even more surprising are the surviving stone sculptures that adorned these centers.

Olmec is the name of the tribe mentioned in the Aztec historical chronicles.

It is about the Olmecs that we will tell you now.

San Lorenzo, the first ceremonial center, was built on a huge mound 45 m high (like a 15-story building). At this level, the builders created additional earthen mounds grouped around rectangular courtyards.

Huge heads carved from stone were installed in the courtyards; the largest is 3.4 m high and weighs 20 tons.

Since the Olmecs did not know wheeled transport, the stone blocks from which the sculptures were made were delivered on rafts from the mountains located 80 km away. Then they were processed with stone tools, since the Olmecs also did not yet use metals.

Scientists believe that these sculptures could be images of deceased rulers. Some of the heads are "put on" helmets, very similar to those used by American football players.

This parallel may not be accidental - it is known that the Olmecs invented a ritual game with a ball; subsequently it was adopted by all the civilizations of Central America.

Players were prohibited from touching the ball with their hands and feet, and they acted with their elbows, shins and thighs. Judging by the fact that figurines, jewelry and other items were found both in northern Mexico and in El Salvador and Costa Rica, the Olmecs carried out extensive trade throughout Central America.

In addition to artisans and traders, their society apparently included a wealthy ruling class and peasant farmers, from among whom labor was supplied for the construction of religious centers.

Perhaps the peasants rebelled against overexploitation. San Lorenzo was deliberately destroyed around 900 BC. e., the faces of the sculptures were disfigured, after which they were buried in the ground.

A small female bust, carved from rare blue jade, well illustrates the high skill of Olmec stone carvers.

Their sculptors made figures using only stone tools.

On the left you can see a photo of a female bust found in the territory where the ancient Olmecs lived.

Subsequently, other centers arose, first La Venta, on an island in the middle of the river. Tonals, and then Tres Zapotes, which also fell into disrepair around 200 BC. e.

This time is considered the end of the Olmec civilization.

However, Olmec influence persisted in subsequent cultures. The Toltec and Aztec peoples borrowed from the Olmecs not only the ball game, but also astronomical calendars, architecture using large stone elements, and pictographic writing.

Cult of the Jaguar

Olmec sculptures and reliefs often depict people whose faces were given a resemblance to the muzzles of jaguars - with narrow eyes and a large mouth, slightly open, as if in a snarl.

There are also images of children with a cat's paw imprinted on their foreheads. Scientists called these figures “jaguar people” (meaning werewolves).

The presence of such images indicates the existence of a cult of jaguars, the most powerful and dangerous predators of the Central American jungle.

It is possible that the Olmec aristocracy traced its family back to the mystical ancestor, half-man, half-jaguar, and therefore attributed to itself such inherent qualities of this predator as ferocity and cunning.

In one of the rich burials, the skeletons of a child and two jaguars were discovered, which reinforces the hypothesis that the Olmecs saw a direct connection between a child from a noble family and these animals.

Olmecs in brief

The most important dates in the history of the ancient Olmec civilization. All dates are given with relative accuracy.

Now you know who the Olmecs are and what is remarkable about them ancient civilization. If you liked this article, share it on social networks.